Marine conservation gap year
Most gap years are a mix of earning money, travelling and working out what comes next. A stay with us can give the year some direction: 6 to 24 weeks of diving, reef science and practical fieldwork in the Philippines, fitted around your other plans.
Where are you right now?
Choose the one that sounds most like you.
You don’t need a plan for the rest of your life, just a good next step. Plenty of people leave school without knowing what to study, and a gap year is a sensible time to find out.
With us, you’ll learn to identify fish, corals and invertebrates, use a scientific method underwater and see how your data is used. Some people leave knowing they want to study marine science. Others discover they don’t, which is just as useful to know.
A stay that fits
12 weeks or more. That’s long enough for real scientific work, and still leaves most of the year for other plans.
Results day can change your plans overnight. If that happened to you, the year ahead may not be the one you asked for, but it can still be a very good one.
August to October is our quiet season, new volunteers start every other Monday and we usually reply within 24 hours, so you could be diving within weeks. You’ll come home with certifications, fieldwork and something real to write about when you apply again.
A stay that fits
6 to 10 weeks this autumn. You’ll be back with plenty of time to rethink your plans, earn some money or apply again.
Starting a course and finding it isn’t for you is more common than it feels, and it rarely means the end of studying. Many people who leave a course go on to start a different one.
A few months of hands-on fieldwork, away from lecture halls, can give you the space to choose again with more confidence.
A stay that fits
8 to 12 weeks in the new year, with time left to plan your next step.
If you’ve already spent part of your gap year working and saving, a longer stay can finish with a professional qualification. PADI Divemaster is a professional rating recognised by dive centres around the world, and stays of 16 weeks or more include free tec diving courses.
The longer you stay, the less each week costs.
A stay that fits
16 to 24 weeks, with time for Divemaster, scientific diving and tec training in one stay.
Plan your year
Tap the month you’d like to arrive in and choose how long to stay. The tape shows the next 12 months.
New volunteers start every other Monday, so we’ll find you a start date close to your choice.
Arrive in January, leave around mid-March.
What fits in 10 weeks
- EFR first aid course in your first week, unless you’ve taken it recently
- Up to 3 PADI courses, one for every four weeks of your stay
- Around 120 to 130 dives
- Survey training, then reef surveys with the team
- Divemaster and scientific diving in one stay (we recommend 12 weeks for both)
- About 2 fun-dive days at Apo Island
Your stay
5,500 USD
About 550 USD a week
Most volunteers contact us several months ahead, so do ask early.
What you take home
The experience is the best part, but you’ll also leave with specific things to include on an application or CV.
PADI certifications
From Open Water up to Divemaster, depending on how long you stay, plus EFR first aid. Divemaster is a professional rating you can work with.
Scientific diving skills
Fish, coral and invertebrate identification, standard survey methods and the habit of collecting data carefully, dive after dive.
Fieldwork that matters
We carry out about 2,000 reef surveys a year, giving the local governments we work with results they can use to manage their marine protected areas.
Academic credit
Students in the UK and US can earn academic credit for their stay through our partner CGCS, for a fee. How academic credit works
Applying through UCAS?
From 2026 entry, the UCAS personal statement is three questions instead of one essay. The third asks what you’ve done outside education to prepare for your course and why it’s useful. If you’re heading for marine biology, environmental science or geography, a stay with us gives you a detailed answer: methods you’ve used, data you’ve collected and responsibility you’ve carried in the field.
Is this the right gap year for you?
It suits you if
- You want to be in the water most days. We dive six days a week, around 12 to 13 dives a week.
- You don’t mind carrying your own kit down the beach. Most of our dives start from the shore.
- You like learning a method and doing it properly, again and again.
- You’re comfortable sharing a dorm with four to six people, with private rooms available at extra cost.
- You’re fine with mostly vegetarian food, with meat once a week if you want it.
- You’re interested in the communities as well as the reef.
It’s probably not for you if
- You’re looking for a dive holiday. This is volunteer work with a daily schedule.
- You only have a couple of weeks. Most stays are 6 weeks or more.
- You want a new place every few days. We work the same stretch of coast again and again, because that’s how long-term monitoring works.
Part of a bigger trip
A stay with us fits easily into a longer trip. Sundays are always free, and you can ask for extra days off. Once a month, we all go fun diving at Apo Island, and Dumaguete and Siquijor are nearby. A bus to Dumaguete leaves from our gate about every 15 minutes, and most volunteers extend their visas online.
For parents
A gap year is often a family decision, and you probably have questions of your own. These are the ones parents ask us most.
- Who will they be with?
- Volunteers work alongside our international and Filipino staff. Many of our Filipino colleagues grew up in the communities where we work.
- What’s included?
- Accommodation, meals, diving and PADI courses are covered by the weekly fee. You’ll find the full list on our packages page.
- Can we read what others say?
- Past volunteers have written more than 130 independent reviews, and our policies, including safeguarding, are public on our policies page.
- Can we contact you directly?
- Of course. Parents are welcome to write to us, and we usually reply within 24 hours.
Ready to plan your gap year?
Apply online with your dates and we’ll get back to you, usually within 24 hours.
Apply nowHave questions first? Get in touch