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The British Virgin Islands offer some of the best sailing areas and
dive training sites in the world. No other Caribbean destination has
the steady tradewinds and smooth seas that are so ideal for great
sailing and diving. Island passages provide for exciting sailing
while secluded tranquil bays give us a relaxed base to explore the
marine kingdom, carve deep-arcs waterskiing and drift asleep under
the stars. Dramatic scenery, friendly people, and a wealth of
biological diversity await us. Underwater terrain ranges from gently
sloping reefs, sheer walls, and pinnacles to spectacular shipwrecks
that are engulfed by schools of Spanish mackerel, blackbar
soldierfish, and French angelfish. The large underwater national
parks and marine reserves help to keep the environment healthy and
diving outstanding.
With reefs teeming with large fishes and healthy coral, the British
Virgin Islands are the ideal place to learn to scuba dive or to
continue your dive training and to learn about marine biology. There
are many shipwrecks to explore including the HMS Rhone and the
Chikuzen. The water is crystal clear and most dive sites are
protected from the waves providing for comfortable entry and exit
from the water.
Renown as the sailing capital of the world, with smooth waters and
steady trade winds providing exciting inter-island passages your
sailing skills will develop quickly. The islands are close together
so its easy to visit them all and the calm protected anchorages
provide endless opportunities for adventures hiking, kayaking, and
trekking. Odyssey has been exploring the BVI’s for more than 14 years
and will be able to show you dive sites not on any dive chart.
Odyssey Expeditions Adventure Programs offer the broadest range of
adventure, sail and scuba training, and marine biology discoveries
aboard fast, safe, and comfortable catamarans. We have programs for
teens and college students grouped together on separate catamarans so
that everyone is with their own peers. No experience is necessary for
the Discovery programs, or advance your sailing and scuba skills on
an Advanced Adventure. For those ready to become dive professionals,
go Adventure Pro and earn the PADI Divemaster rating. All programs
include exciting specialty scuba training like Night Diver and Wreck
Diver. Join us on our 14th year of exploring the BVI’s!
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DISCOVERY VOYAGES- For those
without prior scuba experience, this program features sail
training, PADI Open Water and Advanced scuba certifications, and
marine biology. Initial dive training takes place with small
groups in shallow, calm, and clear waters and progresses at your
own pace. After certification, explore the spectacular walls,
pinnacles, seamounts and shipwrecks throughout the archipelago.
You will begin advancing your diver education with exciting night
dives and learn about the underwater realm during underwater
naturalist dives. Marine biology activities, water sports, and
island adventures enhance your voyage. |
 PADI
Open Water Diver
PADI Advanced Diver
PADI
Night Diver and Underwater Naturalist
Underwater
Environmental Service Projects
20+ Dives,
3 Scuba Certifications |
 Sail Training and Seamanship
Watersports- Skiing, Boarding, Kayaking
Island Exploration, Rainforest Treks
 Marine Biology
Programs |
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Discovery I |
June 15- |
July 5 |
21 Days
$4990 |
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Discovery II |
July 7- |
July 27 |
21 Days
$4990 |
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Discovery III |
July 29- |
August 18 |
21 Days
$4990 |
ADVANCED ADVENTURE VOYAGES- Exciting scuba-intensive
learning adventures for those who already have their Open Water
Diver certification. Whether novice or advanced, this program
builds upon the skills of all divers. Students may earn Advanced
and Rescue Diver certifications and choose from a broad selection
of specialty diver certifications. Get ready to explore
spectacular shipwrecks, reefs, walls and pinnacles. Advanced
Adventure voyages feature our marine biology and sail training
programs, with an emphasis on diving and maximum scuba
certifications to earn the prestigious and distinctive PADI Master
Diver certification. |
PADI
Advanced Diver
PADI
Rescue Diver
PADI
Specialties
Underwater
Environmental Service Projects
20+ Dives,
5 Scuba Certifications |
Sail Training and Seamanship
Watersports- Skiing, Boarding, Kayaking
Island Exploration, Rainforest Treks
Marine Biology
Programs |
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Advanced Adventure I |
June 15- |
July 5 |
21 Days
$4990 |
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Advanced Adventure II |
July 7- |
July 27 |
21 Days
$4990 |
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Advanced Adventure III |
July 29- |
August 18 |
21 Days
$4990 |
ADVENTURE PRO VOYAGES- Take the challenge of becoming a
dive professional. This intensive program leads to professional
membership as a Divemaster with PADI. Sailing with the Discovery
voyage participants, you will have hands-on training with students
in confined and open-water environments. This is an excellent
opportunity if you are considering a career in the diving industry
as it exposes you first hand to the operation of a PADI training
facility. Our instructors work closely with you to develop your
supervision skills and diving knowledge to prepare you for working
as a divemaster or taking the PADI Instructor Development Course.
During your training, enjoy lots of awesome extracurricular dives
as well fully participating in our sail training and marine
biology programs as well as earning your choice of PADI specialty
certifications. |
PADI
Divemaster
PADI
Night Diver and Specialties
Underwater
Environmental Service Projects
30+ Dives,
3 Scuba Certifications |
Sail Training and Seamanship
Watersports- Skiing, Boarding, Kayaking
Island Exploration, Rainforest Treks
Marine Biology
Programs |
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Adventure Pro I |
June 15- |
July 5 |
21 Days
$4490 |
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Adventure Pro II |
July 7- |
July 27 |
21 Days
$4490 |
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Adventure Pro III |
July 29- |
August 18 |
21 Days
$4490 |
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Days 1-4
Arrive into Tortola, the capital and largest or the islands, with
beautiful white sand beaches and tall rugged mountains. Your first
days are busy meeting your fellow shipmates, settling aboard and
preparing for diving. After a sailing lesson getting to know your
Moorings sailing catamaran, hoist your mainsail and point across the
wind to Norman Island for snorkeling in the pirate caves (which were
the inspiration for the novel Treasure Island). Check-out dives get
us comfortable if its been a while since you last blew bubbles
underwater, or learn to dive in the calm and protected waters of
White Bay and discover how easy and comfortable scuba diving is. Soon
we will have mastered our basic scuba skills and begin working on
topics such as underwater navigation and wreck diving. You are
settling into life aboard and having a blast.
Days 5-9
Learn all about tacking upwind as we head to Virgin Gorda for
excellent water-sports opportunities in the protected bays and
climbing amongst the gravity-defying jumble of massive granite
boulders stacked high along the ocean’s edge at the Bath’s. Splash
into emerald pools of water at Fallen Jerusalem before donning night
diving gear for underwater exploration at Mt. Point, where octopuses
are abundant. Check out the cool shops at Spanish Town then hike to
the rocky intertidal for biology investigations and assist in a
community service effort to clean up the shoreline from plastic
debris. We start developing our fish and creature identification
skills with our resident marine biologist taking the lead with
multimedia presentations and underwater communications units for
in-water practice with immediate feedback.
Days 10-13
Trim your sails early for a fast sunrise sail taking us across the
wind 20 miles north to fabulous Anegada. We make a race between the
boats in getting their first, so sail fast! A “kick-back sand-attack”
day of barrier reef exploration, flamingo spotting, beach volleyball
and hammock siestas awaits. The reef is full of amazing arches and
passages where we often see nurse sharks, sea turtles and manta rays.
Departing, we are summoned like all the marine life for miles around,
to the 247-foot sunken freighter, the Chikuzen, where we blow bubbles
under a spiraling circle of barracuda and jacks and watch for the
massive 400-pound Goliath Grouper. This wreck beckons marine life
from miles away and is a great place to get some awesome photos with
a digital camera (helpful to get people to believe that the grouper
really was that big!)
Days 14-17
Guana Island is great for water skiing, wake boarding, and kayaking
in its perfectly calm waters. Underneath the surface we explore Grand
Central Station cavern, where nurse sharks are commonly seen (they
don’t bite). Hiking ashore brings us to a vista overlooking the
Atlantic with expansive views. At sunset, be sure to sit with your
friends at the front of your boat to watch for the green flash. Night
dive in a rocky outcropping filled with a carnival of fishes and
invertebrates. Your team has really come together, its time to go
ashore for an evening of reggae dancing and steel drums at Cane
Garden Bay. Hike to the top of the Virgin Islands at Tortola’s Mt.
Sage National Park and explore the rainforest permeated by the smell
of its namesake. Your not too old to play at Green Cay’s Playgrounds,
a dive site where we often come face to face with dolphins and see
elegant eagle rays gliding by. Do a reef fish survey for project REEF
and help science.
Days 18-21
Along the desert island of Tobogo we hike to the bird colony to watch
pelican, frigate, and tropic birds dive-bomb for fish. The diving is
fantastic with sheer walls covered with black coral and sleepy nurse
sharks slumbering under the reef ledges. Congratulations, you are
quite the diver now, we finish up our Advanced and Rescue diver
certifications and head in to West End, the pastel enclave, to refill
on ice-cream before performing a perfect series of fast tacks with
your now smoothly operating crew beating upwind through the Narrows.
While the end is near, the diving still gets better exploring a
series of shipwrecks including the historic RMS Rhone, possibly the
worlds best wreck dive. Visit a secret wall of black coral and maybe
drift-dive the crystalline blue-water south of Norman Island to spot
big pelagics. Have a farewell pizza bash ashore and reminisce with
your new close friends on the fantastic adventures shared together.
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BVI Section Feature: Dive Site Explorer Map Odyssey Scrapbook (Voyage Photos, Forums)
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