SCHOOL EXPEDITIONS IN MARINE CONSERVATION

Give your students a classroom they’ll never forget

Educational dive expeditions with Marine Conservation Philippines

Imagine your students diving twice a day on living coral reefs, learning directly from marine biologists, and sleeping under canvas in a forest camp on the coast of Negros Oriental. This isn’t an add-on to their education, it’s an experience that turns environmental science from a textbook subject into a personal mission.

At Marine Conservation Philippines, school groups don’t just visit a dive resort. They join a working conservation camp, a real non-profit, the same one our citizen scientists, researchers, and international volunteers call home. Students can learn diving and leave as certified PADI divers, but more importantly, as ocean ambassadors! They will have seen first-hand what’s worth protecting, and understand why.

Every group that comes through camp puts real money into the local community – supporting Filipino families whose livelihoods are tied to a healthy reef and into our advocacy, ensuring these reefs are productive and providing food security to local communities.

Why schools choose MCP

• Real conservation, not a tour. Your students work alongside the same biologists who run our Marine Protected Area monitoring – learning to identify fish, coral, and invertebrates the way our own citizen scientists do.
• Genuinely safe, easy diving. Our local dive sites are gentle – no down-currents, no strong longshore currents, no surprises. Ideal for young or newer divers.
• Flexible supervision. We can provide full guiding for every dive, or step back and let your own staff lead groups – whatever fits how your school likes to run a trip.
• Full cultural immersion. From campfire storytelling to visiting a local Filipino school, students engage with the community, not just the reef.
• Everything handled. Airport transfers, marine park fees, full board, and accommodation are all built in – you focus on your students, we handle the logistics.

What we take care of

As organizers and educators you want to focus on your students, not logistics, food hygiene and safety in another country. What we usually take care of is:

• Return transfers to and from Dumaguete Airport
• Diving twice a day (on diving days), with all marine park and boat fees covered and handled
• Full board – breakfast, lunch, dinner, plus snacks, fruit, water, tea, and coffee throughout the day. We can comfortably handle allergies and dietary restrictions.
• Comfortable tented accommodation for students; teachers stay in private cottages or shared (with a colleague) rooms with en-suite bathrooms
• A guided mangrove forest walk with MCP biologists
• Various excursions and associated transport
• Interesting lectures and various workshops

A note on accommodation: We offer tent accommodation from December to July. Outside of that it is rainy season, and we will need to house students in our comfortable dorms or in some proper shelters. Outside accommodation options, like nearby resort(s) or maybe a hotel in Dumaguete can work too, their capacity and booking policies dependent. Let’s discuss your needs on a call or via email.

A week that goes beyond diving

Other activities may include some of the below possibilities, but we are happy to tailor things to specific wishes or needs.

• Evening campfires with Filipino legends and ghost stories from our local staff
• Biologist talks – from the serious (climate change’s effect on local fishing communities, threats facing sea turtles) to the fascinating (the secret lives of octopuses, the most venomous creatures in the sea – and why they’re nothing to fear)
• Night walks through our forest camp, spotting bats, fireflies, and other nocturnal wildlife (season dependent)
• Hands-on cooking session, where MCP’s kitchen team teaches your students to prepare a traditional Filipino dish
• A visit to a local Filipino school, giving your students the chance to meet Filipino peers their own age – with the possibility of building an ongoing partner-school relationship

Optional add-ons

• A day trip to Apo Island, the world’s oldest marine protected area, with near-guaranteed sea turtle sightings and spectacular reefs
• A night dive, for groups ready for something a little different
• Red Rock Hot Spring excursion – a hike and drive out to natural hot springs and volcanic scenery

Learning dives, not just dives

We can structure your students’ diving exactly like the training our own new citizen science volunteers go through: still fun, still social, but with real learning objectives – species identification, reef survey basics, and the skills that make for a genuine conservation experience rather than a standard holiday dive.

Who can take part

No prior diving experience is required – MCP can train complete beginners on-site, from first confined water session through to open water certification. (Or advanced open water level if desired) Students who’ve already completed their academic training and pool sessions at home, can move straight into their qualifying dives. It’s perfectly fine if they arrive already certified as well.

If a non-diving trip suits your group better, we can build a dedicated non-diving program instead – it could include snorkeling, beach cleans, and tree planting, for example.

Groups of up to 70 students, ages 12 and up. Your school decides how many staff to bring; our team supplements supervision for all excursions and in-water activities.

Plan your students’ expedition

Pricing typically starts from around $570-650 USD per person for an 8-day / 7-night stay with twice-daily diving, and adjusts based on group size, accommodation choices, and which excursions you select. Every school trip is built around your goals, your calendar, and your students.

Ready to start planning? Use the form below to send us a message and tell us about yourselves, and we’ll set up a call to talk through dates, group size, and what your students need most from the experience, and how we can create a perfect school trip.

Health, safety & child protection

• All students must be covered by insurance arranged by their school or parents. Parents or legal guardians must sign standard PADI liability releases. If the students will be doing any PADI courses, their parents must also fill out a medical form.
• The nearest recompression chamber is in Dauin, about 15 km / 25 minutes from camp. Dumaguete City, close by, has several modern, well-equipped hospitals.
• All staff are trained first aid providers, and many are first aid instructors. There always staff on site who can deal with any emergency 24/7.
• MCP operates under a dedicated Child Safety Policy governing all work with minors on-site. Of relevance too perhaps is our ethical volunteering policy.