Volunteer in Mozambique on the Marine Research Project and help with hands-on whale shark research, coral reef monitoring, humpback whale monitoring, manta ray and turtle ID and nest surveys while exploring one of Africa’s best scuba diving destinations. Then complete your volunteer experience with a week exploring the beautiful kingdom of Eswatini and the world-famous Kruger National Park on a 4-night camping safari.  

Important Links:

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- SDG Commitments

 There are two distinct parts to this travel experience each with its own interesting flavour:

In Mozambique, your role will be to collect important data and conduct activities to support research and conservation efforts in the area. As a volunteer, you will help monitor whale shark numbers, behaviour, and ecology through underwater photography. You will also join research scuba dives to help monitor the condition of the coral reefs and indicator species of reef fish. At certain times of the year you may help survey humpback whale numbers and turtle nesting activity in addition to other indicators of marine health and biodiversity. You may also assist with beach cleanups and other general environmental activities. You may also help upload and analyze field data and create awareness among the public of the importance of marine ecosystems. The project involves conducting multiple types of research with different species, including whale sharks, manta rays, turtles, dolphins, humpback whales (June-October), seahorses, stingrays, torpedo rays, leopard sharks, reef sharks, mobula rays, orca, and much more!

(Note that in order to carry out many of these activities, you will need to be able to or willing to learn how to scuba dive. An open or advanced internationally recognized diving course is provided to facilitate this. Not included in the two-week option.)

In Kruger, you will join a camping safari holiday. Here your days will be spent on game drives searching for incredibly diverse wildlife that this world-renowned national park has to offer, while at night you will be camped out under the African stars, sitting around a crackling campfire listening to tales of the African bush. While in Kruger, your guide will teach you about the animals and plants of the African Savannah and how important each piece is to protecting the overall ecosystem.  

By signing up with us you are donating your time and skills to work directly with communities in need through a structured project. There are many benefits to working with an organisation like ours. It is hard to find internships to support in a foreign country that are safe, worthwhile and reputable. When you sign-up for one of our projects for 2 or 12-weeks, you become part of a bigger, sustainable plan that our team of qualified staff has carefully crafted. You will also receive travel and visa support, orientation, a safe place to stay, logistical support, in addition to clear expectations of the work you will do. This is why we charge a fee for volunteering or interning abroad. 

Your project fee goes towards a company you can trust, an experience that is worthwhile and an opportunity that will make a positive and sustainable impact on the community you have chosen to serve. For more information, please read here about our work towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. 

During your stay, you will be accommodated in a variety of lodges as you tour Southern Africa, but your home base will be the award-winning Tilak Lodge in Tofo, Mozambique. Three meals a day will also be provided, some on a self-serve basis and others cooked for you. Enquire for private rooms. 

The start date for this project is the first Monday of the month throughout the year, with the exception of Nov & Dec when new participants are not accepted. 

7:00: Wake up and enjoy a buffet-style breakfast overlooking Tofo bay and the Indian Ocean. 

7:30: Get prepared for your research dive - get your equipment together and head to one of the dive sites to conduct research OR go on an ocean safari and go searching for whale sharks and dolphins to take photo ID shots and record behavioural data. 

12:30: Return from morning dives, dry off, and enter the dive log data. Lunch hour! You will have a daily lunch box provided with a sandwich, snacks, and refreshments provided at our beach-side restaurant. 

14:00: Data management time! Enter your dive data, such as photo IDs, behavioural videos, and your own project data. If needed some analysis or write-up of your own personal project!

15:00: Depending on the time of the year, you may be collecting data on humpback whales from the top of sand dunes, uploading photo IDs to the database, conducting turtle-nest surveys or a clean-up data collection. 

15:30: Work day complete! Go for a surf, yoga, or any of the other activities in Tofo. The office stays open until 17:00, so you are welcome to use our wifi for continuing your work, contacting home, or whatever else you may wish to spend your afternoon doing!

18:00: Dinner at the deck restaurant overlooking Tofo beach at your accommodation, Tilak Lodge!