MARINELAB'S SCUBA PROGRAMS
We can offer SCUBA dives on the coral reef in place of snorkel trips to the reef for high school students who are already SCUBA certified. Our divemasters (who are also MarineLab instructors) guide the students in the water on each reef trip. We can customize SCUBA programs to add more dives or night dives, as long as our core curriculum (and safe diving practices) are followed. There are a few key differences between a standard MarineLab snorkeling program and a MarineLab SCUBA program:
- Students must be at least 15 years old and already have their Open Water SCUBA certification
- All SCUBA students get a refresher/skills check dive in the lagoon prior to their SCUBA dives. Many students have never dove in salt water and need to readjust their weights.
- BC and Regulator rental is included in the prices
- Chaperones must pay for SCUBA expenses (they are not free, as in the snorkel programs)
- A Mini Adventure in the MarineLab Undersea Laboratory is a core component of all SCUBA programs
- The SCUBA diving is done on the reef as part of MarineLab's core curriculum; we will not offer a program that is exclusively diving-oriented.
Standard MarineLab SCUBA Programs
4 day, 3 night SCUBA. This program is very abbreviated and is the shortest SCUBA program we can offer. It includes a lagoon refresher/skills check dive, two trips (2 dives on each trip) to the coral reef, a Mini Adventure (see sidebar), seagrass and mangrove ecology snorkeling trips, and evening programs. Participants in this program cannot fly until after 5 pm on the day they depart MarineLab. Cost: $560 (2008), $600 (2009) Itinerary
5 day, 4 night SCUBA This program draws out the 4 day 3 night program over a longer stretch of time and adds a couple more snorkeling trips. Cost: $692 (2008), $790 (2009) Itinerary
6 day, 5 night SCUBA Another SCUBA trip and an Everglades Backcountry sunset cruise are the additional activities for this program. This is a custom program; please call to discuss itinerary and cost.