Reef Buddy: Caribbean & Philippines

I was going to join Reef Buddy in the Caribbean, but could not make the dates work. So I joined them at their new venture in the Philippines. I was their first volunteer on the program - which was amazing! It meant that once I had my dive training done I was able to see what they were doing and how they were setting up FROM DAY 1. This was an incredible learning experience. One I will never forget. Each day, after breakfast, we would dive. Much of the diving was off the beach as their new coral nursery and regeneration zone is within 100m of the base.

The base? I could not have asked for any more! It was a family operated resort hotel, with 2 pools, pool table, and a lovely little bar and restaurant. Most of the staff were my age, and it was cool to hang with them in an evening or when they were not working. We're a short walk from Dauin town centre too. The food in the restaurant, which was all provided, was really tasty local food. I'm lucky as I'll eat anything! Portions were good sized - as after a day in the water, boy I could eat!

I am a student at Mount Holyoke college studying environmental studies, costal and marine biology, and spanish. After school I hope to work in marine ecology. My time with CRB allowed me to develop my skills as a diver and learn how I can implement diving in my studies.

I worked with Nora to do ecology work such as algae and flamingo tongue removal, hunting and gutting lion fish, performing a coral watch, and propagating soft coral and sponges. I worked with Andrew to get my advanced open water certificate, wreck diving certificate, and rescue diver certificate.

Everyone at the dive shop was so welcoming and enthusiastic to share their knowledge. The instructors made sure that I always understood what was going on and encouraged me to ask questions. This is a fantastic program for anyone who wants to begin their diving journey or has a passion for marine ecology.

I had three amazing weeks, collaborating with wonderful people, doing varied, fun, interesting and meaningful work! The program had an excellent balance between theory and practical work, with qualified and knowledgeable instructors, always meeting you with a smile. I have learned so much about the coral ecosystem, and have been inspired to keep working on improving it and spreading awareness of this amazing and beautiful ecosystem.

While the program was incredible, the people were even better! Before going on the trip, I would never imagine being welcomed the way I was. I instantly felt safe and included in the group, and I would never guess that it was possible to make such good friends in such a short period of time.

The program also came with a lot of great opportunities. They really went out of their way to accommodate different research, and to explore and do additional courses if that was of interest. I even got to do a drysuit course🙌

And of course I have to thank the guys for letting me borrow the shark hood! Stylish and warm😎🦈

I participated in the Marine Conservation Program by Caribbean Reef Buddy and I had an exceptionally great time on Carriacou! I spent 7 weeks on the small island and I was able to experience 3 different projects: Coral Reef Gardening, Coral Reef Monitoring and Predators Week. All of these different projects are extremely interesting and I definitely learned a lot. We did reef checks, removed tons of algae, collected garbage, planted soft corals, checked whether a bleaching event happened or not, and killed lionfish. All of that while having amazing dives and being able to enjoy seeing turtles, sharks and several other fishes. The underwater world on Carriacou is definitely outstanding! After my 7 weeks, I could actually see improvements and positive outcomes. It was for example possible to observe that the soft corals which we replanted started to look really healthy again.
The team behind Caribbean Reef Buddy is amazing as well. Gary, Nora and Raquel are extremely friendly and are always there to answer a question. We definitely had a lot of fun on the boat rides and I enjoyed my time there a lot!

For many years, scuba diving was on my bucket list, but for one reason or another, I kept putting it off....until this year!!

I've heard many stories about how exhilarating is scuba diving and also the aspect of how things can go wrong, if you don't pay close attention to your instructor. I would add to that the importance of also picking the correct dive shop!

Carribean Reef Buddy dive shop is by far the best way to learn how to scuba dive! I HIGHLY recommend them!!! Best, Greg Andricopulos