Three months.  Three countries.  Oceans and Rivers.  Opportunities to test your leadership skills in five wilderness elements: sailing, rafting, kayaking, surfing, and scuba diving.  Welcome to Outward Bound’s Premier Leadership Semester program: Florida Keys to Costa Rica. This is an adventure of a lifetime. 

In this exciting and demanding three-month (85-day) semester course, you will explore and master the art and science of water based wilderness expeditions and adventure, developing the skills and leadership abilities to teach and travel safely and widely on our Blue Planet.  Month one immerses you in the most ancient and traditional of marine skills: sailing and navigation in the sub-tropical waters of the Florida Keys.  Then you fly to Costa Rica to begin an intensive 9-day Wilderness First Responder certification course to become proficient in dealing with backcountry emergencies and wilderness medicine, providing you with skills to be safe and self reliant. In month two, you will paddle some of the western hemisphere’s most exciting whitewater in both rafts and kayaks.   You will explore the power of surfing on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast and work towards becoming a certified ocean lifeguard. Month three, the final push, brings you to Panama where you will earn certification in SCUBA diving and then top off the 85 day semester course with an unforgettable sea kayaking expedition in the turquoise waters of the famed Bocas Del Torro archipelago on the Caribbean coast.  

This course focuses on developing the personal, group leadership and technical skills necessary to begin a career as an instructor or expedition leader in water based environments.  Outward Bound’s leadership curriculum is comprehensive and time tested. You will refine the way you view challenges and opportunities, relate to others and view your world.  Technical skill development is a robust and challenging component of this semester program.  Whether you want to pursue a career as a guide or outdoor educator, or simply be more proficient and safe when traveling with friends and family, you will expand your skill base through the instruction of experienced specialists in these skill sets.  Successful graduates will come away with US and internationally recognized certifications in:

•Wilderness First Responder

•Leave No Trace Trainer

•International Rafting Federation Levels 1-3

•Rescue 3 International White Water Rescue Technician

•International Lifesaving Federation or American Red Cross Lifeguarding

•NAUI Open Water Scuba

•American Canoe Association Sea Kayaking.