Coral Cay Conservation is now Marine Conservation Philippines. Coral Cay Conservation’s Philippine coral reef programme was legally transferred to Marine Conservation Philippines (MCP), and the two are now one and the same organisation. If you found this page looking for Coral Cay, you are in the right place. The work continues, in the same waters, under the MCP name.
Marine Conservation Philippines is a registered non-profit NGO based in Zamboanguita, on the island of Negros, right in the heart of the Coral Triangle, the most biodiverse marine region on Earth. We are a working, science-led conservation organisation, not a dive holiday dressed up as one. Join us and you will learn to dive (or sharpen the skills you already have), become confident identifying corals, fish and invertebrates, and take that training straight out onto the reef to collect the survey data that actually protects it.
What you will do
Volunteering with us is hands-on. A typical week involves two scientific scuba dives a day from Monday to Saturday, plus the work that surrounds them: entering survey data, cleaning reefs and beaches of plastic, tending the mangrove nursery, afternoon seagrass snorkel surveys, and helping with community and school outreach. You will take a turn in the kitchen and keep your own gear and bungalow clean. Everyone pitches in. Sunday is always a day off.
If you have never dived, no problem. You will start by getting certified through the PADI system, and because we dive on fragile reefs that demand good divers, we add extra practice until you are genuinely ready. Taking your course through a demanding conservation organisation rather than a relaxed commercial dive shop tends to make you a far better diver.
Where you will be
Our base sits in a ten-hectare botanical garden on the shore, with the house reef a short walk away and world-famous Apo Island right across the water. Our work spans reef monitoring across Zamboanguita, Siaton and Santa Catalina, and the data we gather goes directly to the local governments and park boards who use it to manage their marine protected areas. We also train government dive teams across Negros Oriental, hold a permanent seat on the Protected Area Management Board for Apo Island, and have planted more than 31,000 mangroves along the coast. In a typical year we carry out around 2,000 reef surveys and 20,000 dives.
Who we are looking for
You do not need any diving or science background, just the genuine desire to help protect a critically endangered environment, and the understanding that this is not a resort stay. Days are long and in the water, the accommodation is charming but simple (shared bathrooms, mostly solar power, and world-class food), and it really is a bit like camping out, campfires and all. We work from the bottom up, in partnership with the communities who depend on these reefs, and many of our team are Filipino, several from the very villages where we work.
The practical bits
We welcome new volunteers every second Monday, almost all year round, for stays from four weeks upwards. Minimum age is 18. You will need conversational English. The volunteer fee covers accommodation, three meals a day (vegetarian and vegan options always available), all diving costs and marine park fees, full personal scuba kit including a dive computer, shared wifi, supervision, and airport pickup from Dumaguete (DGT). PADI course manuals and certification fees are the only diving extras.
Whether you are taking a sabbatical or a career break, spending a gap year abroad, building your diving, or simply looking to do something genuinely worthwhile, there is a place for you here. Come ready to learn, get stuck in, and leave a more knowledgeable and ocean-minded diver, with friendships that tend to outlast the trip.
