Living Blue
School and University Programs
Adventure. Education. Conservation.
OCEAN EDUCATION, BUILT AROUND YOUR STUDENTS
Ocean Education is a core part of Living Blue. Big Blue Diving Khao Lak works with schools, universities, educational travel organisations to develop programmes combining time in the water with ecology, conservation and citizen science.
Programmes can include snorkelling, scuba training, sea turtle ecology, citizen science and learning directly from local conservation work. What we include depends on the group – their age and experience, what you want them to learn and the time you have available.
Rather than asking students to fit into a standard itinerary, we build the programme around the students taking part.
Planning a group programme? Tell us a little about your students or participants, your dates and what you’d like them to learn or experience, and we can start building from there.
How We Build a Programme
Every group is different, but our programmes are built around three simple principles:
Adventure
Get into the water.
Build confidence and practical skills through snorkelling, scuba diving and other activities appropriate to the group.
Education
Understand what you’re experiencing.
Explore marine ecology, species, habitats and the connections between them through lessons, discussions and practical learning.
Conservation
See how conservation works in practice.
Explore citizen science, current research and different approaches to marine conservation – including the challenges, limitations and trade-offs involved.
What Could Your Programme Look Like?
There isn’t one standard Living Blue school programme. Activities are selected and combined around your students, learning goals, experience and time available.
Depending on the group, a programme could include:
Snorkelling & Ocean Skills
More than just a snorkel trip. Students develop water skills, confidence and awareness while exploring the marine environment, with the opportunity to complete the SSI Snorkel Diver certification - gaining a recognised qualification alongside practical experience in the water.
Learn to Dive
Take your first breaths underwater.
Introduce students to scuba through Try Scuba or Basic Diver experiences, or build a longer programme around the SSI Open Water Diver certification.
Develop Your Diving
Already certified? Keep progressing. Programmes can incorporate further diver training and skill development, from buoyancy and Advanced Open Water to Stress & Rescue, Divemaster training and more specialised diving skills where appropriate.
Sea Turtle Ecology & Citizen Science
Learn about sea turtle biology, ecology and conservation while developing species-ID, photo-ID and citizen-science skills using local sightings, data and research from Andaman Turtle Watch.
Practical Citizen Science
Explore how observations become useful data through surveying, species identification, wildlife observation, data collection, photo-ID and, where appropriate, working with existing datasets and active citizen-science projects.
Learn From Local Conservation
Explore how conservation works by learning from different organisations and approaches operating in Thailand. Depending on the location and programme, this could include visits, workshops or learning directly from organisations and initiatives including the Royal Thai Navy, Naucrates, PMBC, DMCR, National Parks and local shark and marine conservation projects.
Built around your students
Start Planning Your Programme
The aim isn’t to fit everything into one trip. We choose activities that work together and make sense for the students taking part.
What We’ve Done So Far
Snorkelling, Turtle Ecology & Conservation
Koh Phra Thong
Students combined SSI Snorkel Diver training with Sea Turtle Ecology and citizen science on shallow local reefs.
Field learning introduced three different approaches to turtle conservation – Naucrates nesting-beach research, Andaman Turtle Watch in-water citizen science and The Royal Thai Navy’s head-start programme – giving students the chance to compare how conservation works in practice.
Basic Diver & Turtle Ecology
Khao Lak
For 50 students trying scuba for the first time, SSI Basic Diver training was combined with Sea Turtle Ecology, Photo-ID workshops using real Andaman Turtle Watch turtles, and a visit to The Royal Thai Navy Sea Turtle Conservation Centre.
The three-day programme was built with just three days’ notice after the group’s original travel plans changed.
University Study Abroad
Koh Tao
University Exercise Science students combined SSI Open Water, Advanced Open Water and Sea Turtle Ecology certifications with Nitrox, deep and wreck diving, decompression science and a hyperbaric chamber visit.
Delivered as part of a two-week Physiology and Motor Control of Diving elective, the programme put classroom theory into practice in the ocean.
Where & How We Work
Khao Lak & Koh Tao
Living Blue School Programmes can be developed in Khao Lak and Koh Tao, giving groups options across different locations, seasons and marine environments in Thailand.
In Khao Lak, programmes can run during the main Andaman season, generally October to May, combining ocean activities with the local research, conservation organisations and environments we work with here.
For groups travelling outside the Andaman season – or where Koh Tao better suits the wider itinerary – programmes can also be developed in Koh Tao throughout the year.
Wherever the programme takes place, it is planned around the students, location and activities involved, while the standards behind it stay the same. Our Living Blue Educational Principles & Programme Policies set out our approach to education, safety and risk management, student welfare, environmental responsibility and working with schools and educational travel partners.
Every programme starts with a conversation.
Tell Us About Your Group
Tell us who your students or participants are, when you’re travelling, how much time you have, what experience they already have and what you’d like them to learn or experience.
Planning through a school, university or educational travel organisation? We’re happy to work directly with your team to develop the programme around your wider itinerary and requirements.