Marine Conservation Expedition in the Seychelles

My son's experience with GVI’s Seychelles Marine Conservation Program was deeply disappointing and concerning. I would strongly discourage anyone from considering GVI. After a full month on site, he had not completed a single survey dive — the central focus of the program. The base was severely understaffed, with no dive instructors, inadequate housing, and poor communication. GVI was aware of these issues before his arrival, and yet they allowed a fresh group of participants to arrive anyhow. GVI later admitted to “operational challenges” and “temporary staffing gaps” but refused to issue refunds, offering only credit toward future programs or an extension. However, given our experience, we had serious concerns in GVI's ability to deliver a quality program, even elsewhere, and no longer trusted the organization. We tried to be patient and give them the benefit of the doubt but after 30 days of 60 day program term, their repeated attempts to stall and continued unresponsiveness led us to pull him and hope for an eventual resolution. We submitted multiple formal refund requests and even reached out directly to the CEO. After eventually filing a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau (U.S.), GVI finally responded, offering a refund and asking us to remove the complaint. They provided a partial refund and promised the balance per their terms, 6 months later. They did provide another partial refund at about 5 months at our request. May 3 was the 6 month mark. Despite a written confirmation on their part that the refund should hit our accounts at the most, a few days after the 3rd, still no refund. The mysterious and anonymous "GVI Feedback Team" responded once this week saying their issuing a ticket with finance to see what the issue is. This company's tendency to shield the names of any responsible individual behind a generic email and their horrific communication with students and families, has led to incredible mistrust and angst. As can be seen in many other reviews, this is a pattern, not an exception. I have reopened the BBB complaint that seemed to finally get their attention and begun to file legal action in UK courts. It has now been 15 days since the promised refund deadline. ~ Rob Vaughn

I had a great time participating in the marine conservation program in the Seychelles! The training on EFR and advanced open water the first week was a nice way to be introduced to the base and get used to the schedule. From the 2nd week onwards you get presentations and practice for surveys. I also loved being involved in the data processing, in particular the models created from photogrammetry surveys. Being able to dive every day really helped me improve and feel more comfortable in the water. The location is gorgeous and I've learned so much during my 4 weeks here!

I loved volunteering at Cap Ternay. During my time there I not only participated in important conservation work, but I also improved significantly as a diver and met some extremely nice people. Accommodations are indeed basic which can be quite jarring at first, however once acclimatized, you will have the experience of a lifetime.