Coral Reef Conservation Specialty

About this course

We've been diving Trincomalee's reefs for 15 years. We've watched some of them change — bleaching events, anchor damage, sediment run-off. We've also watched them recover. The PADI AWARE Coral Reef Conservation specialty is partly educational and partly practical — you'll come away knowing how to read reef health, what the main threats are, and what you can actually do about them as a diver.

The course covers coral biology, reef ecology, and the human pressures on reefs globally and specifically in Sri Lanka. There are two dives: one reef health survey (you learn to identify and record coral conditions) and one where we practise the kind of buoyancy and positioning that makes the difference between a diver who damages coral and one who doesn't.

If you're diving Trincomalee and care about what happens to these reefs after you leave — and I'd argue every diver should — this is a good two days. It also counts toward PADI's Project AWARE certification if you're collecting those.

What you'll learn

• Coral biology and reef ecology basics
• Identifying healthy vs. stressed reef indicators
• Conducting a reef health survey dive
• Human threats to reefs and mitigation strategies
• PADI AWARE dive practices for minimal reef impact

What's included

• ✓PADI AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty certification
• ✓All scuba equipment
• ✓2 reef survey training dives
• ✓AWARE materials and survey forms
• ✓Boat transfers