The Windward Islands archipelago stretches 300 miles
from Dominica to Grenada and includes magnificent Martinique, St.
Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines along the way. These islands
are an adventurer's dream paradise, with incredible sailing
opportunities, diving on pristine and diverse reefs, walls, and
shipwrecks, and fantastic island exploration, hiking in rainforests,
climbing majestic volcanoes, and swimming under hot-spring
waterfalls. The islanders are warm and welcoming, and the islands
themselves are unspoiled, and safe.
The diving is outstanding, and off the beaten track of tourism.
Encounters with huge schools of fish and big pelagic animals like
dolphins and rays are commonplace. Much of the area is protected by
marine conservation zones and marine parks which help to preserve the
phenomenal natural beauty. Marine life rarely seen elsewhere are
frequently sighted here including the spectacular seahorses,
frogfish, and flying gurnards.
Ashore there is an abundance of adventure opportunities including
exploring old forts, climbing around on the set for Pirates of the
Caribbean’s Port Royal, and shopping in the charming towns full of
rich history and cultural heritage. The sailing is unmatched, with
steady tradewinds and spectacular inter-island passages. You master
the navigation and seamanship of your catamaran, your comfortable
home for exploring these spectacular islands. You will truly
experience the Caribbean the way it is meant to be explored and make
great friends!
Odyssey offers our S.E.A. Voyages in the Windwards on two distinct,
combinable 14 -day itineraries round-trip from St. Lucia. Our
northbound journey includes St Lucia and Martinique and the
southbound journey explores St. Vincent and the Grenadines
S.E.A. Voyages
(Service, Education, and
Adventure)-Prerequisite: PADI Open Water Diver (or equivalent) or PADI referral(separate programs and boats for Teens and
College Students)
Fascinated with the tropical reefs and marine creatures or
interested in a career in the marine sciences? S.E.A. (Service,
Education and Adventure) Voyages are a unique opportunity to earn
environmental service hours and college credit while adventuring
throughout the amazing Windward Islands archipelago. S.E.A. voyages
offer you a great opportunity to learn about marine biology, sailing,
and scuba diving, and make the most of your summer on a rewarding and
educational adventure of a lifetime!
SERVICE: These voyages focus on
coral reef related environmental service throughout the Windward
islands. Working with the marine parks and international monitoring
organizations, we conduct surveys on wild dolphin populations in
Martinique, coral health assessments in St. Lucia's Marine Park,
coral reef fish counts and project Reef Check in Dominica and St.
Vincent, and assist sea turtle population rehabilitation efforts in
Bequia.
EDUCATION: Coral reef biology and
ecology accredited education programs. Discover the deeply
interconnected ways the coral, invertebrates, and fishes work
together in amazing efficiency. Aboard your vessel are microscopes
and lab equipment and a staff of enthusiastic marine biologists ready
to teach you how to collect scientifically sound ecological data as
you explore your interest in a science career or just enjoy learning
about the unique aspects of the reefs creatures. Learn to identify
the top 25 corals and their common ailments as well as over 100
fantastic fishes in preparation for conducting biodiversity surveys
of the reefs for the Reef Check initiative and add to the project
REEF database. During this process you will learn about coral
aggression, learn to treat coral Black Band disease, and discover the
different coral growth forms. The behaviors of coral reef fishes are
as vivid as their colors, and you will learn about their unique
methods of mate selection and attraction, avoiding predation, and
finding and obtaining dinner. A big part of the protection of these
beautiful coral reef communities is through the conservation efforts
of the marine parks of the islands. The marine parks provide safe
havens from the effects of fishing and commercial utilization of the
reef's resources, but the park systems are limited in scope due to
economic challenges of the islands. We assist the local marine park
rangers to conduct surveys assessing the health of the reefs and
compare survey results to those taken outside of the marine park
protected zones. You develop your skills in implementing the accepted
protocols and methods of conducting field surveys to assess the
health of fish, coral, and dolphin populations. All educational
programs are taught in a very hands-on approach to learning in which
you gain knowledge by doing, seeing and experiencing.
ADVENTURE: Sailing throughout the
archipelago, diving the coral walls, pinnacles, and reefs, exploring
shipwrecks, hiking through the rainforest jungles, exploring
volcanoes, refreshing in hot spring waterfalls and experiencing the
culture and beauty ashore is sure to satisfy the explorer within you.
We dive lots and you can earn multiple PADI scuba certifications
including Advanced, our distinctive Research Diver plus Night Diver
and Underwater Photography. We live aboard sailing catamarans and
sail the blue passages between the islands, with you as the crew,
learning to raise and lower the sails, navigate, be the helmsman, and
drop the anchor. We explore the beaches and save some time for
volleyball, wakeboarding, and sea kayaking.
PADI Advanced Diver PADI
Research Diver and Photo specialty Underwater
Environmental Service Projects 20+ Dives,
3 Scuba Certifications
Sail Training and Seamanship Watersports- Skiing, Boarding, Kayaking Island Exploration, Rainforest Treks Marine Biology
Academic Credit (2 hours option)
North SEA
June 20 -
July 3
14 Days
$3790
St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica
South SEA
July 5 -
July 18
14 Days
$3790
St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines
North SEA
July 20 -
August 2
14 Days
$3790
St. Lucia Martinique and Dominica
South SEA
August 3 -
August 16
14 Days
$3790
St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines
North SEA and South SEA
Combination Voyages
North/South SEA Combination
June 20 -
July 18
29 Days
$6590
St. Lucia, Martinique,
St. Lucia, St. Vincent, the Grenadines
40+ dives, 2 hour academic credit option, 40 hours environmental
service
North/South SEA Combination
July 20-
August 16
28 Days
$6590
St. Lucia, Martinique,
St. Lucia, St. Vincent, the Grenadines
40+ dives, 2 hour academic credit option, 40 hours environmental
service
North
S.E.A. Voyages
Days 1-4
Arrive into St. Lucia and meet your fellow shipmates, our home port is
the beautiful Marigot Bay. Learn a bit about your yacht and sailing
and prepare to cast-off the dock, raise your mainsail, as we head off
to Anse Chachon reef for an orientation dive and an opportunity to
explore 165-foot Lesleen M shipwreck. We gear up for our first blue
water passage sail to Petite Anse in Martinique. Upon entering the
bay, we are accompanied by a huge pod of dolphin riding our bow wave.
We will be cataloging our sightings of their abundances and
distributions for the Martinique Cetaceans Research Unit and learning
about their biology and ecology. The diving in Martinique is
breathtaking, particularly the offshore islands, the Diamond and the
Pearl in the north, both teeming with large pelagic fishes.
Days 5-9
We continue our exploration of the amazing waters of Martinique
including the bat cave and delve into the fateful events of the 1902
Mt. Pele volcanic eruption above St. Pierre, which strewed the sea
floor with twenty shipwrecks, now all home to a myriad of species. A
visit ashore brings us to the old theater ruins atop the cellar jail
cell of the eruption's sole survivor. Visiting bustling Fort De France
for great food and shopping is a nice break. We develop our skills to
identify the 25 common coral species and even treat some of the corals
infected with Black Band Disease. In addition to the dolphin surveys,
we will be working with Reef Check to develop a baseline survey of the
coral reef health. At night, we dive the reefs to explore the
nocturnal transformation and observe with an underwater black light a
rare glimpse of coral fluorescence.
Day 10-14
Dominica, the water island, maintains, through their Scotts Head
Marine Reserve, amazingly healthy coral reefs with pinnacles rising
straight up from unfathomed depths. After drift diving here through
the crystal clear waters and reefs loaded with color and fishes, we
climb ashore to the hot spring mineral baths and waterfalls which
leads to relaxation with terrific views from the rainforest botanical
garden. We are getting pretty competent as sailors now and set out to
St. Lucia for exploration of the Soufriere Reserve, including the
stunning drift diving of Superman’s Flight and the Coral Gardens. We
work with the marine rangers here in conducting coral reef health
assessments and learning about the marine park's success and
challenges before climbing about the Pitons, two jungle covered
conical peaks jutting straight up over two thousand feet.
South S.E.A. Voyages
Days 1-4
Marigot Bay is our beautiful home port where we acquaint ourselves
with our shipmates and our yacht before raising the sails and heading
to the Soufriere Marine Reserve for a dive on Supermans Flight. Learn
about navigation, dead reckoning and GPS, sail trim and helmsmanship
as we sail South to St Vincent, truly a divers wonderland. With
crystalline waters, sheer walls and diverse marine life, dive sites
like Orca Point and New Guinea Reef offer the rare opportunity to see
elusive frogfish and batfish. A short hike takes us to the amazing
Falls of Baleine underneath the towering Soufriere volcano. Look out
for a chance to glimpse the elusive white St. Vincent Parrot in the
rainforest. The reefs here are optimal for perfecting fish
identification as we explore their unique niches and behaviors.
Days 5-9
After having some fun wakeboarding, we put our new fish identification
skills to good use conducting surveys for project REEF while diving
the sheer wall drop-offs and colorful reefs and even through a bat
cave. Analyze the feeding habits and life cycles of the coral reef
fishes and learn about fish count methods, transect lines and other
tools of marine research. Explore the shipwrecks off Kingstown, where
three ships have sank atop each other starting with a slave ship from
the 1700’s and most recently a freighter in 1980. The Grenadines
beckon with their white sand beaches and turquoise blue waters. Bequia
is charming ashore with gingerbread houses and flower gardens. Ashore,
we work with the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary in their efforts to restore
the Grenadines sea turtle population and learn about sea turtle
biology and conservation efforts.
Days 10-14
Investigate bioluminescence during night dives and witness the
changing of the guard of the reef fishes from the diurnal herbivores
to the nocturnal predators as we dive some of the worlds best reefs
and learn a bit about digital underwater photography. We continue our
investigations in marine biology and master sailing and seamanship
skills as we return across the blue water passage to St. Lucia where
we work with the Soufriere Marine Management Area rangers conducting
vital reef fish assessments while high speed drift diving Superman’s
Flight, Coral Gardens and the Pinnacles. Ashore, we hike up to the hot
spring waterfalls and overlook the marine park with magnificent views
from the jungle peaks around the Pitons. We have explored an arc of
the Caribbean, contributed to reef conservation and made great
friends!
PADI Advanced Diver
Sail Training and Seamanship
Marine Biology
Academic Credit (2 hours option)
