Scuba diving conservation holidays

These are usually tailor made holidays, so you’ll be slotting into up-and-running conservation projects. Trips can be as short as five days so they can fit into a wider holiday, but there will be some training involved, especially if you’ll be handling a speargun, so the longer you can stay, the better. There are also small group holidays available, with placements at set times of year. Our scuba diving conservation holidays take place all over the world and typically focus either on marine wildlife, coral reefs protection, or both. In most cases you will be staying on land, perhaps sharing lodgings and cooking duties with your fellow volunteers.

A PADI Open Water qualification is needed for all trips, so if you don’t already have one then you’ll need to earn it on arrival. It’s not that much of a hardship, though, to be taking your lessons under a palm tree or in warm Caribbean waters, rather than a municipal swimming pool. There is also an e-learning section which you are well advised to complete before departure. It usually takes three days to get qualified, so factor that in if you want to have plenty of time to dive afterwards. On some holidays, more advanced PADI courses such as Rescue and Divemaster may also be available if you want to add to your skills and qualifications.

Tasks vary widely on our scuba diving conservation holidays. In Belize, you might be spearing lionfish, an invasive predator wreaking havoc on resident marine life. In Spain, divers are urgently needed to help collect the plastic waste scourging the Mediterranean Basin. On research projects you might be tagging sharks and manta rays, and recording sighting information and photos on relevant databases. Some of these trips require you to get up close and personal with your research subjects, such as cage diving with great white sharks to observe behaviours and markings! In the sea you will dive alongside turtles, dolphins, rays and whale sharks. And between dives you might help on land as well, perhaps monitoring turtle nests, or working with local communities and tourists to help encourage conservation practises.