Study Abroad with Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
Our Belize Study Abroad Academic and Service Learning Programming Department is highly experienced in the design, facilitation and implementation of custom programs to ensure you and your students achieve your specific learning goals- while having the experience of a lifetime!
Experiential Learning
In 1990 we established an environmental education center to host field researchers and education abroad students. Tropical Biology, Watersheds and Marine Science were our primary interest groups for years. About 5 years ago, other academic disciplines begin to recognize the wealth of experiential learning opportunities available in this culturally diverse, English speaking country. Today Belize hosts academic study abroad programs from all over the map with experiential learning and cultural immersion ranging from Political Science, Community Health, Ecotourism, Archaeology, Education, Natural Resources Management, Business Entrepreneurship, Cultural Diversity, Community Service, Latin America History, Africology, Permaculture, and most all of the Information, Natural and Social Sciences.
Programs Offered:
Tropical Ecology
Maya Archaeology & Cultural History
Entrepreneurship
Creative Art
Environmental Science
Wildlife Monitoring & Surveillance
Herpetology
Community Service
Terrestrial & Marine Conservation Biology
Belize Agriculture
Physical Therapy
Belize Cultures & Africology
Anthropology
Tropical Natural History
Geography
Engineering (Materials Science; Dialog with Civilizations)
Parks and Protected Areas & Conservation Management
NGO’s, Sustainability and Development
Contact our programming office to create a customized program tailored to your curriculum today!
ACADEMIC LECTURE ROSTER
Dr. Ed Boles - Watershed and Marine Ecology
Dr. Cecy Castillo - Natural Resource Management & Conservation
Dr. Colin Young Conservation - Biodiversity, Socio-Economics
Ernesto Saqui - Maya Centre Village & Cockscomb Basin Guide
Aurora Saqui - Traditional Medicine & Women in Development
James and Zara Troughton - Marine Science and Conservation
Melito Bustamante -River Guide, Ornithology Specialist
FIELD EXCURSIONS
Sibun River Canoe Paddle
Tiger Bay Ceremonial Caves
Nature Trail Hike
The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center
Cave Tubing and Zipline
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
Blue Hole National Park
Xunantunich Maya Archaeological Site
Community Baboon Sanctuary
Gales Point Village and Southern (Manatee) Lagoon
Cox Lagoon Crocodile Sanctuary
AND MORE!
SAFETY & EXPERTISE
Certified, friendly, and knowledgeable guides. Guides are trained in CPR and First Aid. “Safety above all else" is our guiding principal. Over 30 years experience guiding in Belize. 20+ years of jungle experience.
Monkey Bay manages and operates two remote campus locations, providing a wide diversity of habitats and locations to include in your itinerary.
Tobacco Caye Marine Station
Satellite Campus
Learn, Explore, Relax
Tobacco Caye Marine Station is an education and research facility that services the South Water Caye Marine Reserve. It is situated right on the Belize Barrier Reef at the northern edge of South Water Caye Marine Reserve, a 17,878-acre protected marine reserve system world heritage site. This marine education wonderland is accessible from the southern town of Dangriga via a forty-minute water taxi ride.
The Tobacco Caye Marine Station is staffed and equipped to facilitate the needs of field study programs and customized academic curriculum based on group learning goals. It offers marine science lectures, guided day trips to sites within the Marine Reserve, night snorkeling and support for scientific marine research.
Our Marine Station Manager and Staff are positioned to strengthen local knowledge of the marine environment and promote marine conservation through outreach programs. Internship, independent study and volunteer programs available.
The island is 5-acres in size and exclusively Belizean-owned. The social setting is different than the village of Caye Caulker or exclusivity of South Water Caye. It’s a Belizean island community with six small guesthouses, a dive shop, volleyball court and snack shop.
ACADEMIC LECTURE TOPICS
Marine Hazards – Mandatory
Introduction to the Marine Environment of Belize
Corals of the Belize Barrier Reef
Marine Ecology of Belize – Mangroves, Sea Grass and Coral Reefs
Climate Change and Coral Reefs
Fish Identification
Ocean Plastic and Pollution
The Invasive Red Lionfish
Tourism and the Marine Environment of Belize
Symbiosis in the Marine Environment of Belize
United Nation’s SDG 14 – Life Below the Water
SNORKEL AND ACTIVITY OPTIONS
Patch Reef Snorkeling (Multiple Site Drops)
Fore Reef Snorkeling (Spur & Groove Coral Life)
Lagoon Mangrove Snorkeling
Manatee Watching
Smithsonian’s Western Caribbean Marine Station
Island Mangrove Study
Man-O-War Caye Bird Sanctuary
EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE
Sediment Sieves
Core Samplers
Transects
Quadracts
Petri Dishes
Dissection Kits
Benthic Survey Tools
Underwater Slates
Compound & Stereo Microscopes
Plankton Nets (20 & 80 Micron)
Go Pro & Go Pro Hero 3 Underwater Cameras
Water Table
Flow Meter
Coral Health Charts and Data Slates
DSL Internet Access
LED Projector
ADDITIONAL SNORKEL LOCATIONS
Pelican Cayes Snorkel Excursion
Glover’s Atoll Reef Snorkel Excursion
The station deck overlooks Privassion Creek, part of the headwaters of the Macal River. The creek is a 5-minute walk downhill from the station. Another 20 minutes downstream on the trail that runs parallel takes you to a favorite swimming spot at Big Rock Falls.
Maya Moutain Watershed Station
Satellite Campus
Explore the Waterheads
The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve is the headwater region for multiple watersheds and a richly diverse location for upland ecology studies. Due to underlying geologic formations of granite bedrock and overlying limestone deposits, this area supports diverse and unique forest types. Waterfalls, steep-gradient first and second order streams, cascades and pools over smooth granite makes this an educational playground for many interests.
An hour's drive from San Ignacio Town and two hours from our Main Campus, the Maya Mountain Watershed Field Station is located on a 225-acre enclave of private land within the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve about half a mile downstream from Blancaneaux Lodge.
The accommodations include the Main Cabin, Dormitories, and Generator Workshop. The Main Cabin provides our classroom, kitchen, and dining room. Space in the two dorms (male and female) is sufficient to host 18 guests with overflow in the Main Cabin lofts for an additional 6 guests. This lovely rustic cabin is the perfect spot to experience life a little more unplugged. Electricity is limited to a diesel generator producing power from 6pm to 10pm daily. Sorry, no internet! It's time to read or journal.
+ Field Excursions
- Rio On Pools
- Slide and splash at this swimming hole which offers granite pools, small waterfalls and natural rock water slides.
- Thousand Foot Falls
- The highest of all the waterfalls in Belize and Central America. This fall is 1600ft. tall and falls over a steep cliff where it is submerged into densely forested depths.
- Caracol Archaeological Reserve
- Explore a large-scale Ancient Maya City, situated deep within the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, once a rival to the City of Tikal.
- Big Rock Falls
- The trail-head starts a short distance from the campus. An interesting one-hour hike along Privassion Creek leads to a large waterfall for swimming.
- Chalillo Dam
- A great place to stop off the beaten path for those interested in the environmental impacts of a hydroelectricity-generating project. Constructed between 2002 and 2005, the Challilo Dam is a gravity dam set on the Macal River. Students who visit have an opportunity to learn about its operation and contemplate the issues surrounding energy generation and its impact on the local economy and environment.
- Rio Frio Cave
- With headlamps in tow take a tour through a wet cave in the midst of jungle habitat, then sample aquatic invertebrates at the cave mouth.
- Las Cuevas Research Station (Chiquibul National Park)
- The Chiquibul Forest represents nearly 8% of the Belize's terrestrial surface and is part of the tri-national Maya Forest bioregion forming the largest remaining contiguous block of tropical forest north of the Amazon. The Station monitors and supports the Scarlet Macaw population.
