40 hrs of fieldwork per week
1:6 staff to participant ratio
Includes GVI Experiences
Start your career in ocean conservation with an internship in Mexico. You’ll be introduced to coral reef research techniques and participate in basic coral reef health monitoring such as using Coral Watch surveys. You’ll also have the opportunity to conduct coral restoration activities, while running other marine conservation initiatives like plastic cleanups and environmental awareness programs.
Join our international team located on Mexico’s Caribbean coast to gain experience in marine conservation and start your career in the field. The team here work with local authorities to protect the unique habitat of the Marine Biosphere Reserve of the Mexican Caribbean home to unique habitats such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, and Mexico’s famously magical cenotes.
Your internship will start with you mastering the diving and underwater survey techniques needed to conduct coral reef surveys which are accurate and don’t harm the reef. Our experienced instructors will support you all the way while you work toward earning your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certificate. Receive the PADI Coral Reef Restoration Diver (CRRD) Distinctive Specialty. This unique offering by GVI and PADI advances your diving skills, allowing you to participate in coral restoration projects. This is offered to participants that join for 4 weeks or longer.
Once your training is complete you will work with other participants to help monitor assigned sections of the reef. Depending on the duration of your stay you will learn about how to identify fish, coral, and other marine life as well as how this data is used by local authorities to make decisions about conservation. You might also assist our local partners with their ongoing coral restoration project by either growing coral fragments in laboratory conditions, maintaining the reef coral nursery, or transplanting these coral fragments onto parts of the reef.
You will also participate in a range of other initiatives designed to work toward achieving the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. Some of these include ocean floor and beach cleanups and the subsequent recording of the plastic collected for later data analysis, sea turtle monitoring, environmental awareness workshops with local students, community groups, businesses and tourists. Please note that these activities don´t run all year long as they are locally driven and it depends on the needs of our local partners.
Throughout the internship, you will learn about the importance of engaging local communities to ensure that marine conservation initiatives have long-lasting positive results. Reflecting this reality, you will not only master technical diving and marine research skills on this internship but also have the opportunity to practise your interpersonal skills.
This internship is specifically useful for someone who has or is actively studying the below subject areas at school, university or college, or has an interest in these subject areas.
Some of the example typical activities you could participate in on this program.
Some of the partners we work with on base.
Our Puerto Morelos research station – where you’ll take part in project work – is located 80 metres from the beach. Your accommodation – where you’ll hang out, sleep and eat – is located 15 minutes by car, 45 minutes by bike or 90 minutes on foot from the beach. One of the best-kept secrets in the Yucatan, the small town of Puerto Morelos is incredibly safe and has a laid-back vibe with a friendly and welcoming local community. There are no big resorts or casinos here.
Mexico, while culturally diverse, is also one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.
From mariachi bands to Mayan temples, Mexico is best known for being the birthplace of the iconic taco. Puerto Morelos is the oldest port community in the Mexican Caribbean. Home to the northernmost tip of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (the second largest barrier reef in the world), Puerto Morelos is a spectacular diving location. You’ll spot sea turtles and various rays – from the famous Caribbean stingray to the spotted eagle ray. If mammals are more your thing, West Indian manatees have been seen and a pod of bottlenose dolphins are frequent visitors. The mangroves offer the chance to see a variety of animals and waterbirds, including protected species like the American crocodile.
Your typical day includes diving, lab work, training on base, beach cleanups and community work. Rounded off with evening debriefs followed by dinner and time to relax – taking in a beautiful sunset, and sharing stories with your fellow team members.
On weekends, participants enjoy free time until Sunday dinner at the base. Local fun includes games, movies, beach time and beach volleyball. The base has kayaks and SUPs that participants can use in their free time under the supervision of a staff member. There are also 5 bicycles that participants can use. Getting around is easy with affordable public options, taxis, or bike rentals (30 – 100 USD/month).
We want you to make the most of the chance to live in – and contribute towards – the most diverse and unique wildernesses and communities on earth. Introducing GVI Experiences – immersive adventure, cultural and wellness activities exclusive to GVI that have been specially designed in collaboration with our local partners to support and stimulate sustainable economic development.
Enhance your impact. Expand your adventure. Explore your world.
By joining a GVI program, you not only contribute to preserving unique ecosystems but also get the chance to explore the surrounding area or venture further to see what else the region has to offer on weekends.
Our field staff are a great source of advice on local travel options. Many participants choose to travel before or after their experience, solidifying friendships made on the program.
Engaging with a new context teaches global awareness, adaptability and critical thinking – skills highly valued in today’s world. Cultural immersion is encouraged, and there are many activities to enjoy during your free time or before and after your program. Please note, these suggestions aren’t included in the program fee and are at your own expense.
If you’d like to find out what the experience of joining a GVI project is really like, simply contact us and we’ll put you in touch with one of our many Alumni.
We’ll try to match you to an Alum based on your location, nationality, age, stage of academic career, gender, and program interests. This allows you to gain insights into the experience that is most relevant to you.
Depending on your location you might be able to speak to an Alum over the phone or online, or meet up with them face-to-face at a coffee shop nearby. We also run a series of small events around the world where you can speak to GVI Alumni, Ambassadors and staff members.
Program Manager
Miguel Angel is GVI’s Program Manager for the Marine Conservation Programs at GVI’s base in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. He has a backgr ...
Dive Officer
This is Claudia, she is our Dive Officer at the GVI Puerto Morelos base in Mexico. Claudia is originally from Spain and helps out with everything from scientific research to fie ...
Science Officer
Meet Kayla, the Science Officer for GVI’s base in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. She is originally from Canada where she obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Marine an ...
When it comes to support, we ensure that each participant is provided with unparalleled, 360 degree support, from your initial contact with the GVI Family, all the way through your program, and even after, as you become part of the GVI Alumni Team.
As part of this promise, we will ensure, whenever possible, that one of our dedicated staff will be available to meet you at the airport. In most locations, we also set up a Whatsapp group to help with managing airport arrivals.
We will arrange with you prior to your departure that, should you arrive in the agreed upon pick up window, a member of our staff will be there to welcome you, easily identifiable in a GVI t-shirt or holding a GVI sign and wearing a friendly smile.
This means there will be someone there to greet you as you land, and from there you will be transported to your GVI base to start your adventure and meet the rest of your team.
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All of our programs have short-, mid- and long-term objectives that align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This enables us to report on our collaborative impact across the world in a streamlined manner, measuring which UN SDGs we are making a substantial contribution to. Furthermore, this will help our local partners and communities measure and visualise their contribution to the UN SDGs.
Prior to your arrival on base, you will be educated about the UN SDGs. Then once you arrive on base, you’ll learn about the specific goals we have in this particular location, our various objectives, and also clarification of how your personal, shorter-term involvement contributes to these.
Our aim is to educate you on local and global issues, so that you continue to be an active global citizen after your program, helping to fulfil our mission of building a global network of people united by their passion to make a difference.
Puerto Morelos is the oldest port city in the Mexican Caribbean. Used as a port since the Mayan empire, its history as a modern port dates back to 1898. It was built to enable the exportation of gum from gum trees and wood from dye trees. Together with fishing, these were the main productive activities in the area.
There is a unique diversity of ecosystems – including low evergreen and swamp jungles, savannahs, coastal dunes, mangroves, cenotes, beaches, marine grass and coral reefs. The reef of Puerto Morelos is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System – home to thousands of marine species.
Today, Puerto Morelos is part of the 120-kilometre-long tourist corridor located between Cancun and Tulum. Tourism is the main economic activity of Puerto Morelos and continues to grow due to the development of large hotels and holiday accommodation along its coast. Local tour operators offer scuba-diving, snorkelling and free-diving tours in the Caribbean Sea, as well as reef lagoon, sportfishing tours, and tours to (and diving in) cenotes close to the town.
Fishing is the second most common commercial activity after tourism. Small skiffs are used to collect lobster and many species of commercial Caribbean fish. Local fishing organisations are aware that unsustainable fishing leads to the destruction of the reef, loss of fishing resources, and harm to ecotourism activities. GVI assists our partners in Puerto Morelos by collecting and collating data which helps decision-makers in coastal zone management.
Fish and coral surveys
We have several monitoring sites that we survey each year. The data we gather helps us determine the abundance and size of the fish, and understand the changes in the fish community dynamics. The information on coral, and other benthic organisms like sponges and macro algae is used to understand the reef’s coral coverage and overall health. The surveys are simpler for 4-week short-term interns as we aim to gather high-quality data by focusing the learning on fish species while touching on other topics such as coral species. The aim of this is to collect biomass data and information on coral illnesses and bleaching.
We also assist our partners in a coral reef restoration project. Through cloning (coral fragmentation) and assisted fertilisation of coral gametes, we assist in incrementing the biomass and genetic diversity of the hard coral population. We collaborate on coral nursery maintenance (inland and in water). And finally, we assist with transplanting coral colonies back into the reef to regenerate degraded sections of the reef in the ocean.
The Caribbean King Crab project rears juveniles to sufficient sizes and numbers to be used during coral restoration work, which increases the survival of transplanted fragments or recruits by actively counteracting macroalgae proliferation. You can play a part in the regeneration of degraded sections of the reef and rebuilding the ecosystem.
Turtle monitoring
The National Park of Puerto Morelos is abundant in seagrass, one of the favourite meals of green sea turtles. GVI participants assist with monitoring sea turtle populations by taking pictures of them while snorkelling and diving. This helps with identifying new and returning sea turtles. Sea turtle nesting season is from May to October.
Invasive lionfish monitoring and education
Lionfish are an invasive species in the Mexican Caribbean. We carry out lionfish data collection during our dive activities – registering size, quantities, location and depth, as well as taking photos of the specimens. We turn this information over to local authorities who keep track of the lionfish population dynamics. At times they request our assistance in removing this invasive species from the sites.
Incidental sightings of megafauna
Every time we dive, we look for megafauna species such as sharks, dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, eels and rays. We input sightings of these species into our database. The presence of these species can be an indicator of the health of the reef and general biodiversity.
Plastic pollution cleanup
We have weekly beach cleanups where we collect the rubbish that washes up on our beach. We classify it and count or weigh it into different categories, depending on their source. This information is recorded and sent to our partners in Ocean Conservancy. After adding it to their worldwide data bank, they analyse the information – looking for trends on sites and classification of rubbish.
Environmental education
By joining a GVI marine conservation program in Mexico, you’ll get involved in vital project work that directly impacts our partner organisations’ ability to promote their initiatives and carry out their mandate. This includes things like the creation of marine reserves, zonation schemes, and management policies. In turn, you are helping to protect Mexico’s precious marine life and the ecosystem.
You will be able to work closely with our local partners – collecting and collating data that is used to aid decision-makers in the coastal zone and resource management in Mexico.
You’ll also assist the community by conducting environmental education programs. Once a fishing village, the town of Puerto Morelos is now part of one of the largest marine parks in Mexico. Fish is still an important food source in the community, and fishing provides a daily source of income. Sustainable fishing methods and other means of protecting the natural environment are vital to maintaining the marine abundance that makes fishing and international tourism profitable. We work to support the local community’s efforts to learn about and protect their marine resources and the health of the reef off the coast of Puerto Morelos.
These initiatives allow us to support the conservation work, the community, and our local partners. They also address two of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), namely Goal 4: Quality Education and Goal 14: Life Below Water.
GVI Puerto Morelos Marine Long-term Objectives:
1. Provide data to our partners on the overall health of the reef, to be used for coastal management within the coral reefs of Puerto Morelos National Park, and collaborate in the coral restoration project.
2. Raise environmental awareness with the community in Puerto Morelos.
3. Minimise the environmental impact that visitors and other people have within the national park.
4. Increase in-country capacity within our partners and community members in the coral reefs of Puerto Morelos National Park.
A GVI program is an investment in your career. No matter which you choose, you will be working toward improving your employability by mastering new social skills, gaining further technical expertise and earning qualifications in many cases. Most of our staff are, in fact, GVI Alumni, and we have helped many of our Alumni discover, move toward, and earn their own personal dream jobs. Each program includes introductory workshops, ongoing presentations, as well as on-the-ground professional support provided by our very own trained staff members. In addition, our training programs are critical for helping us to ensure the long-term impact of our sustainable development projects around the world.
Learn about the importance of child and vulnerable adult protection best practices and how to apply them while on project.
Introduction to the history and evolution of sustainable development, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and how these related to your project work.
Learn about our country locations and further opportunities available to you during or after your program.
An introduction to different survey techniques and best practice guidelines for surveys; introduction to different types of data and how to record information via a datasheet.
Learn about biodiversity and how biodiversity is measured, and classifying different species and how to identify species that indicate the health of the habitat.
Learn about issues with plastic and measures that can be taken to help reduce plastic consumption.
Learn about what a coral reef is, its importance, how it is formed, how this ecosystem works.
Learn how to identify fish and coral species that are important to our marine conservation partners. This training includes a powerpoint identification exercise and an in-water identification exercise.
Learn about the specific events for children arranged by our in-country partners and the games played arranged around the topics of environmental conservation.
Learn how to categorise waste collected during beach cleans and input plastic pollution data for analysis.
Learn how to use spearfishing techniques to eradicate invasive lionfish from the Mexican Caribbean reef. This activity depends on the requirements of our local partners and does not happen year-round.
Participants are taught how to take underwater pictures of sea turtles and compare them to a photo ID catalogue. In some cases, new ones are discovered and the participant registers the turtle.
Learn to use a method of identifying coral health developed by the University of Brisbane. The method is used by citizen scientists and professional researchers to monitor coral all around the world.
Participants learn to identify megafauna common in the region such as stingrays, manta rays, moray eels, sharks, sea turtles and large pelagic fish such as barracudas.
Gain insight into the threats faced by reefs globally, such as climate change and the resulting coral bleaching, plastic pollution, and unsustainable fishing methods, as well as how these manifest in local areas.
Learn about the basic biology of corals and the underlying biology of the reef system.
This includes a discussion of the marine organisms found in the surrounding waters like stingrays, fire coral, sea urchins, lionfish and rockfish, that might cause harm to swimmers and divers. Participants learn how these can be avoided and how to treat injuries if they occur.
We use the techniques specified by the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System synoptic monitoring program and the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) monitoring techniques to monitor the health of the reef ecosystem. They include noting the abundance, size, and any diseases of specific species to determine the biodiversity and biomass of the area and noting coral cover area to determine coral health. Participants learn about how to use the point intercept methodology, a system that uses precise distances to monitor benthic marine communities and ecosystems such as corals. This is done to carry out higher area coverage in a statistical analysis. Volunteers and interns are also taught to use other monitoring methods used by our local partners. Spending a longer duration on the program allows you to gain a more in-depth understanding of the project work.
This training takes scuba-diving further through five adventure dives. This includes two types of required dives, deep diving and underwater navigation, and any other three types of adventure dives. At Puerto Morelos we offer the peak performance buoyancy dive, search and recovery dive, and the underwater naturalist dive.
This course teaches participants about the importance of coral reef systems and how to conserve them. You will learn how you can help to conserve coral reef systems. Through classroom discussions, you’ll learn how coral reefs function and the complex nature of life on a reef, why coral reefs are so important, why many coral reefs are in serious trouble, and what you can do to prevent further decline.
The PADI Coral Reef Restoration Diver Specialty Course is designed to educate divers about the various threats that are affecting our coral reefs worldwide and techniques to monitor and mitigate these negative impacts. This course will explore the methods currently used to protect, preserve and restore coral reefs. Divers will learn how to plan, organize and conduct coral reef surveys as well as develop the in-water skills (i.e. buoyancy control, monitoring techniques) that will allow them to perform research and restoration dives safely.
The goals of the Coral Reef Restoration Diver training are to teach the diver about the various ways in which we can safely monitor and restore the reef as well as providing them with the understanding of why reef restoration projects are so important.
Earning a professional diving qualification, such as those offered by The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), is a necessary step for many aspiring marine biologists. All GVI marine conservation programs include training by certified dive instructors that allows participants to qualify for a range of PADI certifications including PADI Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Divemaster, Instructor, Rescue Diver and Master Scuba Diver Trainer.
Career paths in social and environmental impact are not as well-established as in other fields. That’s why we’ll provide our interns who have successfully completed their program with our Careers in Sustainable Development course. In this course, you’ll learn about current and emerging opportunities in a range of sectors, allowing you to make the best decision about your future.
This online course, valued at £295, is included in all internships. Full course details can be found here.
Leadership is a critical skill set for anyone looking to make an impact or drive sustainable development. Develop your own leadership style and learn how to set achievable objectives, give effective feedback and manage conflict successfully. After successfully completing the course, which you have the option of doing prior to your in-country program, you’ll receive a certificate from the University of Richmond.
This online course, valued at £295, is included in all volunteering programs. Full course details can be found here.
Learn more about what is contributing to the decline in the health of the world’s ocean and marine species and what can be done to prevent it. You’ll gain a greater understanding of the field of marine conservation, explore how to protect marine ecosystems and discover how you can contribute towards conservation-related initiatives. After successfully completing the course, which you have the option of doing prior to your in-country program, you’ll receive a certificate from the University of Richmond.
This online course, valued at £295, is included in all volunteering programs. Full course details can be found here.
We won’t sugarcoat it — traveling abroad is usually a complex process that carries an element of risk. But this is exactly why we’re passionate about providing extensive support throughout the process as well as the highest safety standards during the in-country phase. We believe that volunteering abroad should not only be impactful, but an enjoyable experience that carries as little risk as possible. This is exactly how we’ve been able to maintain our reputation as the most highly respected volunteering organisations in the sector over the past two decades.
Make the most of our unique programs with these exclusively curated local adventure and wellness experiences.
