You do not need to hold a diving certification when signing up for our programs, as long as you meet the requirements by the time the program starts. On some of our programs, you can join as a snorkeler as well.
Our programs are open to anyone. They are designed to provide a unique learning and exploration experience for both students and enthusiasts.
Our programs are designed for people with no archaeological experience. That said, if you do already have archaeological experience, we can tailor the program to your specific needs so you learn new skills and techniques.
The group composition varies per season and program, but we usually have a good mix of people from various age groups, nationalities, and different walks of life. Typically, groups consist of students in their 20s, people in their 30s or 40s who are thinking about moving into archaeology as a hobby or new career, and people in their 50s and 60s who love to do archaeology for fun. Most of our participants are from North America, but we also regularly have people join us from other parts of the world such as Europe and Australia. Group size is usually between 8 and 12 people.
Unfortunately, we can’t provide college credit as we are not affiliated with a specific university. That said, we can provide a certificate of completion which includes a detailed outline of what you learned, what skills you gained, and how well you did. Many of our students have used this to get credit at their university. We are always happy to talk to your supervisor and provide more information about the program if necessary.
We accept payment through bank transfer and PayPal. There is a 4% fee for PayPal transfers.
We always require a deposit to be paid in order to hold your spot. The remainder of the course fee is usually due either 4 or 6 months before the start of the program.
We don’t like for our participants to have too many additional costs, so we try to include as much as possible in the course fee. Typically covered things include accommodation, food and drinks, training/presentations/workshops, diving, tanks and weights, excursions, transportation on location, airport transfers, and park/nature fees. The only things we typically don’t include are flights, rental dive equipment, and alcohol.
The deposit is usually non-refundable, but the remainder of the course fee is partially refundable up to 2 months before the start of the program. That said, if you cancel and we find someone to take your spot, we can issue a full refund minus a small admin fee. We highly recommend travel insurance and trip cancellation insurance in case you need to cancel your trip with us.
If you have your own dive equipment and don’t mind traveling with it, by all means do. You can also rent equipment locally at your own expense. We can arrange this for you in advance.
While not mandatory, a laptop or tablet will be useful for most of our projects, as we use these for data processing and 3D modeling.
We usually provide reading materials before a trip so people can get acquainted with the history and archaeology of the locations we’re working in, but these are not mandatory to read.
We usually set up a WhatsApp group chat about 2 months before the start of a trip, so people can ask questions and get to know each other.
This varies depending on the location we are in. Ruud and Alex are always there on any trip. In addition, we usually have a third staff member join us. We work with a number of dedicated professionals who bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our projects. These include Dr. Joost Morsink for our Salt Cay and Bonaire programs, and Dr. Twan Stoffers for our Maldives trips.
This depends on the location. On our Caribbean projects, we usually provide a good mix of activities whereby we aim to expose you to the entire archaeological process, which includes in-water research. Typically, this includes 10 to 14 dives, depending on the project. On our educational diving trips, such as those in the Maldives and Truk Lagoon, there is a larger focus on diving. During these trips, we usually offer around 30 to 35 dives.
Yes, we will make sure that dive equipment is available for you to rent wherever we are.
On our Caribbean projects, we always make sure to have comfortable living arrangements. We usually rent several apartments or houses where we have all the facilities we need. Sleeping arrangements are usually on a twin share basis, but private rooms are often available at a surcharge. On our educational dive expeditions, we spend most of our time on liveaboard dive vessels. These are very comfortable floating hotels where everything is taken care of for you.
We will always make sure to have plenty of good quality food available for you. On our Caribbean projects, we will stock the fridge with all foods and drinks for breakfast and lunch. Depending on the location, we can usually accommodate special requests. For dinner, we usually go out to a restaurant or get take out. On our liveaboard diving trips, the boat takes care of all the meals for us, which usually includes 3 buffet-style meals per day and snacks in between.
Yes, we can accommodate for most special dietary requirements. Typically, the restaurants we visit have vegetarian and vegan options.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any internship opportunities on our upcoming projects.
Yes, we do sometimes hire people on a project basis. These are always people that have been on our programs before, as we have trained them ourselves and they know how we work. As a general rule, our staff members need to have a degree in archaeology and extensive dive experience and certifications.
Yes, we can provide a certificate that outlines in detail what you learned, what skills you gained, and how well you did.