Program Reviews

My daughter participated in the 12-day scuba and sailing trip in the summer of 2022. She had never been away from us for longer than a few days so this was a new challenge for her. This trip provided her with an experience she will never forget and she is excited to be able to participate in another trip this summer. As first timers, we had a lot of questions that were quickly answered by the Broadreach team. The team was helpful from start to finish and we were very impressed with how well they communicated with us. Our daughter not only learned to sail and got her scuba certification- she also learned invaluable lessons from traveling on her own, living aboard a sailboat, cooking her own meals, and forming relationships with her crew mates. She got to see parts of the world not visible from land and even pushed herself to complete- and then fall in love with- night diving! We are so thankful we came across Broadreach and can’t recommend the program enough!

My time with Broadreach was such a unique opportunity to not only learn how to scuba dive and how to sail, but also to learn and grow as an individual. I was pushed to develop leadership skills and life skills that I have been able to apply in other aspects of my life. It was such a unique experience making friendships with people that I lived so closely and learned along side with. We still send snail mail to each other to this day! While living on a boat, we were fully immersed with ocean ecosystems, which inspired me to live more consciously and pursue a degree in sustainability.

Message to Broad Reach
HYGIENE:
First of all, I wanted to thank Broad Reach for the opportunities that were presented during the duration of my 12 day sailing and scuba trip. Sitting here today, I am appreciative that I was able to experience the good and the bad. Unfortunately, the cons deceivingly out weighed the pros. My goal is to keep my review as short as possible, because I am sure that I am not the only person that sees the astonishing amount of flaws fluent in Broad Reach. I chose to attend Broad Reach’s program in order to pursue exploring God’s creation and my interests. Each and every person had their own motives in why they wanted to attend. However, for the people I talked to, each one of them expressed their concerns about the health and well-being of every participant.
Approaching and boarding the boat I was highly impressed with how clean and organized everything seemed. Far above my perception, I was rudely awakened with the comment stated on the second day by one of my instructors; “It is Broad Reach, everything breaks”. At first the comment flew over my head and didn’t hold such magnitude. This was until the first occurrence of the human feces and the sewage problem. I speak for everyone when I say it is our job take accountability; however, this was far to long for this to be a students problem. By the fourth day, the smell aboard was horrific to the point where we no longer could stay in our rooms for more than 2 minutes. The smell from the cabin had traveled to the saloon. To put yourselves in our shoes, imagine after a long day, you sit down to eat dinner and all you can fathom and smell is human waste. This is the last thing my parents want to hear and I want to experience after paying thousands of dollars. The sewage problem became so repetitive to the point were one of the instructors had to blow the sewage out of the pipe with an air tank. Like seriously?? These instructors didn’t sign up to blow human feces out of a sewage pipe. Then for me to have to go into my cabin room (shared amongst 5 girls) and clean a pipe leak consisting of a mixture of menstruation blood, human feces and urine off the wall is beyond me. Since there is only one bed for five girls you then have to become creative with how you will sleep. Majority of the boat would sleep on the floors of the kitchen. Which is fine, until you realize earlier that day there was human feces and sewage water all over it. Not once was that floor thoroughly disinfected. With all honesty, since this was part of my Broad Reach experience maybe you should include this in the description before people sign up. This is indefinitely known as false advertisement.

FOOD:
Changing paths, the ratio between the amount of calories I burned and consumed is drastically higher. I woke up hungry and went to sleep hungry every single day. Scientifically men need to consume more calories than woman (9 men and 6 total women on the boat), so the men needed to consume more of the food. I seriously felt as if I was slowly deteriorating. For the last 12 days I practically lived off of turkey and cheese sandwich’s, Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches. Unfortunately, I can’t recall the the last meal I ate on the boat that consisted of a fair balance of protein, starch’s, and vegetables. Everyone on the boat was constantly hungry, tired, and deprived of valuable nutrients. There were multiple days we I ate Nutella(purchased by one the students) for breakfast and lunch. I skipped breakfast many days because eating off-brand fruity pebbles and warm milk would make me feel more tired than just not eating at all. Three days in a row I vividly remember not eating breakfast. On day 12, all we had left was cheese puffs and stale cheerios for breakfast. One of the instructor’s refused to let us go off the docked boat to get a meal, which resulted in people leaving to eat a some-what nutritious meal because of how deprived of food they were. Many people came up to me and told me how bad there stomach and head was hurting from eating carb filled food for 12 days straight. I experienced headaches like nothing before, because of YOUR chosen diets. It doesn’t take a genius to incorporate nutrients in our daily meals. There can always be room for improvement, but the first step in growing is taking accountability and clearly Broad Reach didn’t do so.

SAFETY:
Wow, I don’t even know where to start or what to say that can compensate for the amount of times laziness outweighed the well-being of all 12 persons. The amount of times my trip was conflicted against or put at risk because of the pitiful, conscious, and congruent knowledge the instructors held was astonishing. Lets start off with my personal favorite when during our sail back from Saba the girls cabin ceiling fell. Instead of the ceiling being removed from our room for safety reasons, the instructors decided the leave it in there. Even better, after saying for hours they will take it out, they decide the place it in the walk way between our room and there room. This caused us to not be able to close our door for the duration of the trip(even when changing). This perfectly leads me to my other problem. A roll of paper towels was left in our room after cleaning the bathroom floors. As instructed, I was told to wipe the counters down so I went down to our bathroom to grab the paper towels. As I proceeded to step into the bathroom and reached for the paper towels, the bathroom door completely collapsed on me. Yes, at first it was funny; however, we need to look a the potential harm this could’ve caused. If it hit me any harder I could have been left with an injury that could have been prevented if the screw in the door was screwed on correctly. I am completely aware that these boats are not Broad Reach’s, they belong to Dream Yacht. However, these boats are a huge representation of your company. Ergo, you should be completely aware of the recurring problems. I know these problems are reoccurring because an instructor had passed down this information. Read as follows: “We submit list’s regarding the problems but they don’t ever fix them and just send the next group on the boat while knowing about the problems.” Is that how you want your company to be represented? I’ve been on this earth for 16 years and never have I ever heard any company display such disregard to safety, especially with children.

DISREGARD FOR VALUABLE HUMAN LIFE:
I chose to attend this trip with two of my best friends; whom I care about deeply. Seeing the negligent circumstances my friend was put in was pathetic. I believe it was the sixth day of our trip, when my friend had lost the ability to breath. We were about 40 feet underwater when her air had ran out. There was a malfunction in the SPG. One moment it said 500 PSI left and the next it was 0. There was no time to respond in the life-threatening situation. Fortunately, she was able to do an emergency dissent; however as she reached the surface, she was left with a bloody nose and felt an extreme loss of oxygen. She stated as follows, “I felt really lightheaded as I got to the surface and I realized I had a bloody nose. It wasn’t till one hour did I feel ‘normal’ again”. I am fully aware that accidents happen but this happened to her twice back to back. My friend had consulted with one of the scuba instructors to figure out why she always feels as if she’s gasping for air. She had told her two things, “you are breathing too much” and that “the valve was closed alittle much and/or you had opened it”. That was clearly not the case, and there was more to the story but she was too lazy to handle it. Becuase of her lack and disregard to human safety my friends life was at risk. This is another prime example of child reckless endangerment. I am truly appalled that I would even have to include this in my review. Coming on to this trip an individual, (from Broad Reach head quarters in Raleigh, North Carolina) explicitly told me safety is their number one priority and never to question their safety because we will always be in good hands and they are very proud of their plans they put in place to keep each one of their students healthy. I don’t think this instance backs up that claim extremely well. Maybe the individual should rethink your boastful and overly confident claim before stating it.

TIME AND PLACE:
In the last decade, politics have had a huge uprising and finds itself in a lot of conversations, in our present day society. However, there is a time and place for everything and a boat with a bunch of children on it is not a place that it should be occurring on. There was a handful of times where political and religious topics were brought up. No matter what side of the spectrum you stand on, there should never be bashing of another side. I, myself, identify as a Christian and there was multiple times where a student would say “F**k Jesus” on the boat. The counselors would hear it but not do anything about it. This boat is meant to be an inclusive space where people all around the world come with different nationalities, races, religious backgrounds, ethnicities, and all can be treated as one. Unfortunately for me, I did not always feel as if my background morals were being respected. In addition, one of the counselors had brought up how there are many shootings in America. That is true, but you do not bash one’s country and talk down upon it because of an issue that has nothing to do with what I signed up for. Again, there’s a time and place for everything, political/religious conversations have nothing to do with scuba diving and sailing, ergo they should’ve never occurred. The conversation should’ve been shut down right away to avoid offending someone. Unfortunately, the lack of disregard to human morals was absurd.

PRIVACY:
The female scuba instructor had no regard for peoples private information. There were multiple times when private information such as prescriptions and medical records, were left out. They were not put away in sight, instead, they would sit out and completely open in front of the whole boat. This is extremely disgraceful that the public had access and insight to people medical prescriptions and records.
Throughout my review, I try my best to stay consistent and only present the facts. I am writing this so other parents and children can obtain insight on the disgraceful occurrences that happen when participating in a Broad Reach trip. I genuinely want the best for each and every individual and I do not think by participating in a Broad Reach trip will account for your valuable and worthy life. I hope you take in my review with great consideration. Lastly, for you Broad Reach, DO BETTER.

My daughter just returned from the 12 Day Scuba and Sailing Exploration aboard The Trinidad with three instructors. I want to warn others to consider the following issues before they book this trip.

COMMUNICATION:
About a day before the trip we received an email letting us know that the sims card would be removed from the kids phones when they arrived. I understand the need to limit cell phone addiction BUT not being able to communicate with my daughter was not something that I expected. This info was not communicated to us before we booked the trip and that is not right!

SCUBA SAFETY:
My daughter contacted me by about the fifth or sixth day to report to me that she had run out of air during a dive because her tank had a leak and that it caused her nose to gush blood. I was very concerned and alarmed, so I contacted the North Carolina Office and directly emailed, the address recommended for emergencies and for contacting the BR officials that were with the kids in St.M. It took the North Carolina Office over 24 hours to get back to me with a lame message that denied what my daughter told me and NO ONE ANSWERED BACK MY EMAIL!!! The folks that were supposed to be my emergency contact did not even bother to contact me back to answer my concerns about my daughters scuba incident and the safety of the scuba equipment!!!

FOOD:
There simply was NOT enough food for these active teenagers. The kids were always hungry and, although they had a remote storage area that my daughter said was FULL of food, these kids were not given more to eat. They were weak and had headaches because of food depravation. They bought nutella with their own money and resorted to eating that junk out of extreme hunger. One instructor told the kids that any food that they bought on land had to be shared with everyone, which I agree about, BUT she would have food that she claimed was totally hers and no one was to touch it. She even keep cold drinks for herself when the boat ran out of drinking water! Yes, you read that right- they ran out of water!!!

WATER:
We were not warned before this trip that EXTREME water conservation was practiced and that if they kids ran out of water they would be left without ANY until they could refill. Now, I agree to teaching kids about water conservation BUT not to the detriment of their health and safety. They should have been supplied with as much fresh drinking water, as needed, without question!!! Dehydration is a serious health issue that Broadreach did not care about. An instructor told the kids that they could refill the water but he did not feel like doing it because of how long it took. They kids all said that they would help since they were soo thirsty but he still made them wait until the NEXT DAY for water.

TOILETS:
The toilets backed up raw sewage all over the floors and because of conserving water, they only used a bit of ocean water to splash it away. It was not cleaned up or properly sanitized and the girls were told by an instructor that they were no longer allowed to shave because of the probability of them getting Staph if they got cut. The kids were then told that from now on they were not allowed to use the toilets to defecate. If they had to do that, they were expected to jump into the water and defecate there- they called it a "water dookie". So gross!! However, one instructor didn't abide by her own rules and would stink up the girls bathroom everyday.

LANGUAGE:
An instructor screamed at the kids if she heard them using foul language but, hypocritically, she used foul language while telling them that they couldn't.

INSTRUCTORS:
One instructor is only 20 years old and does not seem mature or responsible enough to handle being in charge of 12 kids.
Two other instructors were liked by the kids, which seemed to anger the other instructor and make her more spiteful.

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL VIEWS:
One instructor brought up social and political issues that were inappropriate in this situation and no one appreciated her opinions. If she does not eat fish or meat, that is her business and she should not be scornful of what the kids choose to eat. She also should not be making comments about the parents of these kids and their choices and lifestyles.

MEDICATION:
An instructor was in charge of dispensing the medication to the kids that needed it and she was very neglectful with this duty. She forgot to do it so often that she just put the meds out and told the kids to do it themselves.

SANITATION:
This boat was filthy and contaminated and the only cleaning was done by the kids themselves on the last day. I'm willing to bet that BR will not properly disinfect and sanitize this boat before the next group boards.

OVERALL:
My daughter said that she did have a good time because she totally loved all the other kids. They truly bonded and got through the hunger, thirst and filthy conditions with each other and their support and laughter. They made the best of the situation but these issues need to be addressed by BR!!!

My daughter, age 17, was very excited to sail, dive, and experience a co-ed trip at sea for 17 days. She was told it once she got there, it was all girls, no boys, which is fine, but that could have been communicated before she got there and maybe offered another trip? She arrived a day late with another student due to a missed connection. There were no extra beds and were told to sleep on the kitchen floor and didn't sleep well with people walking over them. They were told they could camp on the deck but it was loud, windy and scary. She eventually got a bed but it had bugs... she had bites all over her, head to the bottoms of her feat. She feared it was chicken pox or measles and pleaded with the staff to take her to a doctor and they refused. It wasn't until a panic attack that they asked someone but never took her in. They said it was likely bug bites, but didn't bother to wash or change the sheets. She didn't sleep well for days. Doctor at home said it was bites and could have been dealt with by seeing a doctor for relief and washing sheets/clothes.
Overall, she had a very good time and learned a ton, including to question authority. I think they vetted some poor instructors and misrepresented the trip on the website. She got along with most girls and the trip was not a total loss or disaster, it was just poor leadership and she learned to cope. She's tough.
I would be weary of this organization, but I'm not saying don't go... I don't know how we could have known this, which is why I'm writing this.
Another complaint was that some students were heavy into Jesus and didn't like swearing.
That's fine, but then they allowed girls to do Jesus prayers at dinner? We are all about freedom of choice and religious beliefs, but not pushed on us.
She doesn't regret going, but these are some messed up issues. Just beware.

EDIT: I spoke with the director. He was extremely apologetic and listened to all my issues. Most importantly, he acknowledged and took accountability for the issues. He address my concerns, and looked to improve based on the experience. The core issue was communication, and I do have hopes it will improved based on this.

My trip to Fiji set off my love of traveling and future adventures. This course was perfect to ‘jump start’ my career in scuba diving and learn about marine conservation. My skills as a scuba diver increased exponentially because of our small group size and personal relationships with our course instructors and staff at Beqa Adventure Divers. I never felt like my safety was at risk, even when I struggled with some of the diving skills. Our instructor was extremely patient, especially when I had trouble equalizing on two dives and helped me work through the skills I struggled with. I would recommend bringing good rain gear and warm layers for the boat. During the months of June and July it is winter in Fiji, therefore the water was very cold, and it rained almost every day. However, the weather did not impact any of our activities and the amount of fun we had! Each day, I learned something new about marine conservation and built lasting relationships with instructors and peers alike. The locals who I met and am still friends today, are some of the most welcoming and genuine people I have had the pleasure knowing. I cannot wait until I am able to return to Fiji and visit all the friends I made. Overall, I am extremely grateful for the experience and would recommend this program to any aspiring divers and conservationist. Not only do you gain the educational experience but also create memories and friendships that last a lifetime!

I have so many positive things to say about this trip! I was nervous before the trip because it was my first time doing an abroad program for an extended period of time but everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I felt right at home! I was one of the younger members of the group but I never felt left out from any discussions or activities. All of the lessons were interesting and engaging and I was never bored! I enjoyed participating in all of the bonding and trust exercises we did over the course of the trip. My favorite part of the trip by far was working in the clinic and getting to play with the children in the waiting room. Everyone at the FIMRC clinic was so kind and dedicated to their work. The clinic made such a profound impact on my life that I decided to start a club dedicated to helping FIMRC in my hometown! I always felt safe and felt that my personal needs were being met (food, sleep, etc). My leaders were such strong role models and I am so grateful for everything that they taught me. I have formed friendships that I will carry with me throughout my life!

My experience at Broadreach has been life changing. One of my favorite parts of the program is that we were constantly exploring outdoors. I had the opportunity to immerse myself in so many unique environments through different perspectives. While snorkeling I saw an array of vibrant sea stars slowly inching down into the low tide. On kayaking trips we got to paddle over kelp beds, do open water crossings, and watch pods of orcas porpoising by us. While we were camping off the grid I watched beautiful sunsets with the group. While whale watching, we saw bait balls, Steller Sea Lions, bald eagles, river otters and sea otters. At one of the field stations I went swimming in bioluminescence at midnight and while floating on my back looked up at the stars. This trip was life changing because I want to do it again, and because it inspired an overwhelming and profound appreciation for nature within the whole group that I hadn’t been exposed to before.
Having a small group of students on the expedition allowed for an amazing community to develop. We all had a lot of fun together doing group activities and cooking meals, and were also there to support each other if someone was feeling homesick, or when exams were coming up. The instructors were also a huge factor in everyone being so supported. Our group learned a lot about marine mammals and conservation through field work, lessons, projects, and interacting with researchers at different field stations. Overall, the expedition maintained a great balance between having fun and learning about marine ecosystems.

This was my first trip out of the country, which was especially scary for me because I was going to meet up with a group of people who I didn't know and live with them for three weeks on a sailboat. Deciding to go on this trip with broadreach was easily one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. I learned so much about myself and became way more confident than I was at the beginning of the trip. I learned great leadership and life skills all while having the most fun of my entire life with friends that I will stay in touch with forever. I learned to scuba dive on this trip which is now one of my greatest passions. The people at broadreach have been nothing but helpful and nice. This trip has given me more life experience and fun than I could have ever imagined possible in such a short amount of time and I would highly recommend it to everyone!

My trip could not have been better. It was the most amazing way to learn immersed in the environment. I could not have asked for a better summer. My summer of Broadreach I made friends I will never lose and memories I will never forget. From breathing in this new underwater world to skippering our catamaran. The bond you form with the instructors and your friends is like no other. The instructors we had were amazing, some of the best teachers I have ever had. We eventually became a family. This program opened up a world of new possibility and new knowledge for me. If you have the opportunity to take this trip- do it. I promise you won't regret it.