Expanded Coral Restoration Diver

Be a coral restoration marine biologist for 5 days! Dive deeper into Coral Restoration with this expanded version of the Introduction to Coral Restoration course. You will cover a larger range of corals paired with extra dive sites where you can use your newfound knowledge to spot the corals on the reefs.

You’ll be able to identify to the genus level 90% of the corals you’ll encounter on the reefs in Bali, opening a new window into your underwater world. We will add 6 new genera on Small Polyps Hard Corals, 6 new genera of Large Polyps Hard Corals and 6 new genera of Soft Corals.

By being to identify all these coral species, you’ll be able to read the reef to help you in your coral restoration activities. Reading the coral composition will give you infinite knowledge on what the conditions on this particular reef can be, what species of fish and critters you can find, and ultimately assess whether the reef is thriving or struggling.

We have 2 locations you can choose from:

Amed: Your dives will be centered around the reefs of Amed and Tulamben (East Bali) which have calmer waters with easy, swim out access from the shore. No boat required.

Nusa Ceningan: Classroom sessions on Nusa Ceningan, with short boat rides to dive around Nusa Ceningan and our Nusa Penida restoration site, hence the higher cost.

*All proceeds will go towards funding coral restoration with Ocean Gardener and supporting the local community through the income earned by the local guide.

Prerequisites

SSI/PADI Open Water Diver certification
Good Buoyancy Skills

Includes

Ocean Gardener trained instructor
10 dives in the various reefs

Excludes

Transportation to Amed or Nusa Ceningan
Accommodations
Meals

If you need help arranging food, accommodations or transportation, please indicate in the booking comments and we can arrange them for you.

Cancellation Policy

Full refund if cancelled 7 days before the event.

Day 1 – Introduction to corals

We will start by learning what a coral is, followed by their biology and then an overview on the different types of corals. You will learn about hard vs soft corals, large vs small polyps and the different colony shapes. After the classroom session, you will have 2 guided dives, where we will spot the different coral types in the wild and apply our newfound knowledge.

Day 2 – Hard corals

These are the important reef-building corals. You will learn about how they contribute to providing homes for fish and other marine life. We will go over 5 genera of small polyps hard corals and 5 genera of large polyps, hard corals. Once again, we will perform 2 more dives on 2 more reefs to spot these hard coral types in the wild.

Day 3 – Soft Coral

We will discover these unique corals that are adapted to bend with surges and currents. You will learn to recognize 5 genera of soft corals.

Day 4 – More Hard Corals

6 more genera of Small Polyps, Hard corals, and 6 more genera of Large Polyps, Hard corals. Now that your eye has been trained to distinguish coral characteristics. Learning these 12 new genera of Hard corals will be very easy.

Day 5 – More Soft Corals and Coral Planting

6 more genera of Soft corals. You will complete this course of intense learning with 6 new genera of Soft corals. And know you’ll be an experienced coral spotter able to identify 90% of coral to genus level, opening a new window in your diving experience. In our final dive, we will try to spot these soft corals as well as visit one of our coral nurseries. You will harvest a coral fragment from our donor colonies and plant your own coral for posterity!

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