11/12/2019

When thinking about Thailand, we usually think about great jungles, elephants, the beautiful beaches, and the big blue sea, with all its fascinating coral reefs. That is why Thailand is a popular holiday destination, and for example in 2018, around 38,5 million people visited the land of smiles.When spending the holidays by the sea, most people spend their time on the beach or do activities like snorkeling or diving. Therefore sunscreen is a must have. But what most visitors don’t know, is that using the wrong sun protection they can harm those beautiful places permanent.
Even waterproof Sunscreen is only waterproof to a limited extent. According to the American Weather and Oceanography Agency, 6.000 tons of sunscreen is added to the sea every year and pollute our oceans. The reefs of the world in particular suffer, first they are bleaching and then dying. Especially snorkelers, who want to enjoy the reefs, can be dangerous for them, because they get really close to the fish and corals.When it comes to sunscreen, it looks like we have many options, but there are only two types of filtering UV rays: chemical and mineral ones. Chemical UV filter are the most common ones, be-cause they are quickly absorbed by the skin. But the big disadvantage of those sun lotions is, that the ingredients used in the cream is poisoning our reefs. For example one of the most common ingredient is OCTOCRYLENE, which is present in four out of five European sunscreens and is suspected of being harmful to marine organisms.
Image result for sunscreen dangerous for marine life

So our tip:

●Before buying a new sunscreen, have a closer look at the Ingredients (especially when going to the sea)

●Do not apply cream directly before taking a swim, not even with supposedly waterproof sun protection (minimum 20-30 minutes before).

●When staying longer in the water, (e.g. for snorkeling,diving) wear clothes that protect you from the sun.

However, if you want to be 100% sure that you are not harming anyone, you should use reef-friendly sunscreen. That’s why, Similancharter & Tour started to offer a coral-friendly alternative to the convenient ones that are offered everywhere.

About Reef Repair:

Reef repair is a Company located in Thailand. With their motto “We can do this better, so much better!” they set themselves the goal of making sunscreen products affordable and morally impeccable again.The idea behind Reef Repair is to produce a purely natural, reef friendly sunscreen that works even better than most chemical sunscreens, that is 100% reef friendly, that contains no carcinogens or parabens and feels like you’re not wearing any sunscreen at all. This means you can use it everywhere and protect your whole body from skin cancer and sun-burn when you go on holiday. The best thing is, you pay only 500 Bath for a 120 ml bottle. This is cheaper than most of the major brand alternatives you will find in Thailand.

Reef Repair sunscreen is now available in our office in Bang Niang, and on tour at our pier shop!

Sources:
http://www.thaiwebsites.com/tourism.asp
https://www.thailand-tourist-information.com/2018/10/17/sunscreen-use-thailand/
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/sunscreen-corals.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/features/sunscreen-destroying-coral-reefs-alternatives-travel-spd/
https://www.focus.de/shopping/service/tipps-und-tricks-zum-sonnenschutz-fuer-die-haut-sonnencreme-der-richtige-sonnenschutz-fuer-ihre-haut_id_10842484.html
https://www.reefrepair.org/education/news/reef-safe-sunscreen-thailand/
https://www.carecreations.basf.com/landingpage-sun/english/sun-protection/uv-filter-types
https://www.thailand-tourist-information.com/2018/10/17/sunscreen-use-thailand/