Coral Academy · Flagship course
Spend four weeks
growing a reef.
Four weeks living as an ocean gardener. Become a certified coral diver. Four weeks on the Tevana House Reef learning coral ID, reef restoration, shark ecology and freediving — and plant a reef that outlives you.
Full course $2,750 · certifications & lodging included
Life as an ocean gardener
For four weeks, the reef is your workplace and your home.
Mornings begin below the surface. You'll descend onto the Tevana House Reef, coral fragments in hand, and spend your days doing the slow, deliberate work of regeneration — building nurseries, out-planting, monitoring, learning to read a reef the way a gardener reads a season.
By week two you're freediving the nursery on a single breath. By week four you've certified as an Advanced Coral Diver, studied the sharks that keep the system in balance, and planted coral that will still be growing long after you've flown home.
This is not a holiday with a volunteer afternoon bolted on. It's a genuine apprenticeship in reef restoration — small cohort, real certifications, and a house reef you'll come to know intimately.
Reserve your place
Only 4 of 8 spots left
Balance of $1,375 due before the course begins.
Reserve your placeSecured checkout · free to hold your spot
The curriculum
Five certifications, one continuous descent
Each week builds on the last — from reading a reef to restoring it. Every module is taught in-water by working ocean gardeners.
Coral Diver ID
2 shore dives · 4 boat dives · 6 workshops
Learn to read a reef — identify 18 coral genera and the fish and invertebrates that live among them. The literacy every ocean gardener starts with.
Freediving Certification
Freediving Level 1
Drop the tank. Certify as a freediver so you can move through the nursery on a single breath, quiet and unhurried.
Advanced Coral Diver
10 advanced corals · 3 shore dives · 2 boat dives · 5 workshops
Buoyancy, navigation and deep work refined until hovering millimetres above living coral becomes second nature.
Reef Restoration
4 planting dives · 4 maintenance dives
The heart of it — build nursery structures, fragment and out-plant coral, monitor growth and log the data that proves it's working.
Shark Ecology
2 boat dives · 1 SSI Specialty certification
Understand the predators that keep a reef in balance, and why a healthy reef needs its sharks as much as its coral.
Fun Dives
4 fun dives · 1 night dive
Dives just for the joy of it, including a night dive on the reefs around Bira. Advanced Open Water recommended.
Culture & Community
Apparalang · Phinisi boat · beach clean-ups
You will meet the local community, fishermen and boat captains who are becoming protectors of their own reef, visit Apparalang and a Phinisi boat, and join beach clean-ups.
Optional · additional courses
Want to stay longer? Add a specialty.
Not part of the course fee. Add either one to your stay if you want to go further.
Turtle Ecology
USD 1351 day · 2 boat dives · 1 SSI Specialty certification
Learn about turtle biology, habitats, behavior and their critical importance for coral reefs.
SSI Marine Biology
USD 1351 day · 2 boat dives · 1 SSI Specialty certification
Learn about marine life in coral reefs: biology, habitats, behavior and the dependence among species that keeps a reef healthy.
Everything you need
What's included
Not included
Before you arrive
Requirements
Advanced Open Water + 30 logged dives
You'll want to be comfortable in the water and current on your dives. Everything beyond that — freediving, advanced coral technique, restoration and shark ecology — you'll learn here.
2026 cohort
Next intake: dates to be announced
Tevana House Reef · Bira, South Sulawesi
A week at GaiaOne Bira
Workshops and dives on weekdays, the island on weekends.
Course workshops and dives run Monday to Friday. Open minds, a hunger to learn and a positive attitude are all you need to bring.
Monday to Friday · a course day
From 7 AM
Breakfast at Tevana Vida
Breakfast is included every day, so the morning starts fed.
8 to 9 AM
Workshop
Theory first: coral ID, restoration method, reef ecology, taught before you get in the water.
Then
First dive
Scuba or freediving depending on the weather, putting the workshop straight into practice.
Surface interval
Lunch
Lunch is included on dive days and lines up with the break between dives.
After lunch
Second dive
Back in the water for the day's second dive, then evenings are free to rest or find your own adventure.
Evening
Free
Dinner is on you: Tevana Vida is open until 9 PM, or head out to nearby restaurants and local cuisine.
Saturday and Sunday
Rest days. Sleep in, freedive, fun dive, explore caves, or simply go where the wind takes you.
During your free time
- Give back. Join the team's beach clean-ups and earn a refreshing lemonade.
- Get out there. Explore the local dry and wet caves, or stay in the ocean freediving, paddleboarding, kayaking or snorkeling.
- Slow down. Board games, the library, the local gym, the food market, a wander around Bira or a movie night.
Where you'll stay
Four weeks at Tevana House Reef.
Our own eco-lodge, and home to the house reef you'll spend four weeks helping to restore.
Tevana House Reef
Your home for the four weeks: an eco-resort created by a family who loves diving and cares for the environment, with gardens, sea views and minimalist rooms built with traditional Phinisi woodwork, the heritage of Tanjung Bira.
Dorm rooms
You'll share a 2-person dorm room. The two dorms share one bathroom, so at most four people use it. Private room upgrades are available. Electricity and 5G Wi-Fi run 24 hours a day.
Dining at Tevana Vida
The on-site restaurant is open 7 AM to 9 PM and cooks vegan-first to lighten its footprint, with meat and fish options too. Breakfast daily and lunch on dive days are included; dinners are yours to explore.
No single-use plastic
Please leave single-use plastic at home. The team cleans the beaches daily, but the fix starts at the source. Filtered water stations around the resort keep your reusable bottle full.
Getting to Bira
Makassar, then a drive to the coast.
Fly
Fly into Makassar's Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, the nearest to Bira. Direct flights run from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Manado, 2 to 3 hours depending on where you depart.
Drive
Our driver meets you at the airport. Your airport transfer is included in the course.
Arrive
It's 4 to 5 hours by car to Bira and Tevana House Reef.
From past courses
What four weeks on the reef looks like
Real photos from our work on the Tevana House Reef nurseries.
What past students say
"Incredible 4 weeks doing the Coral Reef Restoration course with Marco and the team at GaiaOne. Staying on site at the beautiful Tevana House Reef, the team were super friendly, helpful and fun from start to finish. … The access to the house reef for snorkelling, night dives and coral nurseries to learn about restoration was so easy, and then access to more advanced and exciting dive sites at Kambing and Liukang islands was the perfect compliment."
"I did my SSI Advanced Open Water and Coral Restoration course there and honestly couldn’t have asked for a better experience. The whole crew is super fun, chill, and really know their stuff. … Everything from the dives to the vibe at the dive center made it feel like home."
"I had an absolutely wonderful week diving with GaiaOne! They are incredibly well organised, and everyone is so friendly. On top of that, the diving in Bira is so so beautiful, and getting hands on with the coral restoration there was a dream come true."
Your reef outlives you
The coral you plant keeps growing long after you leave.
This course isn't a simulation. Every fragment you out-plant joins a living nursery — part of the reef our ocean gardeners have been rebuilding since 2020.
Good to know
Questions, answered
4 weeks · Next intake: dates to be announced
Plant a reef that outlives you.
Reserve your place with a $1375 deposit. Certifications, lodging and your ten adopted corals are all included.