A trip to Thailand - Ko Tao, due to travel time, should at least be 8 nights and 9 days so that it allows students to explore these activities curated for this module comfortably, with clear learning outcomes.

Given below are a few activities that can be conducted at this destination, along with the appropriate age group. Our forte is customization, so feel free to select ONE, ALL or ANY combination of these activities to design a trip unique to your curriculum and experiential learning needs.

Designed for beginners, this course will introduce students to the wonders of the aquatic realm. Most people start with this course, which teaches them the basics of scuba diving over three days. The course consists of five academic sessions, two shallow water sessions and then four open water dives in the ocean.

During the academic sessions, students will learn about basic dive theory and safety along with their instructor along with independent self-study sessions. Students will explore fantastic dive sites from shallow water reefs to underwater pinnacles and see a wide variety of coral reefs and associated marine species. 

Covering just 0.1% of the earth’s surface, corals support almost 25% of all tropical marine life, making their conservation paramount. This activity conducted with the conservation team at the award winning New Heaven Dive School, Koh Tao, will cover the following aspects of coral conservation conducted under the guidance of experts:

• Coral Restoration and Artificial Reef Use: The basics of coral restoration goals, techniques, and methods. Overview of the scale and scope of local restoration projects, and a global look at the success of reef restoration related projects.
  
  
• Coral Nursery Methods and Techniques: The use of mid-water coral nurseries as part of the 3-step coral restoration program and the ‘reef gardening’ techniques. Practical applications and uses of nurseries and coral gardening.

Coral Transplanting, or gardening, is one of the most effective means of reef maintenance and protection that divers can participate in. However, there is a high level of skill, knowledge, and planning that must first be fulfilled before any diver attempts to participate in such activities. The conservation team at New Heaven, has developed a system whereby unskilled or non-professional volunteers can be involved in these activities with only a half day of lectures and briefings.

Their team prepares the corals that will be transplanted over 6 months in advance, and rears them on a coral nursery specially designed for this project. Then, on the project day their team will assist the students in taking corals from the nursery and affixing them to the artificial reef structures. In this way, participants can experience real coral restoration activities. 

The New Heaven Dive School, our on-ground partner in Koh Tao, also runs a sea turtle nursery and head-starting program. Students will learn how to maintain the turtle tanks and environment for the turtles, and also collect regular data on their growth, behaviour and problems.

Students will have an opportunity to learn about these endangered species and participate in conservation efforts under the guidance of experts.