Research Assistant: Marine Conservation Volunteering in Carriacou, Grenada

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

This was my fourth project volunteering abroad and the communication and service of CRB was the best of all! If you add hurricane Beryl to that fact, it is even more impressive. They managed to keep in touch with me even right after Beryl hit. The staff is very friendly, knowledgeable and professional. Their flexibility made for a conservation program with activities like Coral Watch and lionfish hunting, combined with additional activities like cleanup dives (getting galvanise roofs out of the water!) and restoring coral nurseries. All of this made my holiday even more special and rewarding. We had nice dinners together, I was offered some fantastic fun dives on the side, and I even got an island tour on my no dive day. The guesthouse were I stayed was also very nice with great meals and again, super friendly service. Carriacou is an amazing island that you have to discover!

I was doing 4 weeks of volunteering with CRB. First I got the possibility to improve my diving skills in a training week in order to get my advanced openwater certification. This was followed by 3 program weeks, in which we worked on coral nurseries, performed reef checks to get data about the health of local reefs and were hunting lionfish. The staff aswell as the other volunteers were really nice and at the weekend non project related activities were taking place. I had a great time and can highly recommend the program to everyone who's up for diving and cares about the ocean.

From the moment I got here, both the other volunteers and the staff at CRB have been incredibly welcoming and kind. It’s not often you find people who are extremely knowledgeable and dedicated, but also a lot of fun to be around. I love scuba diving, so having the opportunity to simultaneously help the environment and dive has been so much fun. All the projects that CRB is running have very tangible results, so the work feels impactful. I’ve had an incredible experience, and I will be coming back the first chance I get.

A very fulfilling week tending to the care of our oceans by collecting data and measuring the health of the corals and marine life. Plenty of time to both work and relax in a beautiful environment.

Nora and the team are wonderful and very familiar with all the dive spots. Location is ideal as we were just steps away from the ocean and boat for our dives. The longest boat ride was 10 minutes.

Was able to find several fun restaurants with tasty food. The locals a very friendly and helpful.

Highly recommend!

The four weeks I spent in Carriacou were life changing. I completed two courses in my time here, advanced open water and open water. I logged 40 dives in four weeks. The team I worked with, the volunteers I met, and the work I did all left a meaningful impact on my life.
I learned about how to protect reefs in the Caribbean region. I got to swim with sharks, turtles, and stingrays! I learned to look for the macro species hiding all over the reef. I wouldn’t change one moment of my time here.

My experience with Caribbean Reef Buddy was nothing short of incredible. Everything about this program was incredible to me and I could not recommend it enough to those seeking to get involved with the underwater world. I applied to this program as a Freshman studying Marine Biology in college and was a bit anxious about spending three weeks in Grenada. However this anxiety quickly faded as I got to know everyone involved with the program. Everyone involved is unbelievably welcoming, knowledgeable and truly want you to enjoy your time working with them. Speaking of which, the work I did with CRB was truly rewarding and I felt as though I was truly helping to protect Carriacou's local reefs. In addition, I gained invaluable field experience in the realm of marine science which has and will continue to aid in future endeavors with work. I also went into this program as an open water diver and while partaking in this program received my advanced open water scuba certification as well as deep diver specialty certification. Gary is an incredible dive instructor, the best I have ever had, and puts safety as an utmost priority. He taught me invaluable skills in the water and I am a more confident diver than ever thanks to his guidance. For those wondering about the diving itself, the reefs in Carriacou are gorgeous and were full of photography opportunities for those interested in the field. I will say that much of the marine life there is on the smaller size so macro photographers should be excited. I got to see so many incredible creatures and experience so much during my time with CRB. I truly could not recommend it enough.