Green Fins Diver e-Course

Learn how to help protect coral reefs, one dive at a time.

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Why take this course?

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All divers, whether novice or experienced, can minimise their impact on the environment by following environmental best practice while diving. By taking the Green Fins Diver e-Course, you can play your part in protecting our ocean by becoming more environmentally aware and learning how to have zero impact dives.

The Green Fins Diver e-Course only costs $25 (which supports vital work protecting the marine environment), and will build on your existing scuba diving knowledge by providing you with the skills and confidence to conduct more environmentally friendly diving trips. Additionally, learn more about how to use your consumer power to demand more sustainable practices.

With millions of certified divers visiting coral reefs around the world, the more certified Green Fins divers there are, the better for the future of our precious coral reefs!

Learn how to positively influence the diving industry for sustainability
Learn tips and tricks for protecting the environment above and below the water
Do your part for Sustainable Development Goal 14
Receive a personalised certificate
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What’s in the course?

Module 1

An introduction to coral reef biology, global and local threats to the marine environment and the Green Fins approach.

Module 2

Environmental tips above water, such as how to prepare, plan and conduct an environmentally friendly dive trip.

Module 3

Learn tips for diving with the least environmental impact and how to create demand for sustainable services in the industry.

“‘Great introduction to marine ecology and conservation! It has also given me some great tips on how to become a better diver.”
Oriol Iglesias Grau
Dive Instructor
“Every single diver should take this. It’s filled such a gap of knowledge in the diving industry.”
Aoibheann Gillespie-Mules
Dive Instructor
“This is a great course providing a general understanding on organisms’ interaction with each other in the environment and raising awareness among us to preserve our ocean marine life. It provides informative guidelines and best practices for divers and operators to reduce impact and damage to the reef.“
Aressa
Rescue Diver
“I really enjoyed these modules, they were rife with new knowledge that is fundamental to being a good diver – one that really aims to leave nothing but bubbles with each dive.“
Laurene
Advanced Diver
“The Green Fins Diver e-course is a significant and fundamental course that all divers must take. Not only does it teach us the importance of our marine ecosystems, but it also teaches us the best scuba diving practices to protect our environment. The lessons in this course are a must-have for underwater photographers since we play a huge role in communicating the world below water.”
Jon A. Cabiles
Underwater Photographer

FAQs

The new Green Fins Diver e-Course is designed to help recreational divers protect coral reefs by learning how to conduct more environmentally friendly dives. This online course teaches scuba divers how to prevent diving-related damage to coral reefs by following the highest environmental standards, as set out by the Green Fins initiative.

Following the success of the Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course in 2019, Reef-World created this Green Fins Diver e-Course to meet the demand from recreational divers worldwide for education around how they can reduce their negative impact on the coral reefs they visit.

All divers, whether novice or experienced, can minimise their impact on the environment by following environmental best practice while diving. By taking the Green Fins Diver e-Course, you can play your part in protecting our ocean by becoming more environmentally aware and learning how to have zero impact dives. Additionally, learn more about how to use your consumer power to demand more sustainable practices. With millions of certified divers visiting coral reefs around the world, the more certified Green Fins divers there are, the better for the future of our precious coral reefs!

Even divers who care about the ocean can sometimes unintentionally do something that may harm coral reefs. Did you know Reef-World’s research showed 88 out of 100 divers made at least one contact with the reef while diving? What’s more, divers contact the reef an average of 5.79 times per dive and 36% of those who contacted the reef were unaware they did so! So, even if you already have a good level of environmental knowledge, taking this course might teach you something new that will help you protect coral reefs even more. Plus, you’ll learn other tips such as how to research and book an environmentally friendly dive trip and how to minimise your impact on the ocean when cleaning and caring for your equipment post dive.

Diving related damage to sensitive marine ecosystems, including coral reefs, is becoming an increasingly significant issue. Even a small breakage from an errant fin kick can cause damage that takes months to recover from; not to mention other negative actions above the water such as littering or buying souvenirs made of marine life. On heavily dived reefs, the cumulative impact of unmanaged tourism can be huge. This damage makes them less likely to survive other local and wider stressors, such as overfishing or run-off from land containing pollutants and plastic debris as well the effects of climate change, such as rising sea temperatures. Research has shown divers who receive environmental information and understand their potential impact on reefs cause significantly less damage to coral. This, in turn, helps to boost coral resilience.

Divers around the world can take this course for just $25 by enrolling here: https://greenfins.net/courses/diver-ecourse

The course is run by UK-registered charity Reef-World and all proceeds support its work to protect coral reefs globally by implementing the Green Fins sustainable diving programme.

These funds help Reef-World continue to run the course, as well as activities which are proven to protect coral reefs including: creating globally available educational materials, running vital environmental training sessions for people in the marine tourism industry and conducting bespoke consultations to help dive and snorkel operators become more sustainable.

If you cannot afford to pay for the course you can apply for the Green Fins Diver e-Course Scholarship here. If approved, you will receive access to the course free of charge.

On completion of the Green Fins Diver e-Course, students will receive a personalised electronic certificate, which is valid for two years and can be displayed as a stamp of their environmental awareness.

You don’t. The Green Fins Diver e-Course is designed for scuba divers but students do not need to prove their certification level to be able to take the course.

The course provides divers with three online modules of easy-to-follow content followed by corresponding tests on an intuitive, user-friendly platform:

  • Module 1: an introduction to coral reef biology, global and local threats to the marine environment and the Green Fins approach.
  • Module 2: management techniques above water, such as how to prepare and plan an environmentally friendly dive trip: from booking your trip at home to best practices on the boat and caring for your equipment post dive.
  • Module 3: applying best diving practices below water on every dive, learning tips for diving with the least environmental impact and how to have longer marine life interactions as well as how to be an environmentally responsible underwater photographer. Finally, suggesting ways in which divers can use the best practices they have learned and contribute to citizen science projects.

Yes! The Green Fins Diver e-Course was designed for recreational divers so you don’t need to be a dive professional to take the course.

No. Divers certified by all training agencies are welcome to take the Green Fins Diver e-Course.

The Green Fins Diver e-Course can be taken at your own pace. Students have said it takes between one and three hours to complete.

Yes. Certifications of the Diver e-Course are valid for two years after which point students will be required to retake the course.

The course content will be updated regularly with the latest industry knowledge about environmental best practice so after two years students are encouraged to retake the course to refresh their skills. Just like refreshing your safety skills, it’s important to make sure you keep your environmental knowledge up to date.

From time to time, Reef-World may make modifications or enhancements to the content of the course, which is why certifications expire after two years.

There are no plans for the course to be made unavailable.

The Green Fins Diver e-Course is currently only available in English.

At present, Green Fins only offers two online courses: the Green Fins Diver e-course (for recreational divers) and the Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course (for dive professionals). However, snorkellers and freedivers are more than welcome to take the courses as much of the content is directly applicable.

Reef-World is continuing to listen to and respond to feedback from its network so please look out for updates about new courses that may become available in future.

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Apply to be a DIVER Scholar

Receive your Green Fins environmental certification with the Green Fins Diver Scholarship Fund

The Green Fins Diver e-Course trains divers to understand and follow best environmental standards, helping them to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems by reducing the negative impacts of scuba diving above and below the water. The course costs $25 and all proceeds support Green Fins implementation around the world.

However, recognising that all divers, no matter their financial status, should have access to this information, Reef-World has created a scholarship fund so those in need are not excluded from learning how to protect their favourite dive sites. If you would like to take the course but cannot afford the cost, you may be eligible for a scholarship. You can apply at any time before you take the course.

Before proceeding with your application, please ensure you meet all the requirements for the Scholarship. To be eligible for the scholarship, divers must:

Apply now

Please note:

  • Responses to incomplete applications will not be provided.
  • False information will disqualify you from the Scholarship opportunity, and other opportunities that may arise in future granted by Reef-World and its associated partners.

FAQs

Divers will receive a response within 20 working days of submitting a full and complete application. The response will let you know whether you have:

  • Been successful in your scholarship application (with further instructions on how to access the course);
  • Have not been successful in your application

You may apply again but we encourage you not to apply more than twice.

Reef-World is a small team and therefore are not able to respond to individual applicants as to why they have not been selected.

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The Green Fins initiative is supported by:

UNEP - UN Environment Programme
The Reef-World Foundation

1-3 Gloucester Rd, Bishopston, Bristol, England, UK, BS7 8AA
+44 (0) 56 0366 2089

© The Reef-World Foundation 2024. Registered Charity No. 1157096.

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