ITALY: DIVE THE MED

JULY 5 - JULY 18, 2024
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LENGTH 14 Days

COMPLETING GRADES 9-12

SERVICE HOURS 15-20

ARRIVE/DEPART Rome Fiumicino Airport, Italy (FCO)

TUITION $7,150

Learn to scuba dive or develop existing skills, as we explore the Italian island of Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Clear warm waters with an abundance of marine life make Sardinia one of Europe’s best dive locations. On top of that, we have partnered with a marine conservation organization to help with important service work monitoring dolphins and other marine wildlife. When not in the water, we explore the highlights of Rome through to the quaint Italian villages dotted along the coast. This trip is for young travelers wanting to explore a picturesque part of Europe while learning and helping with marine service projects.

Activities

• SCUBA Dive: Get PADI Open Water certified, or develop your existing dive skills.

• Visit: The highlights of Rome including the Colosseum, Roman ruins, the Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain

• Hike: The Arzachena coastal trails

• Italian Food: Gather fresh local ingredients and try your hand at an Italian cooking

• Windsurf: Develop your skills with an instructed windsurfing lesson

• Explore: The medieval town of Alghero

SWIMMING ABILITY

Due to the nature of this program, it is required that participants are comfortable being in the water and swimming in various depths.

Service

A Certificate of Community Service indicating the total number of hours worked, and a group Presidential Volunteer Service Award will be issued upon successful completion of the program. Service work could include some of the following:

• Marine service projects

• Beach clean-ups

• Planting and research on Posidonia conservation

• Help onboard a local organization with its dolphin monitoring program

WHAT IS INCLUDED AND EXCLUDED IN TRIP TUITION

The trip tuition listed above includes accommodations, activities, meals, and group gear. The tuition does not include personal gear and clothing, travel insurance, spending money, E-Learning for scuba diving, and travel expenses such as airfare to and from the start and end of the program, additional in-country flights, unaccompanied minor fees, and baggage fees.

SCUBA COURSES AND E-LEARNING REQUIREMENTS

All RLT participants signed up for a scuba diving program are required to complete the classroom portion of the course prior to the start date of their program. This is a separate fee not included in your RLT tuition. Upon enrolling in a program, you will receive additional information regarding E-Learning. It is important that you do not begin E-Learning before receiving these details from our Admissions Team and/or your course instructors. For more details, please visit our scuba diving information page. If you are unsure which course would be best for you, please call us in the office at 773-342-5200.

• PADI Open Water Certification

• PADI Advanced Open Water Certification

• PADI Specialty Courses: (for those already Open Water Certified)

  • Peak Performance Buoyancy

  • Fish Identification

  • Underwater Navigation

  • Emergency First Response (a 2 lesson on-land course; a requirement for completing a Rescue Diver Certification)

ACCOMMODATIONS AND SHOWERING

Accommodations are tent camping for the majority of the trip. Tents are provided and we aim for it to be 2 participants in a 3-person tent or 3 participants in a 4-person tent with luggage. There will be a couple of nights at an Airbnb private home or hotel when in Rome. Bedrooms in the private home will be divided by gender and participants will sleep slumber party-style – in sleeping bags, rotating available beds nightly, and sharing beds as needed.

Bathrooms and showers can be rustic, so please be prepared. In an effort to save time and conserve water resources in the areas we are traveling, participants will have access to showers every 3-4 days even when showers are readily available. Bathrooms are a mix between flush toilets and latrines.

food

Participants on this trip will plan, prepare, and eat meals as a group. Split up into smaller cook crews, each crew will have the chance to prepare a meal approximately once per day. This process is supervised by staff who offer advice on nutrition, and menu planning, and ensure safe food storage, preparation, and handling.

Meals are prepared on camp stoves. Meals are nutritious and filling, but the camping component of the program often necessitates a simpler menu than a restaurant or home cook might allow. While students and staff plan and prepare some meals, an effort is made to incorporate local ingredients and cuisine from the local culture.

We are able to accommodate all dietary requirements and preferences.

TRAVEL

Families are individually responsible for booking their own airfare or making their own travel arrangements to get their student from home to Rome's Fiumicino Airport (FCO), on the first day of the trip, and from Rome (FCO) to home on the last day of the trip. RLT will provide exact windows of time that we require all students to arrive and depart within. It is imperative that no one make any travel arrangements until RLT directs them to do so.

A leader-escorted round-trip flight will be available from the New York area (but is not required) for those travelers who wish to fly with a leader. Please contact our office for details. There is also a round-trip internal flight from Rome to Sardinia, which will be an additional cost for families apart from tuition. For more details, please contact the office.

ADDITIONAL IN-COUNTRY FLIGHT

For this program there is also an internal group flight that will be booked by RLT that are additional to the trip tuition. There will be one internal flight between Rome and Sardinia that will be an additional charge. These flights are purchased by RLT and invoiced to families; you do not need to take any action to book this portion of the travel.

PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS

For all international travel, we require participants to have a passport that is valid for a minimum of 6 MONTHS past the end date of your participant's RLT trip. If your participant's passport is due to expire within those 6 months, please work on updating your participant's passport as soon as possible upon enrollment. According to the State Department, routine passport renewal will take 10-13 weeks and expedited processing, which costs an additional $60, will take 7-9 weeks. It is your responsibility to ensure your participant's passport is up to date and meets these requirements. We encourage families to familiarize themselves with the U.S. Department of State website for all up-to-date and accurate passport recommendations. 

TRAVEL INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

The Road Less Traveled does not provide its own insurance. However, we require participants to purchase travel insurance through a third party for all international programs. For additional details, please visit our FAQ page or you may contact a member of our team at info@theroadlesstraveled.com or 773-342-5200.

VACCINE & MEDICATION INFORMATION

We always encourage families to review the CDC website regarding recommended vaccinations and medications for international travel. More information will be provided to enrolled families from our Admissions Team in the Spring.

TECHNOLOGY

As part of the RLT experience, our trips are electronic-free. While it is encouraged to travel with cell phones, leaders will collect phones and any other personal devices after all participants arrive on the first day. It can feel tough initially to not have access to your phone, but it really helps everyone in the group to connect and have a really great trip experience. This includes phones, iPods, tablets, gaming devices, music devices, smartwatches, etc. All electronics will be held by RLT leaders, kept safe and dry for the duration of the trip, and returned at the end of the program. All cameras, go pros, etc. are acceptable and can be kept with you! If you do not have a camera, please note that leaders will also be taking photos throughout the program, and these photos will be shared through an online gallery.