SEACAMP San Diego provides interactive marine summer education opportunities to students across the country. Since its original inception in 1987 SEACAMP San Diego has expanded to offer quality marine education programs year-round. We believe most students learn best through experience, which is why we provide in-depth and hands-on laboratories followed by a wide variety of field activities. Our goal is to engage students with the scope of marine life while encouraging participation, individual exploration, and challenge. SEACAMP San Diego currently provides year-round marine science education programs for students grade 5 through college with school groups September through June and a Summer camp program open to individuals.
SEACAMP San Diego’s Lab Facilities include a classroom with a running seawater system, a full aquarium room with touch tanks, and a shark tank with live specimens. SEACAMP San Diego stands apart from other programs thanks to the high caliber of staff. Our Marine Science Instructors, who also act as counselors, possess at least a 4-year degree in the Sciences and a passion for the ocean. All SEACAMP San Diego staff are certified Lifeguards, in CPR, First Aid for the Professional Rescuer, and Oxygen Administration. Our staff understands the complexities of functioning in a supervisory role, maintaining discipline, and still allowing for fun and personal growth. Our instructors also understand the importance of safety and are able to provide challenging educational experiences in a safe environment.
Our science instructors utilize SEACAMP San Diego’s on-site aquarium facilities to teach hands-on labs. The topics of labs include marine invertebrates, fish adaptations, marine mammals, and shark ecology. Labs are designed to introduce students to the vast array of marine life they will encounter during our field activities. While teaching, our instructors use a wide variety of live and preserved specimens which students are encouraged to handle and investigate. Students participate in plankton studies, physical oceanography, tidepooling, and seining activities in the field. These allow students to directly apply the concepts of marine science to real-world observations.
Students of all abilities have been very successful in mastering the skills of snorkeling through our progressive and well-supervised snorkeling program. Students first are trained in the basics of snorkeling and acclimate to their gear as they snorkel in a shallow, calm environment. Later in the week, groups may snorkel from an all-day charter boat at Los Coronados Islands. The trips out and back are often a great opportunity to see whales and dolphins. In addition to snorkeling, kayaking and marine biology, our instructors also train students in many aspects of physical oceanography. Taking advantage of the waves that Southern California is famous for, all students get to boogie board to fully appreciate the movement of the ocean.