Dive Project Cornwall

We're worked with Dive Project Cornwall on a once-in-a-lifetime experience to help young people learn to dive and connect with our ocean

The project

Dive Project Cornwall was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for young people to learn the basics of scuba diving, while deepening their connection to our underwater world.

As well as gaining their PADI Open Water Diving accreditation, this unique project saw students take part in our conservation and education programmes to help inspire understanding, appreciation and respect for the ocean.

Students stayed at a fully equipped campsite with ocean views, stargazing, campfires and great food. The team got back to basics, encouraging engagement with the world around them and the activities throughout the week.

Many of these children will never have had the opportunity to experience the ocean up close. But they'll leave as PADI qualified divers, ready to spread the word as ocean influencers.
Andy Forster, Director of Dive Project Cornwall

Classroom to coastline

In 2024, 100 lucky teenagers spent six days in Cornwall to achieve their PADI Open Water Diver certification and took part in our education and conservation programmes, led by our learning team and showcasing the many strands of our work.

At each camp, we lead two days of beach-based learning, introducing our beach cleaning and Seasearch citizen science projects.

This truly immersive experience took students from classroom to coastline and beyond, from their first experiences in the onsite training pool to taking their first steps into the open seas.

2 children learning to dive at Dive Project Cornwall. They are in a pool wearing diving gear and smiling at the camera

2 children learning to dive at Dive Project Cornwall | Image credit: Billy Barraclough

Dive Project Cornwall provides a brilliant journey of discovery for all who take part, all within the Falmouth Bay to St Austell Bay Special Protection Area. This year, we're excited to introduce students to our citizen science programme, Seasearch, and showcase some of the fantastic marine wildlife found here in amongst the seagrass meadows and maerl beds.
Stephen Kelly, Learning Officer

Activities involved

From plastic bag charges to banning microplastics in personal care products, our litter data collected on UK beaches has helped to make some of the biggest impacts on beach litter ever.

We ran a beach clean with each dive camp of students and shared this important citizen science experience with each group.

We lead the clean and students collected and recorded the litter items they found in a 100m section of beach. The data collected was then entered into our national Beachwatch database.

Our coastal landscape is colourful and fascinating.

One of our activities involveed a coastal walk to Porthallow to talk about key habitats like beaches, cliffs, rockpools, rocky reefs and seagrass beds. Students could spot seabirds, cetaceans, coastal plants and unusual insects on the walk.

We explored topics like sustainable seafood and blue health and wellbeing, and discussed the threats to the health of our ocean like sea level rise, tourism, overfishing, warming seas, and marine litter.

Ocean optimism

An incredible 77% of people who had visited the sea in the last 12 months said they felt happier.

We're on a mission to inspire young people to care for the sea, and we hope that by introducing the action of exploring the coastline they'll start developing a connection with our ocean above and below the water.

Plankton is at the base of the marine food chain, and is vital to life in the ocean.

An exciting way to study plankton - and something that students might not have done before - is to examine these tiny organisms under a microscope.

First, we discussed the vital importance of plankton and looked at different survey techniques. Then, students had a go at plankton sampling using the throwing and pulling method. Finally, they learnt to process the samples collected and analysed them at the beach, before returning everything to the water.

Did you know?

Fish don't make Omega-3 themselves - it's made by plankton.

Forage fish, like herring and sardines, eat lots of plankton and the Omega-3 builds up in their bodies through a process called bioaccumulation.

Seasearch is a project for recreational divers and snorkellers who want to do their bit for the marine environment by collecting information about habitats, plants and animals that they see in UK waters.

At each dive camp, we conducted a virtual Seasearch survey using real footage, with narration and guidance notes to help students experience how fieldwork can be conducted on the seabed.

We focused on the keystone seabed species of seagrass and maerl and how we're working to protect them.

Super seagrass

Seagrass meadows are one of the most important natural solutions to the climate crisis.

Through a number of collaborative projects, focused on the south coast of England, we're working to protect, restore and conserve seagrass habitats. Find out more about the EU LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project on our website.

LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Co-funded by the European Union

Find out about curret community projects

Add impact to your inbox

Join the movement: get updates on the issues you care about.

We'll email you inspiring stories about the work we're doing to save and recover our oceans, and news about our urgent campaigns for positive change.