| country: | Mexico |
| location: | Yucatan |
| departures: | 2010: 8 Jan, 12 Feb, 2 Apr, 7 May, 25 Jun, 30 Jul, 1 Oct, 5 Nov |
| price: | From £1675 - £2695 (5-10 weeks) excluding flights for qualified divers (or £1575 - £2595 excluding flights for non divers). We can offer advice on flights from the UK |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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the amazing things you'll be doing
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 knowledgeand awareness through working on marine and coral identification programmes, using a number of different techniques.
This long running marine conservation expedition takes volunteers to learn scuba diving and earn an internationally recognised PADI diving qualification. In the turquoise Caribbean waters of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, you can take part in important marine conservation work helping with coral reef and fish monitoring, turtle nesting and conducting crocodile surveys. On land you will help community education and sustainable tourism development programmes.
On top of the dive training, volunteers will have the chance to vastly expand their knowledge of this
tropical marine environment, learn Spanish and partake in expeditions to the almost innumerable
places of interest.
As a volunteer you will be living and working on a remote jungle base with incredible wildlife; waking up to the deserted white-sand beach and turquoise Caribbean sea; learning about the reef and how to identify the fish or coral you see; participating in monitoring dives to explore different sites along the coast; being the only people diving in the biosphere reserve surveying the deserted reefs under our special research permit; chancing upon mega-fauna such as dolphins, sharks and manatees; searching the beach at night for turtles laying eggs; learning some Spanish; joining sea and cenote fun-dives and enjoy cultural visits to Mayan ruins.
A day in the life of a volunteer
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.
Volunteers can expect to do one-two dives per day, six days a week (weather depending). On these dives you will be assessing the health of the Meso-American Barrier Reef system and collecting data on fish, coral and other benthos. The first three weeks volunteers learn both the diving skills and the marine survey skills that they will need to assist in the collection of data to a quantifiable level. It is extremely beneficial and important for expedition participants to learn as many of the area’s marine species as possible before starting the project.
travellers' tales
Most memorable? The diving and marine life, the culture, the beauty of the place, i.e too many memorable parts. (more)
how this holiday makes a difference
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This conservation and research expedition helps to conserve the health of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (the second largest in the world) in the internationally important Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve, providing the resources and trained man power to complete the surveys that our partners would otherwise not be able to do. This is the most detailed and comprehensive use of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System synoptic monitoring programme and supplies data that are used by ASK and CONANP to manage this threatened resource.
Our base lies within the Sian Kaán Biosphere Reserve. Since the beginning, and with the assistance of our partners, we have amassed one of the largest databases in existence on the condition, health and changes of any section of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. This data is now being used to promote the management of the reserve’s resources in a more sustainable manner. As a result of our work, a variety of changes have been implemented in the area, including educating local fishermen, increasing development controls and creating signs to educate visitors about the fragile ecosystem. The Mexican State of Quintana Roo has approximately 650km of coral reef that represents the Mexican portion of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. The reef has an important value for fisheries and tourism, activities that at the same time represent a high environmental risk. Sian Ka’an is recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO under criteria III and IV, and a member of the ‘Man and the Biosphere’ programme, which promotes the integration of human activities and natural resource conservation. At present, scuba diving is not allowed within Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve for recreational purposes. However, we have been granted a research license by Sian Ka’an Biosfera Reserva. As a volunteer, you will be assisting in a range of community-led environmental research and awareness projects, including:
All of our projects and expeditions issue the participants with clear guidelines on responsible tourism and ecotourism, all specific to the particular environment / region. These cover a number of issues, ranging from waste disposal in remote areas, recycling materials and buying from local businesses to not exploiting the area’s wildlife or harming the environment. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |











