Day As A Marine Biologist, Marine Ecology Research Centre (Gayana Marine Resort)

The Marine Ecology Research Centre (MERC), within Gayana Marine Resort (Malohom Bay, Gaya Island, Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park), offers the "Day As A Marine Biologist" programme (a day alongside the centre's marine biologists, centred on giant clam breeding and reintroduction) as well as "Adopt A Coral" (planting and individually sponsoring a coral, with online tracking). According to the official ECHO Resorts group website (echoresorts.com/merc), the centre claims to be the first in Malaysia to successfully breed all seven giant clam species found in Malaysian waters, two of which (Tridacna gigas and Tridacna derasa) are now locally extinct in the wild in Sabah; it received the "Most Innovative Tourist Attraction, Eco-Tourism Conservation Award" from the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism (2008-2009) and hosted a visit from the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization on 6 October 2010. Access is either via the resort's free shuttle (reserved for resort guests, one fixed daily round trip) or by a privately chartered boat (rates published on echoresorts.com/merc/transfers): it is this second option that makes the logistics compatible with a yacht call, without going through a shared ferry. Direct contact with the centre: merc@echoresorts.com, +60 88-380 390, or via the resort's reservations desk (rsvn.gayana@echoresorts.com). Confirmed absent from GetYourGuide, Viator and Tiqets (verified 10/10/2026, full "Kota Kinabalu" result listings opened and checked one by one, no mention of Gayana or MERC). Point of caution explicitly flagged: a strictly private small group format, as opposed to one shared with other resort guests, is not explicitly confirmed by the official site for this specific programme, to be clarified by direct contact before any commercial promotion.