Study Abroad Programs in Rural Areas, Mexico

The staff were incredible -- positive, enthusiastic, dependable, motivated, and honest. The base conditions far exceeded my expectations. Working with newly-hatched baby turtles was the experience of a lifetime. Of course, the private beach wasn't so bad, either. It would be better though to accelerate the training, so volunteers can monitor/survey before the end of the first 5-week period of the 10-week expedition.

The diving was absolutely fantastic. The training was superb, I feel confident that I've been taught well and as a result feel safe when I dive. I really enjoyed learning about the coral and the fish although I spent more time with coral. Also learning about other reef creatures and algae was enjoyable. I only regret that I couldn't have stayed longer to monitor - 5 weeks is too short. The community work was also really fun, for example Turtle festival and visiting the school in Punta Allen. I feel like GVIs contribution to community work is well appreciated and I was proud to help out. Above all the people I spent my time with on base made the experience all the better, I met some friends for life here. Better instructions on how to cook rice!! On a serious note though, there were numerous days we couldn't dive due to faults with the boat, it would have been much better if a mechanic could have been called sooner to fix it. There were weather issues at the time which I appreciate hindered the fixing process.