12 Day Marine Conservation & Dive Certificate

Cairns is known for its natural beauty, so take some time to explore the city on foot when you first arrive! Stops of interest include the Esplanade, the Botanic Gardens, the port, and the CBD. You’ll get a chance to go for a dip in the lagoon, too. Your group will have a briefing late afternoon or early evening (time TBA), so make sure you arrive at the hostel by 16:00.

Over the next two days, you’ll embrace the first part of your scuba diving adventure. You’ll be picked up by the dive school early in the morning and transferred to the training centre, where you will start your theory lessons on scuba diving with a qualified instructor. You’ll then put all that theory into use in the pool during your practical sessions under the watchful eyes of your instructors. After lunch on day two, it will be time for your theory test and a briefing on the upcoming days out on the Great Barrier Reef. You’ll be transferred back to your hostel late in the afternoon each day.

You will depart early on the fourth day of your Great Barrier Reef dive adventure. The travel time to the first dive site is approximately three hours. Once you arrive, you will be briefed by your dive instructor and begin exploring the underwater world of this magnificent natural wonder. Over three days, you’ll do a total of nine dives, four of which will be your final steps to becoming an Open Water Diver, four fun dives and one night dive. You will return to Cairns late afternoon on the sixth day. You will be transferred to your hostel and have some free time.

(Breakfast and lunch included all three days, dinner included on days 4+5)

Your turtle-saving adventure continues with a day trip to the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre on Fitzroy Island. You will take a ferry to Fitzroy Island in the morning, 45 minutes from Cairns. There, you will meet other volunteers working at the centre and learn about the organisation’s work. You might even get the chance to go behind the scenes and lend a helping hand!

The morning may consist of feeding turtles, cleaning tanks, and participating in a beach clean-up. You will then have the option to return to Cairns at midday or stay on the island for the afternoon, enjoying some free time doing one of the walks on the island, relaxing on the beach, or swimming and snorkelling. The afternoon ferry returning to Cains will be around 17:45. If you’re not going to Fitzroy Island, you’ll have a free day. You can choose to spend it whichever way you want! We can organise a day trip to the amazing Cape Tribulation, Atherton Tablelands, or Rafting the Tully if you are itching to keep active.

Please Note: The experience at the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre will take place on either day seven or eight. Our marine conservation volunteers will be split into two groups – one group will go on day seven, and the other group will go on day eight. This is so that we don’t overwhelm the turtles and stress them out, allowing you have the best possible learning and interactive experience.

And so it begins… it’s your opportunity to make a change and be a positive force in the conservation movement.  For the next two days, you’ll be on floating around the Great Barrier Reef where under your designated eco guides guidance, you’ll participate in conservation activities underwater (2 dives per day) – such as rapid monitoring surveys, and a species count. This data will be entered into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park’s ‘Eye on the Reef Sighting Network’. The number of activities you participate in may vary depending on conditions. There is also the opportunity to participate in Coral Watch surveys using a snorkel if you wish to take a break from diving!

Through the Project AWARE foundation, you will receive a certificate of recognition for your contributions to protecting the world’s marine environment with an AWARE Coral Reef Conservation recognition and/or a Project AWARE Specialist recognition.

Monitoring tasks include:

• Timed swims (minimum 10 minutes per dive) to monitor and count the underwater species (from corals to marine life!)
• Partake in an exciting 360-degree survey of sea bed – your task is to help identify the macro-algae and record the state of the coral including live coral rock, coral rubble and deposits of sand
• And super important, you’ll record your findings on the impacts on coral due to site degradation (i.e. coral bleaching or damage).

(Lunch included both days)

Today is dedicated to education and action, so roll up your sleeves and be prepared to earn your eco-certificates! We meet with another local conservation group to learn about plastic waste and rubbish’s disastrous effects on the coastal and marine environments. We learn where it comes from, how to deal with it and most importantly, what we can do to win the war on plastic! We’ll participate in collecting trash from local beaches, learn how to sort it and then discover the innovative methods currently being deployed to up-cycle plastic waste. Expect a day of fun, education and feel-good action.

It’s been an absolute pleasure having you spend your valuable time with us, helping to save the Great Barrier Reef, the marine life and the fragile ecosystems which support the reef. We are especially proud of this program and the great team who work tirelessly in Queensland to ‘do’, ‘save’, ‘educate’ and ‘share’.

U.Impact! Experiences programmes are designed to be amazing ‘Travel Responsible’ experiences and are created with the highest level of environmental, social and community ethics in mind. We hope that in this program you have learnt about the challenges facing this corner of the world’s natural resources, and we encourage you to spread this knowledge to your friends, family, and work and study colleagues. So we plead with you to post your amazing photos and use the hashtags: #FightForOurReef #U.Cares #VolunteerGreatBarrierReef #GreatBarrierReefMarineConservation #U+GBR #UAction #UGivesAShit