Portugal – Marine Conservation in Lisbon

Lisbon, Portugal. The diving club, where the volunteer work takes place, is in a recreational port that was opened in 1999 and is located very close to the center of Cascais and the citadel stronghold. It is a place with splendid views and a diverse range of shops and restaurants. Volunteers stay in a sustainable hostel around 30 minutes by public transportation from the diving club.

Volunteers’ daily tasks may vary depending on the time of the year, but can include:

• Clean-up the seabed to reduce the marine debris, equipped with diving equipment and nets; logging information on items and trash collected.
• Remove the living marine organisms from the trash collected and put them back in the sea;
• Document and collect information about fauna–fish and invertebrate species–in a monitored biodiverse area as part of a scientific research project;
• Last year, our divers collected 588 kg of trash and started a report that is being compiled as more divers join the project. This report helps us raise awareness of waste pollution in the ocean.

A typical weekday will look like this:

08:00-09:00 am | Breakfast at the volunteer’s accommodation.
09:00-12:30 am | Take the train to the project and do your first dive of the week. You will start by learning the fundamentals and after a couple of days you will start the eco-diving.
01:30-02:00 pm | Take the train back to the volunteer accommodation.
02:00-02:30 pm | Lunch time.
02:30-07:00 pm | Relaxing & Travel time. The afternoons are free to travel around the city, learn Portuguese, or relax. Sometimes, you can also dive during the afternoons depending on the specialties or certification you are doing. Your instructor will inform you about this on the first day.
07:30-09:00 PM | Dinner at the volunteer accommodation along with the other volunteers.

Sample of Diving Plan – Depends on your diving level and the number of weeks you join:

Note: Volunteers with no diving experience will learn to dive before engaging in any underwater conservation activities. The program fee covers the cost of the required online and in-person training, full scuba equipment, and volunteer supervision from an experienced dive instructor. All volunteers complete internationally recognized diving certifications (CMAS). Depending on the current diving experience and the length of the stay, the volunteer will complete a certification ranging from Open Water Diver to Advanced Open Water Diver and specialties such as Marine Ecology and Fish. The project works with a local diving school, therefore the volunteer is always supervised by an experienced dive instructor.

Internet: Wi-Fi is included.

Laundry: Available for use, extra fee €5

Accommodations: Volunteers will stay in a hostel devoted to sustainable practices. They provide accommodations in dorm-style rooms with shared bathroom amenities. Private and double rooms are available for an extra fee. The communal areas boast a commodious lounge area, a stunning garden and veggie patch, a vast external area, a swimming pool, a dining room and an events space. There is also a complimentary yoga session every Friday!

Food: Three homemade meals are provided each day. Special diet accommodations (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, etc.) are available.

• Minimum 16 years old
• GoEco interview
• Basic level of English
• Criminal background check
• Your respiratory and circulatory systems must be in good health for diving
• No other serious medical issues

We want volunteers to know the natural and cultural surroundings and will provide you with helpful tips and tricks that will help discover Lisbon like a local!
The shifts will last between 3 and 5 hours per day, the shifts take place either in the morning, in the afternoon, or in the evening (depending on the program), which will leave them with plenty of free time to go explore, take a stroll around the surroundings, catch the most important sites, interact with the locals or relax, and of course, weekends off as well! The most popular options are Belém, Lisbon Downtown and Cascais beaches.