Start your professional diving career by earning your PADI Divemaster while exploring the underwater worlds of both Fiji and Mexico AND get career training from Conservation Careers!

Experience two of the world’s top diving destinations while earning your PADI Divemaster. Learn how to dive while living on the tiny tropical island of Caqalai, part of Fiji’s Lomaiviti island group, and contribute to long-term locally led ocean conservation projects. Afterwards, hone your dive leadership skills at a dive centre situated on Mexico’s famously idyllic Riviera Maya coastline.

Overview

This six month internship is designed to give interns a headstart in the exciting career of professional diving. It is specifically catered to those who are interested in the field of marine conservation.

For the first 12 weeks, interns will train in the warm, tropical waters of the South Pacific. They will live, learn, and work on the 14 acre island of Caqalai with an international team of our experienced staff and enthusiastic participants from all around the world. Here they will complete the prerequisite qualifications of their PADI Divemaster program. Receive the Coral Reef Research Diver Distinctive Speciality segment of the PADI Divemaster course. This unique offering by us & PADI teaches you about best practices when conducting underwater coral reef surveys. This is offered to participants staying for 2 weeks or longer. Interns will also earn their EFR certifications while completing this first part of their PADI Divemaster internship in Fiji.

After successfully completing their training, interns will make their way to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula to work at a world-class dive centre. Here interns will learn to lead recreational dives, honing their skills so that they can excel in their final Divemaster exam.

Please note that flights between Fiji and Mexico are not included and that you will require a PADI Open Water qualification, or equivalent, before joining other interns in Fiji.

Highlights

Earn your PADI Divemaster certification.
Complete our & PADI’s unique qualification, the PADI Coral Reef Research Speciality.
Assist in conserving the pristine marine life of the South Pacific.
Experience the diverse marine life of the Mesoamerican coral reef, the second-largest in the world.
Contribute to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #14, Life Below Water.

Our Award-winning Partner

Conservation Careers has teamed up with an award-winning, mission-driven organisation with a team of passionate experts across the globe who will make your experience a truly unforgettable one.

Founded in 1998, they run programs in 21 locations, in 13 countries around the world, each aligned to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as the objectives of local partners. They welcome participants from all around the world and help facilitate their development into global citizens. This is how they achieve their mission of building a global network of people united by their passion to make a difference.

Their commitment to running high-quality sustainable development and experiential education programs has earned them recognition from numerous organizations such as Panthera, the Seychelles Parks & Gardens Authority, as well as Stanford, NYU, Duke, and Ohio State.

If you register your interest below, you’ll put you in touch with our partner to take the booking and to plan your trip!

To see all our Conservation Careers Internship opportunities, please click here.

Life on base: Caqalai

Caqalai Island plays host to a diverse mix of marine conservation projects, which participants will experience while living an island-style, communal environment with fellow participants and our staff. The island is on the edge of an expansive reef system, which provides volunteers and interns with the opportunity to see extensive and exclusive underwater life, generating a vastly in-depth, explorative experience as a whole.

Increasing Employability: Pre Departure Program Training

Our programs are not only life-changing experiences but are also designed to help participants increase their employability. We have developed a curriculum to be completed prior to arrival in the country in order to ensure that more time is dedicated to program work once you commence your volunteer program.

Eight weeks prior to your start date, you will complete the following online courses in preparation for your in-country program:

PRE-DEPARTURE ORIENTATION (1 hour)

PROGRAM SPECIFIC TRAINING (1 – 5 hours)

MARINE CONSERVATION COURSE (10 – 15 hours)

LEADERSHIP COURSE (10 – 15 hours)

CAREERS COURSE (10 – 15 hours)

In order to obtain a certificate for the Marine Conservation, Leadership and Careers courses which are endorsed by the University of Richmond and UNC Charlotte, you will need to complete quizzes & assignments and will be given 4 weeks post program to submit your work.

If you are looking to travel in less than 8 weeks from now, you will still complete the course however this will be done in country and all content will need to be downloaded before arrival.

Health & Hygiene

The work we contribute to across the globe remains important and new measures allow our participants to continue to join our programs and continue impacting positively on their world and the communities we work with. Changes to our existing protocols have been made by our health and hygiene team to strengthen our health and hygiene protocols and ensure that international standard safeguards are in place to protect our participants, staff and host communities. Please inquire for more information on the protocols.

Your impact: Caqalai

All of our programs have short, mid and long-term objectives that fit with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or UN SDGs. This enables us to report on our collaborative impact across the world in a streamlined manner, measuring which UN SDGs we are making a substantial contribution to. Furthermore, this will help our local partners and communities measure and visualise their contribution to the UN SDGs.

Upon arrival to base, you will be educated about the history of the UN SDGs. You will learn about the specific goals of your location, the long-, mid- and short-term objectives, and also clarification of how your personal, shorter-term involvement contributes to these goals on a global level.

Our aim is to educate you on local and global issues, so that you continue to act as active global citizens after your program, helping to fulfil our mission of building a global network of people united by their passion to make a difference.

While on our program, participants will make an impact while assisting with the conservation of a staggering 1500 species of marine animals, all of which are found in the region. The communities we work with in Caqalai often do not have access to sufficient resources to carry out regular data collection in their fishing grounds. Access to data provides greater insight into how to address coral reef and fish stock related problems, which can be hampered by natural disasters and unsustainable fishing practice.

Data collected on our programs is provided to the local community and our local partners along with alternative livelihood methods and management strategies to help stakeholders make informed decisions with regards to their existing marine resources and long term food security.

Project objectives

Caqalai, Fiji Long-term Objectives:

Protection and monitoring: Collect long-term data on the reefs around Caqalai and Moturiki, in order to inform the communities of Moturiki and support them in developing a sustainable resource management strategy.
Education: Provide the communities of Caqalai and Moturiki with information on their natural resources, including the threats and means of protection, to empower them to make the best-informed decisions when looking after their resources.
Livelihoods: Introduce methods of alternative livelihood to generate income for local communities to reduce dependence on damaged fisheries for income.
Moturiki Yaubula Management Support Team (MYMST): Support the continued development and training of the MYMST and their management strategy.
Waste Management: Conduct regular clean-ups of beaches and sea on and around Caqalai and Moturiki with the hope of further developing a more permanent solution for waste management.
Water Resource Management: Support the communities of Moturiki in securing access to water resources, which can be very scarce in dry season.

Exploration: Caqalai

Joining a program not only allows participants to collaborate with communities or work toward preserving unique ecosystems but it also offers plenty of opportunities to explore the surrounding area or travel further to see what other parts of the region have to offer.

Long term field staff are a great source of advice, and have helped us put together the following information on local travel options. Many decide to travel before or after their experience (subject to immigration restrictions), solidifying the lifetime friendships established on program. Please note that the below suggestions are not included in the program fee, and are for the individual to organise at their own expense.

Weekend trips

Fiji Museum

Participants could also plan to visit the Fiji Museum, where they be able to see ancient tribal artefacts, one of the best exhibitions on tribal art in the Pacific, or read up on Fiji’s cannibal past.

Levuka

The old historical capital of Fiji, Levuka, which makes for an interesting day trip, is accessible by ferry and small boat and located on the nearby Ovalau Island.

Suva

Fiji’s capital city, Suva, is only a few hours from our base, and known for its relaxed atmosphere, energetic nightlife, large farmers market and atmospheric port.

Forests and waterfalls

Participants could also opt to hike into forests and swim in hidden waterfalls, or visit one of Fiji’s famous island resorts.

Moon Reef Dolphins

Starting locally, participants will be just a short boat ride away you from the famous pod of dolphins that reside year round on Moon Reef.

Regional exploration

Fiji is a beautiful and exotic destination where you will find picturesque white sand beaches, world class dive sites, and Fiji’s famous culture of hospitality and warmth. As an island nation, many of your potential activities will be water based.

Further travels

Dry land exploration

Staying on dry land, you might consider a trip to the Sigatoka National Park, where you’ll find a miniature desert of rolling sand dunes or a more relaxing option would be the Coral Coast and the Kula Eco Park, Fiji’s only wildlife park.

A visit to Nadi

A little further afield, the possibilities are endless. Explore the town of Nadi with its bustling market, nearby hot springs at Sabeto or get a feel for the local atmosphere at a rugby match.

Cultural immersion

Engaging intimately with a new context teaches not only global awareness but adaptability and critical thinking, skills highly valued in the modern marketplace. Local and cultural immersion is encouraged on all our programs around the world, and is also one of the most enjoyable aspects of your experience. Luckily, there are many activities you can get involved with in your free time, or before and after your program. On our community programs the focus is on cultural topics, while on marine or wildlife programs the emphasis is more on the environmental element. Use your evenings and weekends to explore diverse and eclectic topics like Theravada Buddhism in Laos or how plastic pollution and climate change affects Indian Ocean coral.

Caqalai immersion

Caqalai Island is a mystical, exquisite location, so mysterious that travelers often arrive without even knowing how to pronounce its name (say it with us now so you’re taken care of when you get there: “thang-gull-eye”). The island is a 14 acres big coral island south of Ovalau in a sea known as the Moturiki Passage. Caqalai is the perfect place for all those that want to get away from it all and experience real laidback Fiji Island life.

The locals

Fijians are generally some of the friendliest people in the world, so provided you respect their traditions and customs, locals are typically warm and eager to welcome you as a guest into their villages and communities. Doing so provides you with fascinating insight into traditional Fijian lifestyles and will add another layer of depth to your time on our program.

Flavors of Fiji

Traditional Fijian cuisine consists of sweet potatoes, taros, bananas, coconut, fish and leafy vegetables as primary ingredients, but it is the wonderful amalgamation of flavours that makes Fijian cuisine so interesting.

Culture

Fiji has had a rich and somewhat tumultuous history. It is made up of a diverse population varying from Indigenous Fijian, Indian, European and Chinese heritage. Its culture is predominantly informed by indigenous traditions and values.

Life on base: Puerto Morelos

Live on the beach a few metres from the Puerto Morelos National Park Reef and a 15-minute drive from downtown Puerto Morelos. Situated in the stunning Puerto Morelos, the oldest porteño community in the Mexican Caribbean, this site allows for some fantastic diving. A typical day may involve diving, lab work, training on base, community days, and beach cleanups. Days are rounded off with evening debriefs, followed by dinner and time to relax, taking in a beautiful sunset and sharing stories with your fellow team members.

Your impact: Puerto Morelos

Puerto Morelos is the oldest port city in the Mexican Caribbean. The port has been used since the time of the Mayan empire, but its history as a modern port began in 1898. It was built to enable the exportation of gum from the gum tree and the wood of the dye tree, an activity that together with fishing were the main productive activities in the area.

The area has a unique diversity of ecosystems including low evergreen jungles, low swamp jungles, savannahs, coastal dunes, mangroves, cenotes, beaches, marine grass, and coral reefs. The reef of Puerto Morelos is part of the Mesoamerican Reef System, MBRS, considered the second largest reef barrier in the world and home to thousands of marine species.

Today, Puerto Morelos is part of the 120 kilometer tourist corridor, located between Cancun and Tulum. Tourism is the main economic activity of Puerto Morelos and continues to grow due to the development of large hotels as well as holiday housing along its coast. Local tour operators offer scuba, snorkelling, and free diving tours in the Caribbean Sea and reef lagoon, tours of or diving in cenotes close to the town, as well as sport fishing tours.

Fishing is the second most common commercial activity after tourism. Fishermen fish using small skiffs collect many commercial Caribbean fish species and lobster. Local fishing organisations are aware that unsustainable fishing leads to a destruction of the reef, and therefore loss of fishing resources as well as harm to ecotourism activities.

We assists our partners in Puerto Morelos with collecting and collating data to assist decision makers in coastal zone management. We assist them with the manpower, logistical resources, and, in the case of our Trust, finances.

Fish and Coral Surveys

We have several monitoring sites that we survey each year. At each monitoring site, we do 10 adult and juvenile fish transects and five coral community and point intercept transects. The data on fish we gather helps us determine the abundance and the size of fish and understand the changes in the fish community dynamics. The data on coral, and other sessile organisms like sponges and mussels, is used to understand the rate of recovery of the reef and its overall health. For four week short term interns the surveys will be simpler as we aim to gather high-quality data by focusing the learning on fish species while touching on other topics such as coral species. The aim of this is to collect biomass data and information on coral illnesses and bleaching.

Turtle Monitoring

The National Park of Puerto Morelos is abundant in seagrass which is one of the favourite meals of green sea turtles. Our participants assist with monitoring sea turtle populations by taking pictures of them while snorkeling and diving. This helps with identifying both new and returning sea turtles. Sea turtle nesting season is from May to October.

Invasive Lionfish Monitoring and Eradication

Lionfish are an invasive species in the Mexican Caribbean. Lionfish eradication activities are carried on in coordination with local environmental authorities. Local authorities conduct lionfish spearfishing tournaments throughout the year in which we can participate or they assign us dates to carry out lionfish eradication on specific areas of the reef. Please note that this activity does not happen all year long.

Incidental Sightings of Megafauna

Every time we go on a dive we look for megafauna species such as sharks, dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, eels, and rays. We then input sighting of these species into our database. The presence of these species can be indicators of the health of the reef and general biodiversity.

Plastic Pollution Cleanup

We have weekly beach cleans where we collect the rubbish that washes up on our beach and classify it into different categories depending on their source. This information is recorded and sent to our partners for analysis.

Environmental Education

They also assist the community by conducting environmental education programs. The town of Puerto Morelos was once a fishing village, but is now part of one of the largest Marine Parks in Mexico. Fish is still an important food source in the community and fishing a common means of earning an income. Sustainable fishing methods and other means of protecting the natural environment are vital to maintaining the marine abundance that makes both fishing and international tourism profitable. Teaching young people and tour operators the importance of protecting their marine resources and how this can be done is vital to ensuring the future health of the reef off the coast of Puerto Morelos.

All these initiatives allow us to offer support to the conservation work, the community and our local partners, and to address many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, such as #4 – Quality Education and #14 – Life Below Water.

Please note: Both conservation- and community-focused programs are offered at this location.