It's more fun in the Philippines

I spent 3 months with CCC in the Philippines and if I could I would go back and spent the rest of my life there.
My time there changed everything for me. I learned a lot about marine ecology and it never felt like I had to learn it. Everything there made me want to learn everything as quick as possible. I went there right after high school, but you'll find a different range of people in every age: marine biology students, passionate divers or people who just wanted to figure themselves out and do something else.

The accommodation is great, the description says up to 8 people per room but we were never more than 3 girls in our room. You can see the water from your window, you have your own bathroom. In your free time (you'll have lots of it) you can sit on the porch and look at the water or cuddle the dogs or just take a nap. The walls inside are covered in fish paintings and create a homey atmosphere. You'll have lunch and dinner together with all the staff members and volunteers and I promise you'll never want to eat somewhere or anything else in your life. The chef makes great food and everything is fresh and if you're nice he'll give you extra pancakes or fried chicken!

The diving is simply breathtaking. For people who've never been diving before as well as for experienced divers. You'll see a wide range of species: Rays, beautiful reef fishes, eels, nudibranchs, squids, seahorses, sharks, tuna, peacock shrimps and if you're lucky a whale shark will swim past you. And if not, you'll see one of its fins while sitting in the porch and jump in the water to get a closer look while snorkeling.

The equipment is good, the training is great as everyone supports you and tells you their little tricks. If you need help the staff will always support you and make sure everything is okay. Even for people who have zero experience in the field it's not hard to learn the things needed for the surveys. The surveys themselves are good scientific work; everyone is passionate enough to take them seriously. They're always a lot of fun! While you're there you'll contribute to the establishment of Marina Protected Areas. You'll see the differences between the overfished areas and the MPAs and you'll get to know, how hard it is to find a compromise between protecting the environment and not taking the fishermen's livelihood.

The base is located in a rather rural area, which I quite enjoyed. There are not many people around and the beach is always empty. If you want to you can take a bike to one of the towns around and buy fruits and candy or have a basketball match with the local policemen.
The trips we did were amazing. If you get the chance, go and see the waterfalls.
Another way to have fun are the Saturday nights where you'll have a trivia quiz (everyone takes it very seriously) and karaoke in the village afterwards. The life at base is really social, you'll have someone to have fun with all the time.

It's been hard for me to leave this wonderful place on earth and I can happily recommend everyone to take part in the marine expedition of Coral Cay Conservation.