Australia - Great Barrier Reef Conservation

The best part of the trip have been the past 2 days! Working with passions of paradise, helping with reef surveys and with coral planting, has been a truly gratifying experience. I would absolutely love to do it again, and to continue my education so that I can actually plant coral myself one day.

3-day diving trip then the 2x 1-day diving trips on the great barrier reef were the most amazing and interesting things during the program, even if I've also really appreciate the turtle rehab and beach cleaning.<br>Actually everything was very interesting and I wish I could do more.

Working at the turtle rescue in the Great Barrier Reef Conservation program was amazing. I was able to interact directly with the turtles in their tank. Having Rain and Sheldon engage with us directly was an unbelievable experience.

It is a whole new world underwater. I was able to learn so much about the ocean, sea life, and how we impact the delicate and beautiful system of underwater creatures on this trip. I knew I was interested in Marine Biology which is a big reason why I chose to come on this trip, but this may have been a career changing experience for me to study marine ecology and biology.

On our final dive, a hawksbill turtle swam up to our group and nestled with us shortly, before swimming off towards the surface. To have that experience with such an endangered animal was like something out of a dream, and a great privilege.

The most valuable part of this trip was learning the facts of the reef, clearing up all misconceptions! But waking up on a boat to see the sunrise before going on a dive where you hear the city of the reef start to wake was surreal and absolutely magical. I found out along the way that we can continue to ask the marine biologists who guided us along the way questions about things we see on other dives around the world for them to look up and potentially document! Amazing community.

The most amazing experiences had to be participating in a group night dive swimming alongside an array of marine life including sharks, stingrays, turtles, squid and fish not usually seen during the day. Really cool!

I really enjoyed my time at the project!! Everyone was so kind. It felt amazing to be around people that share the same values and had a common mission. The GoEco support team was also great as they assisted me in changing my project dates when I had a family emergency. Overall, it’s been a wonderful experience and I will definitely get around to finalizing posts, I just have been very busy and haven’t had the time to sit and really think about it. But I feel that I was definitely living in the moment and totally forgot about making social media posts —- which I feel is the most important aspect of this project!

This was such an amazing trip! Everything went so smoothly and I experienced no problems whatsoever. All of the accommodations were in check, all reservations, everything flowed so well. I had the trip of a lifetime, met the best people, and had incredible experiences. All of the staff associated with the booking and setting up of this trip were all super helpful and responsive. Thank you for everything!