Maldives' Six Senses Resorts Offer 5 Nights Free For Voluntourism

Soneva Fushi and Soneva Gili by Six Senses are offering the opportunity to give something back. For the next six months, the Eco Season package provides five complimentary nights to guests who book and pay for five nights, in exchange for guests' committing to five hours of valuable and motivating work during the first five days of a luxurious 10-night stay.

This unique voluntourism offer will allow guests to work on local community projects, such as marine conservation, teaching children, planting trees and learning how to turn waste into wealth. Already well known for their support and respect for local communities, the Soneva resorts are inviting guests to put the strap-line "Intelligent Luxury" into practice.

While most people come to the Maldives to relax within the turquoise lagoons and enjoy the sumptuous Soneva villas, beaches and exceptional dining and excursion experiences, guests now have the chance to go behind-the-scenes and discover how much more there is to the wonderfully hospitable and cultural Maldivian atolls.

Guests can choose from the following areas of work to help give back to the Maldives:

Marine Conservation - divers and snorkelers will be taught how to boost coral reef recovery and learn more about how to protect the dwindling shark community.

Waste Management - learn how to create home-made compost, charcoal and biochar, to encourage locals into self-sufficiency and thereby reduce importation of food that can be grown at home.

Carbon Mitigation - plant trees on nearby islands to give Soneva neighbors much-needed shade and to mitigate levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Youth Education - give local island schools a 30-minute talk on the importance of waste management and composting and discuss Western culture and geography. Guests are invited to share their own relevant expertise in whichever field they specialize.

Boost Local Island Income - assist local families by learning the skill of making cadjan roofing material to sell and public rubbish bins for raising awareness of waste management. This not only helps create revenue streams for the islands that struggle to find alternative methods, but also helps to keep their islands in pristine condition.

The Eco Season package is valid June 1 to October 12, based on published rack rates. It is valid for combined resort stays (Soneva Gili and Soneva Fushi) with a total of 10 consecutive nights, or all 10 days may be booked at one resort. Guests are required to commit five hours per day to community work for the first days of their stay. Reservations must be made a minimum of two weeks in advance, in order to design a tailor-made voluntourism program. The five complimentary nights refer to accommodation only and are not granted according to the number of days volunteered at each resort.

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