Marine conservation expedition in Mexico

This coral reef research and community education expedition program supports and assists the work of local non-profit organisations including Amigos de Sian Ka’an, the local state university of Qunitana Roo, and the National Commission for the Conservation of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP).

The expedition offers expedition members the chance to immerse themselves in one of the world's few remaining truly pristine environments, assessing the health of the second largest coral reef system in the world, diving and collecting crucial data on the coral reef in the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve to help conserve this environment.

You will be living on a deserted beach and contributing to conservation by increasing your personal knowledge of the tropical marine environment, its importance, the threats to it and helping to increase both local and global knowledge and awareness through working on marine and coral identification programmes, using a number of different techniques. Wake up to the deserted white-sandy beach and turquoise Caribbean Sea and enjoy living and working on a remote jungle base with incredible wildlife. You can explore the mangrove systems, see crocodiles and perhaps even the elusive manatee. You will be the only people diving in the Biosphere Reserve, and surveying the deserted reefs under a special research permit. You will train alongside local students and researchers and also join in the community programmes to teach English and environmental awareness to local school children and adults. In the turtle nesting season you will also be searching the beach at night for turtles laying eggs and you can join sea and cenote fun-dives or enjoy cultural visits to Mayan ruins, and learn some Spanish!

Days are long and hard with an early start to make the most of day light hours, travel to the dive sites, survey work, return from the dive sites, washing down the dive equipment, filling air tanks ready for the next day and generally a late finish once all the data collected has been reviewed and then input in the database. At the end of the day, the whole team gathers in the evening to debrief, eat and socialise over a few cold ones in the evening light of the moon. Enjoy camp life, making food and making friends.