Expedition Life
Marine Conservation Expedition in Mexico

The expedition base is quite luxurious for an expedition, as there is running water and though this is sometimes limited due to the size of the water tank, this usually means each volunteer can experience two freshwater showers a week as well as the good old bucket showers (which make it feel just that bit more like an expedition!). The food is very basic, consisting mainly of rice, beans and pasta. There is usually porridge for breakfast, with pancakes on special occasions.

See up to date info on the Mexico Blog

Days are long and hard, beginning early to make the most of daylight hours. A typical day might consist of the following: travelling to the survey sites, conducting survey work, returning from the sites, washing down the equipment, filling air tanks ready for the next day and finishing late once all the data collected has been reviewed and then input in the database. At the end of the day, the whole team gathers in the evening to debrief, eat and socialise over a few beers as the sun goes down. At weekends (Friday afternoon to Saturday evening), you have free time to spend however you see fit. Expedition staff may run optional fun dives and can help volunteers organise dive and snorkelling trips to hidden cenotes, excursions into the jungle, to the untouched local Mayan ruins and the famous Mayan sites of Coba and Tulum, and to the infamous Weekend Fiesta!

GVI can arrange for Spanish crash courses for volunteers who wish to learn or review the basics before commencing the expedition.

The expedition offers numerous incredibly exciting opportunities to volunteers. As a volunteer, you will have the opportunity to:

• Immerse yourself in a remote tropical paradise that is one of the world’s few remaining truly pristine environments, living within the biosphere reserve, working with our two local partners and experiencing a new culture, food and way of life
• Increase your personal knowledge of the tropical marine environment, its importance and the threats to it, whilst you help to increase both local and global knowledge and awareness
• Learn a variety of marine survey skills within the tropical environment
• Learn to dive to a certified, internationally recognised level, up to PADI Advanced Diver
• [As a diver] be trained specifically for research purposes and have the chance to increase your dive qualifications, depending on conditions
• Experience warm, crystal-clear water diving upon one of the most immaculate and spectacular examples of the coral reef environment in the world and, if you are lucky, see turtles, dolphins, manatees and sting rays up close in their natural environment
• Assist in both the child and adult marine education and awareness programs; visiting and teaching within the local schools, restaurants, the expedition base and the open marine environment
• Assist in the development of the Ecological Research and Awareness Centre
• Take optional locally taught Spanish lessons
• Relax and party with your new friends at the well-deserved Saturday night fiesta!