Diving With a Purpose  (DWP) offers a new adventure and a different challenge for veteran divers – maritime archaeology. The field of archaeology received fame with the movie Raiders of Lost  Ark and its swashbuckling hero Indiana Jones. But that was mostly glamour! Archaeology is a precise science that requires painstaking patience and precision.

The  DWP  maritime archaeology course is an intense week-long program that teaches the basics of underwater archaeology, including underwater mapping and trilateration. (Trilateration is the method archaeologists use to map and measure various sections of the wreck.) During the course,  you can spend up to 1½  hours surveying a 6’x 6’ section of a  site, not moving from that area. The work includes fanning the seafloor to expose the wreck and documenting the site using a ruler, pencil and slate with Mylar paper.

This type of diving is not for everyone.  It  takes diligence and concentration. However, the work is very rewarding when you know that you are responsible for preserving and cataloging history. As divers, we should always look for ways to increase our knowledge and thirst for the sport through advanced training and specialty diving courses like underwater archaeology.

• A SCUBA setting
• Learning underwater investigative and research techniques
• Discovering and analyzing with other experienced divers
• Diving a wreck site at 15 – 25 feet depth
• Developing skills and techniques employed in underwater cartography
• Gaining trilateration mapping skills
• Contributing to In Situ drawings
• Drafting planimetric  site  plans

• Certification as a scuba diver from an internationally recognized certification agency
• 30 logged dives minimally, ten (10) of which must be ocean dives and six (6) of which must have been logged in the last year
• Dive accident insurance  (i.e. DAN)
• Your own dive gear  (minus tank & weights); note you can rent or own your gear
• Thirst for new underwater experiences
• Appropriate thermal  wear  for  70º water temps
• Peak Buoyancy Skills (verification required  if  under 50 dives)
• Confidence  with  long-term bottom time  dives  (60-90)
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to  make accurate measurements on land and  underwater
• Proficiency with the Imperial and Metric measurement system and knowledge on how to convert from  one to the other

Our Mission: To research and restore the coral ecosystem and to educate and empower traditionally disenfranchised people and coastal communities using outreach, data collection, and scientific study.

DWP-CARES is working in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuaries (NOAA-FKNMS), Mote marine lab/I.CARE located in Islamorada, Green Island Challenge, Guanaja Honduras. Our program encompasses a long-term
reef monitoring initiative and prepares participants for the following:

● Climate change awareness and climate leadership training
● Comprehensive reef ecology knowledge development
● Key reef species identification skills
● Reef monitoring & survey diving techniques
● Data collection, analytics, reporting & visualization skills
● Restorative coral and sponge outplanting

This program is committed to providing a foundation for participants to be able to identify key coral reef species, communicating to the public the effect of climate change on our coastal and reef ecosystems, facilitating and communicating findings (data) from reef monitoring surveys and developing participants as leaders in conservation.

This year’s DWP-CARES program is focused on building proficiency in the area of ecosystem data collection protocols.  Our program will be divided into two sections — a virtual module scheduled periodically over the next 5 months to prepare participants for the subsequent in-water training module that will build on the skills we studied virtually. 

● Module 1: Virtual training (7- recorded sessions)
● Module 2: in-water field research
● Restorative ocean healing/outplanting
● Learning about the environmental impact of climate change on the coral ecosystem
● Learning techniques for facilitating reef monitoring surveys & establishing and maintaining a
coral nursery
● Learning the techniques for coral nursery maintenance and out-planting
● 40+ contact hours for the duration of the course

● Certification as a scuba diver from an internationally recognized certification agency
● Peak buoyancy certification or affirmation/confirmation from dive instructor
● 25 logged dives at minimum and at least (6) dives within the ocean in the last year
● Confidence with long-term dives (30 to 90 minutes)
● Your own dive gear, including appropriate thermal wear for 70-degree water temps (*note
that you can rent gear near the dive site)
● *Essay required for registration of Youth candidates

Panama February 2024 scouting trip
Islamorada Dive Against Debris May 3 – 5, 2024
Islamorada June 2 – 9, 2024 Adult CARES
Islamorada July 14 – 21, 2024 Youth CARES
Barbados CARES TBD
Curacao CARES TBD
Guanaja Honduras Sept. 28 – Oct 5, 2024 Adult CARES

ISLAMORADA

• New Adult course (including dives) $1200
  ○ (Course + dives + housing/6 nts/dbl.occ) $1700
  ○ Plus $250 towards youth development
• Returning adults course (including dives) $850
  ○ (Course + dives + housing/6 nts/dbl.occ) $1450
  ○ Plus $250 towards youth development

GUANAJA HONDURAS

• New Adult course (including dives) $1200
  ○ (Course + diving/housing/meals/local transport) $2525
  ○ Plus $250 towards youth development
• Returning Adult (course including dives) $850
  ○ (Course + diving/housing/meals/local transport) $2275
  ○ Plus $250 towards youth development

Youth Diving With A Purpose (YDWP) participants gather at Biscayne National Park and learn underwater archaeology with DWP instructors. This program mirrors the adult program listed above for DWP. But the mission of YDWP goes beyond underwater archaeological education. We will always look for ways to challenge interests and broaden knowledge related to our vast aquatic environment, but we also look for ways to empower our youth.

The youth spend their downtime interviewing, journaling and studying, and they are expected to share their YDWP journey with other youth in their communities once they graduate and return home. This outreach has the potential to reach diverse youth in communities across the country with the expectation of stimulating interest in scuba diving, marine science, history, journalism and technology.

The YDWP program is also committed to empowering minority coastal communities by providing them with opportunities. Many of the youth from these communities do not swim and have taken little advantage of the water-related “wonders” in their backyard. By establishing relationships in these communities, YDWP members, as part of their training, are required to share their experience with schools and community groups. The YDWP participant, who is invaluable in advancing the goals of the program, is encouraged to speak to media outlets in their schools or other approved media outlets, as well as related clubs and activities as deemed appropriate. YDWP participants who demonstrate initiative and commitment to the marine science community are considered for training as a DWP instructor. Ultimately, we hope to inspire local youth to become environmentally conscious and take advantage of the many opportunities at their disposal.

Upon completion of the program, youth trainees become certified Underwater Advocates, hopefully, intrigued by history, respectful of marine life, and buoyed with the interest to become new storytellers of their great experience with the sea.

• A SCUBA setting
• Learning underwater investigative and  research techniques
• Discovering and analyzing with other experienced divers
• Diving a wreck site at  15 – 25 feet depth
• Developing skills  and techniques  employed in underwater cartography
• Gaining trilateration mapping skills
• Contributing to In Situ drawings
• Drafting planimetric  site  plans

• Students must have a 2.8 GPA or higher
• If under 18, all required documents must be signed by parent or guardian
• 500-word essay
• Certification as a scuba diver from an internationally recognized certification agency
• Latest transcript from high school or college
• Professional or educational letter of reference, signed and sealed with signature on the flap in a separate envelope
• Completed application form
• Proof of peak buoyancy skills verified by certification card or a signed letter from an instructor