About
MarineLab Summer Day Camp includes snorkeling, science discovery labs, group games and activities, and a boat trip to snorkel the mangroves, seagrasses, or coral reef. All days run from 9 am to 4 pm.
• Ages: 8–16 years old
• Schedule: Day camp sessions offered June 10–12, June 22–26, June 29–July 2, and August 3–7, with camp days from 9 am–4 pm
• Price: June 10–12 (3 day week); $300/week, $275 for siblings. June 22–26, 2026; $495/week, $475 for siblings. June 29–July 2 (4 day week) $395/week, $375 for siblings. August 3–7; $495/week, $475 for siblings.
MarineLab is the education arm of Marine Resources Development Foundation, Inc., which was founded in 1970. MarineLab has been at its Key Largo facility since 1985, and the first snorkeling MarineLab program was offered in 1985. The organization’s mission is to use education and adventure in the Florida Keys ecosystem to foster environmental awareness and stewardship on a local, regional, and global scale. MarineLab offers STEM field trips for groups of students from grades 5 through college and marine science snorkeling summer camps for local children, and it serves an average of about 5,000 students and teachers per year in onsite programs, with about two-thirds of schools coming from Florida and others traveling from as far away as Alaska, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Maine.
Thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys, MarineLab is able to award financial aid to campers, and camp scholarships/financial aid are available. MarineLab supports and interacts with the local community through its local activities, works with local schools, and through a grant-funded program is able to show students throughout Monroe County their local environment. The program includes a Junior Counselor program for returning campers, gives preference to former Junior Counselors when hiring paid interns, and offers a paid internship program for Monroe County high school students in grades 11 or 12 to help run summer camp and marine science programs. Some Ocean First’s TIDES SCUBA programs are hosted at MarineLab and include MarineLab instructor-led field trips.
Ginette Hughes is Chief Executive Officer, and Senior Vice President Sarah Egner continues to fine tune the program. One teacher from St Mark’s Episcopal in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, reports that their sixth grade class has been going to MarineLab for many years and describes the instructors as extremely knowledgeable, prepared, friendly, patient, and working very well with students, and notes that MarineLab is the most looked forward to field trip for their students. Another teacher from Union Pointe Academy states that all of their students enjoyed a virtual field trip the most out of a two-week unit and looks forward to booking another virtual trip and visiting MarineLab in person. A family testimonial from February 2021 describes an instructor named Pat as attentive and kind with hesitant kids and recalls snorkeling in the mangroves when a manatee visited and munched on seagrass, creating family memories they describe as lasting a lifetime.
Last updated February 16, 2026.
• Ages: 8–16 years old
• Schedule: Day camp sessions offered June 10–12, June 22–26, June 29–July 2, and August 3–7, with camp days from 9 am–4 pm
• Price: June 10–12 (3 day week); $300/week, $275 for siblings. June 22–26, 2026; $495/week, $475 for siblings. June 29–July 2 (4 day week) $395/week, $375 for siblings. August 3–7; $495/week, $475 for siblings.
MarineLab is the education arm of Marine Resources Development Foundation, Inc., which was founded in 1970. MarineLab has been at its Key Largo facility since 1985, and the first snorkeling MarineLab program was offered in 1985. The organization’s mission is to use education and adventure in the Florida Keys ecosystem to foster environmental awareness and stewardship on a local, regional, and global scale. MarineLab offers STEM field trips for groups of students from grades 5 through college and marine science snorkeling summer camps for local children, and it serves an average of about 5,000 students and teachers per year in onsite programs, with about two-thirds of schools coming from Florida and others traveling from as far away as Alaska, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Maine.
Thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys, MarineLab is able to award financial aid to campers, and camp scholarships/financial aid are available. MarineLab supports and interacts with the local community through its local activities, works with local schools, and through a grant-funded program is able to show students throughout Monroe County their local environment. The program includes a Junior Counselor program for returning campers, gives preference to former Junior Counselors when hiring paid interns, and offers a paid internship program for Monroe County high school students in grades 11 or 12 to help run summer camp and marine science programs. Some Ocean First’s TIDES SCUBA programs are hosted at MarineLab and include MarineLab instructor-led field trips.
Ginette Hughes is Chief Executive Officer, and Senior Vice President Sarah Egner continues to fine tune the program. One teacher from St Mark’s Episcopal in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, reports that their sixth grade class has been going to MarineLab for many years and describes the instructors as extremely knowledgeable, prepared, friendly, patient, and working very well with students, and notes that MarineLab is the most looked forward to field trip for their students. Another teacher from Union Pointe Academy states that all of their students enjoyed a virtual field trip the most out of a two-week unit and looks forward to booking another virtual trip and visiting MarineLab in person. A family testimonial from February 2021 describes an instructor named Pat as attentive and kind with hesitant kids and recalls snorkeling in the mangroves when a manatee visited and munched on seagrass, creating family memories they describe as lasting a lifetime.
Last updated February 16, 2026.
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