Marine science field trip, 2 nights and 3 days
What it actually looks like
What the children do
A residential marine biology field trip on the BMSC campus. The published price includes accommodation, meals, instructional programming, laboratory and classroom facilities, and educational materials, and the site describes it as an estimated cost per person starting at $713. Final pricing is based on group size, accommodation requirements, season, and selected educational activities, and transport to and from Bamfield is not included. Bookings must be in multiples of 12 people to meet Transport Canada vessel capacity rules, and the centre's own sample itinerary for this length is built for 24 people including teachers and chaperones. Groups other than schools use the same program; the centre lists Girl Guides, Scouts, First Nations educational events and artist retreats among past visitors. Bursaries can be requested for a whole class or for individual students when you apply.
They arrive by bus, check in at the Whale Lab, put their bags in a dorm room, then walk the campus on a safety orientation. In the labs they handle live invertebrates from Barkley Sound and hunt through a drop of seawater for plankton under a microscope. Outside they ride a skiff up Grappler Inlet to measure the water, dredge the sea floor from the Alta, shuttle across by boat and hike about twenty minutes to Brady's Beach to work the tide pools at low tide, and finish with a guided walk through the rainforest.
Good to know
Meals are cooked on site and eaten in a peanut free dining hall that handles most dietary needs, everyone sleeps in campus dorms, and there are washrooms and showers on each floor. How many adults have to come, whether chaperones pay the same, step free access and where a bus parks are not written down, and the price is quoted per group, so ask for a written quote before you apply.
Getting there
100 Pachena Rd, Bamfield, British Columbia, Canada, V0R 1B0