Bahamas July 2013

I could write pages and pages about this amazing experience. As someone from my phase said to me, it sounds cliche but it is indeed a life changing experience. I can only agree.

As a advanced open water, I was looking forward to dive the reefs of Andros. And they lived up to my expectations! The oceanic blue hole King Kong is the most stunning dive I ever did. The geology is outstanding!! The reefs lay deep, but provide an amazing topography and the drop off called Tongue of the Ocean is dramatic and makes one realize how small and insignificant a human being is in the ocean. During every single dive we had a lot of fun, fooled around (of course within saftey regulations) and cracked jokes before and after.

The camp itself was perfect. We had a huge group (I recon 25 volunteers +staff) so they were people everywhere. But if one wanted time off, relax and enjoy the silence, people went up on the balcony where the `chill area` was and could do just that. Otherwise there was always something going on. The other volunteers were fun loving, it did not take long until we all became close friends. I really hope to have a reunion. Same goes for the staff, they did a awesome job coordinating our group and making sure everyone feels good and gets to dive as much as possible. I can´t lie, they were just as fun loving as every volunteer and always good for a laugh. And yeh, Saturdays were the best evenings.

About the lectures, teaching, and the program: If somebody is interested in Marine Science I would highly recommend it! It is a great chance to get some skills, knowledge and to be involved in intercultural education as it is a big part of the whole program to educate the local community about various topics. We also did beach clean ups, set up survey sites, did a lot of identification dives and had lectures about Fish, Corals, Invertebrates, Turtles, Ecology and and and...we watched documentaries in the evening from time to time which gave us a great idea about issues and life out there.

Other days were spent at the blue wholes, which you see in the videos (one of the best days we had was there) or by some randome activities which were up to you.

Before I go on and write a book let´s just say that this trip was not only great but a perfect chance to dive every single day and learn about the oceans and marine conservation. If you can imagine doing this for weeks or months, go!! Don´t hesitate because I am sure you will never regret it.