Broadreach Marine Biology Adventures

I am a thirteen year old boy, and dispute the many camps I have been to, broadreach really blew it out of the water. It was by far the most amazing experience I have ever done. Everything about it was fantastic, from the learning to the views and sails. The scuba dives were amazing too, and I came back home open water certified. The night dive was phenomenal, and we saw an octopus swimming along on the sea floor. I would recommend this to anyone, and hope I can do another broadreach program in the future.

The Fiji shark studies Broad Reach trip was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I learned how to live in small quarters with quite a few people. I learned the average house skills like cooking, cleaning, and staying organized. However, I also learned all about sharks and diving as well. During this trip you get the real idea of how Fijians live. Your diving with the amazing B.A.D. Staff at least 4 hours a day to see sharks or super cool coral. I gained so many friends that I still keep in contact with after the trip and I’m actually planning on doing a get together with them for thanksgiving!!! This experience has changed my view on life in so many good ways and I would recommend this trip to everyone.

This 12 day trip was the most incredible experience I could have ever imagined. I made friends for life and over came so many of my fears. The bond I made with the instructors is something I had never experienced before, they were unbelievably supportive and fun to be around. The mix of learning about new topics and having fun swimming around with your friends is an incredible part of the adventure. The instructors were so supportive and always prioritised the kids safety and fun while teaching us to dive.

This was not the adventure of a lifetime. That’s what I have to keep telling myself, because to acknowledge that I’ll never experience anything like my Broadreach trip again would send me into a bottomless pit of depression.
I had found this program 3 years prior and immediately started saving up and dreaming about the trip. I was incredibly fortunate to receive a generous scholarship from broadreach that helped greatly with the costs. My only concern going into the program was that it would be impossible to live up to the expectations I had built over the 1,075 day wait. Somehow, it still exceeded them. Waking up on the island was a dream come true, and never in my life have I been more present in the moment. Learning to SCUBA Dive was such an unbelievable experience: I still picture all the amazing animals I saw underwater and am counting the days until I can dive again.
The people there were also absolutely amazing, and we still talk nearly every day. I never felt judged by my peers, and Broadreach makes it so easy to bond and make lifetime friends. The instructors were all great and I found the classes fascinating. We were able to learn so much in such a short time, but it is all very manageable and low-stress.
Getting to work with local conservation efforts was very rewarding, and I still can’t fully believe that I’m certified as a coral restoration diver now. If I weren’t aging out, I would absolutely do another trip. To anyone who is even slightly considering broadreach: go for it. You will not regret it.

This trip was awesome. Getting to live on a 50 foit sailboat with people that became your best friends was something that I'll always remember. Scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming, sailing, learning about marine biology and learning how to live on a boat were my favorite parts about the trip. No two days were alike, some days we would dive 3 or 4 times and other days we would sail to new islands. Generally though, we would wake up pretty early after sleeping under the stars, our daily cooks would have breakfast made and we would all sit down to eat together. Each day, new people cook the meals for everyone on the boat (which is actually a lot of fun!) and we pick meals out of a recipe book that they have on board. After breakfast, we'd all help clean up and do the dishes. Then we would do different things, we'd either have a marine bio lecture which were always really interesting, we'd dive, sometimes we would do some games or team building activities, sail or do other things! My favorite days of the trip were the free days that we had on most of the islands. Saba was my favorite island. It's a tiny island that's part of the Netherlands and it looks like something straight out of Jurassic park. It's known for having the tallest peak in the Netherlands, called mount scenery. On one of our free days, five of us chose to hike all the way to the top. It's over a thousand steps to the top and was definitely the hardest hike that I'd ever done but it was definitely worth it. The views from the cloud forest were the best I'd ever seen! Overall, diving over 20 times, living with a bunch of people that became really god friends and learning all about how to sail and about marine biology made this trip the best thing I did all summer. I would highly recommend it to anyone that likes trying new things, adventure and the ocean. This trip made my summer fantastic and it was definitely worth it.

I attatended the Caribbean marine biology voyage in the summer of 2016 at the age of 16, there were 13 of us on our boat (nala) and we called ourselves the nalaites. Together we supported eachother and blossomed together. We had some free time on Saint Eustatius so out skipper turned on some music and we threw a dance party and danced around the boat in conga lines after a while our skipper and another staff member built a rope swing off of the boat we all took turns swinging off of the boat and into the turquoise waters. When our arms were too sore to swing we went for an afternoon snorkel and found an amazing wall with thousands of young fish. In the 21 days that I spent in the Caribbean this is the memory that I will hold closest to my heart. If you have the chance to go on this trip please do if I could I would do it all again in a heart beat I learned so much and made a family that I know will always have my back.

I was awarded a grant by my school to go with Broadreach on their Marine Biology program. In short, it changed my life. Not only was the experience outstanding, but the people I met and the events were amazing. We spent all 12 days on the boat and became so close. The instructors were truly knowledgeable and there was no pressure at all when it came to diving. We became sufficient in diving over just the first few days and at each spot we increased in skill, leading up to the final 'dive' day where we were thrust against an overhang 120' above the seafloor. We combined our skills of buoyancy and breathing control to examine spectacular corals and marine life. On top of the diving, we were given intriguing lectures of the local marine life. We even helped with community service by developing trails for the people of Saba. All in all, this trip was the best experience in my life so far and fostered a love for sailing and diving as well as marine biology. If given the choice of Broadreach or another program, I can assure you that you will have no regrets choosing Broadreach and when you get back home, you will be looking for ways to get right back there.

At the age of fourteen, a summer trip has completely changed the way I see the world. Being on a trip with possibly ten other teenagers made me learn valuable lessons that couldn't be taught anywhere else. Waking up every day to the beautiful Caribbean Sea and seeing all the amazing sea life opens our eyes to how beautiful the world really is. The dives were amazing. Every time we would go down, so many animals and corals were there to be discovered. The towns are so colorful and the townspeople are really friendly. This trip still makes me think of all the things we learned from how to equalize your ears to cooking dinner for fifteen people. I would go back for the whole summer if I had a choice. Broadreach is the way to go if you are looking for a once in a lifetime experience.
- Danube out