Our home for the week is The Roatán Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS) adjacent to Anthony's Key Dive Resort. This field station is ideally located on the northwest coast of Roatán where over 30 miles of fringing and barrier reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves and shoreline are home to an astounding profusion of life. These diverse ecosystems provide a living laboratory for students to explore classroom concepts in the wild!

Students will see one of the most beautiful diving/snorkeling destinations in the world and travel with a purpose. This week-long trip is a combination of adventure, hands-on-research and investigation, student-centered learning, and participation in conservation programs within the RIMS program. 

Trip Highlights:

-2 dives (or snorkels for non-divers) per day in a variety of biologically diverse marine habitats

-1 night dive (or snorkel for non-divers)

-Meet and swim with RIMS dolphins and learn about their unique marine mammal training program.

-Participate in the onsite coral restoration program.

-Explore Roatán from the treetops with a fun and educational zip-line tour.

-Meet sloths, iguanas, and monkeys at two different animal sanctuaries.

-Explore seaside towns and meet locals to learn more abut the culture of Roatán.

-Do the limbo to reggae at an island fiesta on Anthony's Key with the Garifuna Dancers.

-Take a day trip to Maya Key for a BBQ on the beach and visit the cultural museum to learn about the history of Roatán.

2 boat dives per day & one night dive (or snorkels for non-divers)

One dolphin swim per student 

A 42-foot dive boat with captain, divemaster and UW naturalist 

Use of tanks, weights and belts 

Two half-day cultural or science related bus trips

Admittance to the Roatán Museum 

Use of kayaks and paddleboards 

Use of recreational services and facilities offered at Anthony’s Key Resort 

Lectures offered by RIMS staff on a variety of marine topics 

Use of dry and wet laboratories 

A large air-conditioned classroom with audio/video equipment 

Use of specimen collections and reference library

Waterproof marine identification guides 

Onsite clinic & decompression chamber with doctors on call 24-hours 

Escorted round-trip transfer from airport to RIMS 

This trip is being organized by:

Aimee Lowe

aimeemlowe@gmail.com

1-954-559-5374

Airline tickets are reserved by Ridgebrook Travel Agency in Deerfield, IL. Once ticketed, airline tickets are the property of the ticket holder. Tickets are non-refundable. Any changes or cancellations must be made with the airline directly. The package price has an estimated amount for roundtrip airfare. Once tickets are reserved, the package price will be updated to reflect actual ticket price. 

 Where do we stay?

Participants will stay at the Anthony's Key Dive Resort in Key Superior bungalows. These bungalows are perched right over the water and offer spectacular ocean views with the beach just outside your backdoor. Each bungalow has a deck over the water with hammocks, a private bathroom, air conditioning, and beds for 2-4 participants (2 queen beds, or 1 queen bed and 1 bunk bed, or 2 bunk beds).

What do we eat?

Participants will have a choice from a selection of American meals served from the Anthony's Key restaurant each day.  Three meals a day are provided during the program week. 

All Participants:

Travel insurance, emergency medical insurance, and quarantine costs are not included in the package price. 

All participants must show proof of international medical travel insurance benefits to participate. It is a good idea to have quarantine benefits included in the unlikely event that a participant tests positive for COVID-19 before traveling back to the USA, and must quarantine, test negative or have a doctor's note to travel. 

Anthony’s Key Resort has rooms set aside for quarantine if needed. The cost in 2021 was  $120 per day with three meals per day included. Estimate 12-14 days at $1144-$1680. Doctors visits are $60 per visit not including medication. Therefore, It is a good idea to protect yourself and your travel investment. 

Here are recommendations specific to your trip to Roatan, Honduras.

You will need the following information to get travel insurance quotes:

• Total trip cost (airfare, land fee, credit card processing fees)
• Flight information 
• Travel dates (day you leave home to through date you return home)

Travel Guard

Green Edventures recommends Travel Guard’s Preferred or Deluxe Plan, with Adventure Bundle and Lodging Bundle add-on for our travelers. This insurance provides protection for the trip investment, includes medical travel and emergency evacuation, and $1250 of quarantine lodging benefits.  Purchase within 15-days of your deposit date for pre-existing conditions inclusion and Cancel for Any Reason add on option upgrade. Read Travel Guard’s certificates by state in the education center here.

We like Travel Guard because if there is an emergency they have a dedicated department to assist our team when navigating a medical emergency for one of our participants, in addition to making it easy for you to submit a claim for travel related issues and cancellation.

Click here for Travel Guard Insurance Quote

InsuBuy

For those of you wanting a more economical plan, and minimum travel and medical coverage then we recommend InsuBuy’s Travel Explorer or Travel Voyager. This plan is about $60 USD and includes $2000 in quarantine lodging benefits. 

Click here for InsuBuy Insurance Quote

SCUBA Divers

Dive accident insurance is required and purchased separately. You will first purchase a DAN membership for $40 per year, then select your dive accident coverage.

DAN’s website does offer Travel Guard. If you book your Travel Guard insurance via the link above at our website, I will automatically get a copy of your Travel Guard policy. This will assist us in helping you should you need to make a claim.

https://dan.org/membership-insurance/dive-insurance/

Afternoon arrival

Check in to Anthony's Key Resort

Unpack and settle in

Enjoy kayaks or paddle boards from the beach of your Key

Dinner

Meet to assign daily trip report groups & discuss student research projects

7:00  Breakfast

8:00  Orientation to RIMS

8:30  Equipment rental (divers - bring certification card!)

9:30  Check out dive/ snorkel - Reef dive, buoyancy skills

12:00 Lunch 

1:00   Coral Reef Ecology Lecture & Species ID

2:30  Dive/ snorkel – Identification of major coral species

6:00  Dinner

8:00  Evening Presentation: REEF Fish ID Lecture 

7:00  Breakfast (Group 1-day report)

8:00  Invertebrate ID Lecture

9:00  Dive/ snorkel – Fish ID

12:00 Maya Key picnic (day may change)

1:00   Tour of Animal Care Facility

2:30  Dive/ snorkel – Fish ID (REEF Fish Survey)

4:30  Turtle Talk Lecture 

6:00  Dinner

8:00  Evening Presentation: Mangrove Ecology

6:30  Breakfast (Group 2-day report)

7:15    Trip to Man-O-War Key - mangrove root snorkel & seagrass and patch reef snorkel with organism collection & ID (or optional shark dive)

12:00  Lunch

2:00   Dive/ snorkel – Invert ID

4:30   Dolphin Lecture I

6:00   Dinner

8:00   Evening Presentation: Threats to Coral Reefs

7:00 Breakfast (Group 3-day report)

8:00 Dolphin Lecture II 

9:00 Dive/ snorkel – Research Project

12:00 Lunch

2:00  Bus Trip - Canopy Zip-lining Tour & Gumba Limba Park

5:00 – 10:00 BBQ Fiesta on the Key – crab race, reggae, limbo, Garifuna dancers

7:00  Breakfast (Group 4-day report)

8:00  Coral Restoration Lecture/ Training

9:00  Dive/ snorkel – Coral Nursery & Restoration

12:00 Lunch

2:00  Dive/ snorkel – Research Project Dive II

6:00  Night Dive Lecture

6:30  Night Dive

8:00  Dinner

9:00  Work on Research Projects

7:00  Breakfast (Group 5-day report)

8:30  Last dive/ snorkel 

10:30 Dolphin Swim

12:00 Lunch

2:00  Bus trip – Iguana Farm and Monkey & Sloth Hangout and Oakridge (local town)

6:00  Dinner (Group 6-day report)

8:00  Research Project presentations 

7:00 Breakfast

Upload Fish surveys into REEF database 

Read Final, Combined Trip Report

TBA Depart for Airport

End of trip