Programme Overview

Submerge yourself un the Ankay Conservation Experience. We personalize your stay according to your needs and include everything in the program (accommodation, meals, transportation, equipment, training and loads of diving), so you can arrive and not worry about anything else other than absorbing knowledge and having fun.

Whether you are an experienced diver or have never dived before, our diving and ecological monitoring program will open up your mind to the underwater world like never before. 

Join us on our mission to save the ocean. 

About the organization

Our main goal is to provide hard evidence for policy making regarding the conservation of our local reefs. We hope to one day serve as a reference for other countries to sustain the importance of properly managing MPAs.

We live by our values: Bliss, Awareness and Excellence.

About the programme

Ankay Conservation’s ecological monitoring program has been developed to be able to provide broad understanding of the regional health and abundance of the reef ecosystems, as well as create data sets for individual dive sites across different depths.

A PADI instructor will train you to at least PADI Open Water with an exclusive focus on the skills necessary for surveying underwater such as proper buoyancy.

What can volunteers expect? 

During your stay, you will be trained by a Conservation Instructor in sponge monitoring. You will have access to an extensive amount of theory regarding ecology and our methodology for data collection and quickly be getting in the water to develop those skills and start contributing. In practical terms, your contribution as a volunteer will be to survey the abundance of sponge and its state of health.

What do we expect from the volunteers? 

Volunteers are expected to attend theoretical classes and study on their own time if necessary to perfect their knowledge. Once training is complete, they will be expected to do two surveys daily Monday through Friday. Finally, it is the responsibility of each volunteer to put away their dive equipment in the afternoon and enter the survey data on our spreadsheet.

Do the volunteers have to bring special equipment?

If you have your own dive equipment, you are free to bring it, but we also have all the equipment necessary.

Location

We are located in Solarte, one of Bocas del Toro archipelagos islands in Panamá. Our Center is in the breath-taking jungle and only 80 meters from the ocean. We are a 10 minute boat ride to the main island (Isla Colón) where you can find a grand variety of restaurants, supermarkets and nightlife. We find it to be the perfect balance having the tranquility of our spot, but very close to town.

Bocas del Toro was declared Hope Spot in December 2019 by Mission Blue. It is home to countless important marine organisms including sharks, sea turtles, bottlenose dolphins, over 120 species of sponge, three different species of mangroves and a diverse array of Caribbean coral species.

Duration

For divers that are already certified as Open Water o higher, the minimum stay is 2 weeks.

For non-certified divers, we recommend a 3 week program so you have enough time to gain experience and contribute, but we can tailor-make your experience to 2 weeks with proper coordination.