Our story
It started with one island, and a promise to keep coming back.
Bubbles Travel began the way most honest things do — not as a business plan, but as a habit that got harder and harder to stop.
still counting turtle nests, nine seasons on
Our connection to Perhentian & the ocean
Our founder, Mira, spent her university holidays volunteering with a small turtle conservation project on Perhentian Besar — counting nests at 5am, patching up boats, learning the tides by feel rather than app. What was meant to be one summer became nine.
Somewhere in those seasons, she noticed two things happening at once: the island was quietly changing under the weight of tourism it wasn’t built for, and the travellers who did come the “right” way — slowly, respectfully, curious rather than checklist-driven — left as different people. Bubbles Travel exists to be more of the second thing, and less of the first.
We’re a small team now, most of us former volunteers, guides or long-time visitors ourselves. None of us book a place we haven’t stayed in. None of us write an itinerary for a person we haven’t met.
“We’re not selling the ocean. We’re just finally introducing you to it properly.”
— Mira, founder
What makes our journeys different
Four numbers that shape everything we do
6–10
People per group
Small enough that guides remember your name by day two, and the place barely notices you were there.
1
Region we know deeply
We work almost entirely across Peninsular Malaysia’s east coast — because depth beats a world map of pins.
10+
Years of relationships
With rangers, hosts, boat captains and weavers — most partnerships pre-date the company itself.
5%
Of every booking
Goes directly into the local conservation and community fund behind that specific journey.
The people behind it
You won't meet a stranger on a Bubbles trip
These are a few of the people your journey actually runs on — not stock guides, but the reason each trip exists in the first place.
Mira
Founder & Marine Lead
Marine biology background, nine turtle seasons, allergic to itineraries with more than three stops a day.
Pak Su
Boat Captain, 27 Years
Knows every reef channel by the colour of the water alone. Has never once been late for a sunrise crossing.
Kak Yan
Homestay Host, Kelantan
Runs the kitchen table that most guests remember more than any landmark on the trip.
For good
Travel that leaves the ledger a little more even
We don’t believe “giving back” should be a marketing line, so here’s exactly where it goes. A fixed 5% of every booking is split between the conservation and community partners tied to that specific journey — turtle rangers, rainforest reserves, weaving cooperatives and village funds.
2,400+
Turtle nests monitored alongside our Perhentian ranger partners since 2016
180kg
Of reef debris removed during guest-led beach and reef cleanups last season
3
Community-run funds we contribute to directly — no intermediary NGOs