Indo Ocean Project, Bira.

As someone who was changing career direction, I had been looking for a way to gain marine conservation experience and was struggling to find something to cover everything I needed. Then I came across IndoOcean Project (IOP). For me it ticked every box I was after conservation wise (turtles, sharks,rays, fish families/key species, mangrove and coral restoration) and all for a very respectable price, plus I got my Divemaster out of it too. I felt that it was the ideal package for someone looking to start up in marine conservation, and I am so glad I was able to spend those 10 weeks with IOP in Bira.

The staff were all brilliant! As dive instructors, they were very professional, thorough and very supportive. They go above and beyond the standard PADI or SSI requirements to make sure we leave as excellent dive professionals by the end of the programme. For the conservation side, the ecology workshops were incredibly informative, and the staff only too happy to entertain the millions of questions that we threw at them.

Having up to 8 interns plus the staff around made for a very nice social atmosphere and building up really good connections. The accommodation was exactly what was needed, dorm style bedrooms, a big social area and kitchen, and access to local amenities - shops/restaurants/bars etc within walking or Scooter distance.

In terms of the diving, being one of only a few dive centres in the area meant that we had the dive sites to ourselves. As part of the coral triangle and being a relatively untouristy area means that the reefs are in good condition and there are plenty of fish, turtles, sharks and even the odd whale shark!

All in all, it was a fantastic project, and I can say without doubt that my time with IOP in Bira was invaluable (and the reason I was able to get a coral restoration position in the Seychelles afterwards) - Huge thank you to everyone there!