Location

Multiple Locations +5

South Africa
- Durban
- Cape Town
Mauritius
Malaysia
Indonesia
- Bali
Australia
- Darwin
- Cairns

Term

Fall, Spring

Subject Areas

Communications Environmental Studies Marine Biology Oceanography

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Program Details

Program Type

Provider

Degree Level

High School Diploma

Housing

Boat

University

University of South Florida

Language

English

Pricing

Starting Price

27,000

Price Details

12 academic credits from the University of South Florida
International Yachtmaster Training (IYT): International Crew Certificate, Navigation Master, and Master of Yachts 200 Ton Theory (course based on experience)
PADI Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue or Divemaster Certification

Over 6500 nautical miles

What's Included

Accommodation Activities Classes Meals

What's Not Included

Airfare

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Seamester: Australia to South Africa - 90 Days

Name: Seamester: Australia to South Africa - 90 Days
Brand: Seamester
SKU: 69897
Rating: 10 (4 reviews)

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COVID-19 Program Updates

Due to global health & safety concerns and travel restrictions related to the coronavirus, Seamester has decided to offer flexible booking options for some of their upcoming programs. Learn more about COVID-19 updates to stay tuned regarding program information.

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Seamester: Australia to South Africa - 90 Days

About

This voyage is a once in a lifetime opportunity to sail aboard S/Y Argo, our 112-foot schooner from Australia to Borneo, Bali and across the Southern Indian Ocean, to Cape Town via Christmas Island and Mauritius

The voyage offers a full compliment of academics that can be tailored to the specific needs of each student. Additionally, this voyage will prove to be an exciting travel adventure that emphasizes blue-water sailing skills development, SCUBA diving training and cultural exploration. Sail training certifications for this voyage are issued through International Yacht Training, as IYT offers the only global standard in professional yachting certifications.

Once underway, there are no passengers on this voyage! With over 6500 miles to cover in a relatively short time, much of the program will be spent at sea, with shipmates and staff rotating through the responsibilities of life aboard, each a part of the working crew.

Highlights

Become A Certified Scuba Diver
Learn To Sail
Earn 12 College Credits
Cross the Indian Ocean

Sea|mester Voyages Filling Fast

With limited space aboard each vessel, each trip typically fills up within three months of the start date. Click the link below to see our updated availability on all of our 2020 voyages.

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Scholarships

Seamester Scholarships & Financial Aid

Seamester offers a number of Financial Aid and Scholarship options available for those looking toward funding to make their experience possible.

Value

$500 - $10,000

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Questions & Answers

Reviews

10 Rating

based on 4 reviews

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Study

Academics 10
Support 10
Fun 10
Housing 10
Safety 10

Showing 1 - 4 of 4

I did this trip in 2014 and I had an incredible time. I learned a lot about myself as a person, became a more proficient sailor, learned how to use my leadership style to my advantage, and became a good member of a team. There are so many soft skills you learn while living in this environment with this many people it's difficult to quantify. You learn plenty of hard skills around the boat that will follow you after the trip as well. You get to run the boat as a team while becoming very close with your mentors as well. The simplicity of life underway was one of my favorite parts. You're surrounded by a huge family on an incredible adventure, seeing beautiful countries and make memories that last a lifetime. I have nothing but the most positive things to say about this program and the impact it's had on my life.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?

The most unfamiliar thing I ate was definitely Durian, one of the world's smelliest fruits.

Anchor watch during sunrise at Mauritius

Read my full story

I was on board Sea|mester's 112 ft schooner Argo for the Spring 2018 voyage from South Africa to Antigua. It was the highlight of my gap year, and certainly one of the best experiences I've ever had. The team of instructors were all knowledgeable and fun to be around throughout the trip and my fellow shipmates became close friends. If you are looking for a challenging, life-changing adventure and love the ocean I would highly recommend Sea|mester.

Amazing experience. If you want to sail across an ocean, scuba dive, and see a lot of countries. Choose this program. Full of adventure and discovery. Learning about the oceans and the vessels that sail them. Classes include seamanship, Marine Bio, Oceanography, and leadership. All taught by extremely smart well picked instructors. Seamester was the best experience I ever had, and it is sure to leave the same impression on all others who sail aboard Argo and Ocean Star.

SeaMester is the most unique study abroad program out there! I learned more than just academics. I learned hard skills that I still use, I learned a lot about myself, and I learned how to be a leader and a member of a group. We also had amazing experiences in the countries and cultures we were immersed in. Most of all, SeaMester was a great experience and tons of fun, while sailing a yacht across an ocean visiting seven countries along the way.

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Why did you choose this program?

Doing a circumnavigation has always been the top of my bucket list, and while I won't ever do one non-stop, the Indian Ocean was a great leg to start with.

The trip goes to some remote locations that I likely would never have gone to and the starting and ending location were places I'd always wanted to go to.

What did your program provider (or university) assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

I was actually transferring schools right after the program, so I did not interact much with Florida Gulf Coast. Sea|mester was very helpful though with all of my questions, comments, and concerns. They made sure my application was completed and made sure I had everything I needed to transfer my credits from Sea|mester to my new school.

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What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

My biggest advice is to say yes to anything and everything, or else, you may regret missing out on something. Whether it is helming the boat, helping cook, helping staff with something once at a new location, or doing what you might think is the worst job to have.

Say yes to every single opportunity you can and you'll get the most out of this experience as you can.

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

There are generally two kinds of days.

The first being on passage, which is scheduled into watch teams. You'll spend 3-4 hours on deck on watch driving the boat, doing boat checks and on bow watch. Following that, you have 6-8 hours off watch which is filled with sleep, classes, homework or taking a bit of time to yourself.

The second type of day is a shore day. By that I mean you're on anchor or on a dock. During this type of day, you may have a class or exam, you will spend some time in the area you're in and you will likely have an excursion at some point as a group.

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

My biggest fear was probably being nervous about juggling my time correctly as I've always struggled with that. Specifically on passage, where you're on an irregular schedule, running the boat, and taking classes.

Passage life turned out to be my favorite part of the entire trip due to how structured it actually is.

What makes this trip special?

It's a very unique environment obviously and is not without its challenges. It's because of the challenges that you learn so much about yourself and your team around you though.

What I love looking back at are the pictures of the beginning and the end of the trip. In the beginning, it was a group of strangers who were all in a location they were unfamiliar with and getting settled which makes the picture look a bit stiff. But our last picture is us having a family dinner out at a restaurant on one of the last nights, recounting stories and memories together.

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Travis Yates

Program

Seamester: Australia to South Africa - 90 Days

Job Title

Managing Director and Marine Superintendent

Travis graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1995 with a degree in Marine Engineering. Always a sailor, Travis competed at both national and international levels, culminating in a bid for the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team in 1996.

Travis holds an MCA/IYT International Master of Ocean Yachts, US Coast Guard Captain’s License and is an Instructor Evaluator for US Sailing. He is also a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and a licensed pilot.

What is your favorite travel memory?

I had the opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia in my early 20's and it was probably the most eye-opening cultural travel of my life and the SCUBA diving was more amazing than any place I have ever dived.

Being able to travel within a culture that I previously was only informed of by the Western media and culture was transformational in terms of my personal understanding of how similar we really are in this world.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I have worked for Sea|mester and Global Expeditions Group for my whole adult life. Working with, teaching and mentoring students has shaped every aspect of the adult, husband, and father I have become. The community we create aboard is a true family and through years Captianing our voyages I helped create and was positively influenced by every trip I led. I continue to be shaped by the experience I have with students in the operational oversight and management role I provide our voyages.

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What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

Since 1998, I have been involved on some level with every student that has sailed with Sea|mester.

The best stories I have all involve Sea|mester being the catalyst for a student to make a huge shift in their trajectory to make the leap to become the person they want to be. From a student who came to us freshly out of dealing with some of life's hardest situations and then wrote to say they were living their dream working in wildlife preservation on an African game preserve. To a student who went on to captain their own small vessel and is looking to work up to being the captain on the Sea|mester vessel they first sailed on, students learn and grow aboard our vessels in a way that they cannot do on a college campus.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

I would choose to sail on our voyage from Australia to South Africa. Crossing the India Ocean is a monumental achievement and one that most humans cannot easily arrange. The longer ocean passages involved provide great sailing and the islands we visit are remote enough that some don't have scheduled air flights. That is a rarity in the ever-shrinking world.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

Our staff is on program 24/7 for up to 90-days when they are running our voyages. I often describe our crews (students and staff) as families and that brings with it all the smiles, laughs and great times that a family goes through. It also means there will be harder days. Days that, if we were not a family, people would not be committed to seeing the hard days through and would not be there 'no matter what' for each other.

Our staff is always there for the students and each other. That is hard! I am proud of our staff every day for their commitment to the ship and her crew.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

Compassion, commitment, and professionalism.

In over 20 years of operation, Sea|mester has operated very successfully in the study aboard and gap year industry due to our core commitment to running safe, engaging, transformational and educational experiences worldwide. Our history and experience in the maritime world are unmatched and we continue to grow our offerings responsibly and with our core principles in focus.

About Seamester

Seamester offers unique educational voyages where students spend their time sailing between countries and continents. For more than 40 years, we have consistently delivered outstanding educational experiences for students. We design our programs to provide engaging learning experiences with real outcomes in ways that are impossible to replicate in...

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