Welcome Forfar Marine Science Program Students!

Congratulations on your acceptance! We are looking forward to hosting you in our Winter Cohort (January 12 - February 20, 2026) at Forfar Field Station through our Forfar Marine Science Program. To better prepare you for your stay, please read the information below:

PROGRAM DETAILS

• VIRTUAL INFORMATION SESSION

  • Virtual Information Session Date: TBD (via Google Meet and all students, parents are encouraged to attend)

• VIRTUAL ORIENTATION SESSION

  • Virtual Orientation Session Date: TBD (via Google Meet and all students, parents are encouraged to attend)

    Information on the program curriculum, itinerary, and details of life at the station will be shared and the PowerPoint will be available afterwards for anyone who cannot attend. Until then, please do not hesitate to reach out. If you have any questions about flights, required forms, or anything else pertaining to your trip, please send your questions to support@intlfieldstudies.org or call us at (614) 268-9930. Link for the orientation will be sent closer to date.

• Passport: A valid Passport is required to enter the Bahamas. Passports must not expire during any of the dates you will be staying in The Bahamas or they will prohibit entry. Passport operations have been impacted by COVID-19 and the timeline for renewals has increased. Please contact the IFS office immediately if you do not have a passport or if it expires within the next few months.

• Travel and Flights: You will be responsible for paying for your flights into Nassau, BS. As part of your program fee we will schedule and purchase your roundtrip flights from Nassau to Andros. For this reason, your flights into one of those airports must arrive and leave by specific times so you can make the connecting flights we purchase for you.

  During the 2016-2017 season, we had to reschedule the arrival of the group due to Hurricane Matthew. We strongly encourage that you purchase travel insurance for your flights and/or research the rescheduling/cancellation policy of the airline in which you choose to fly. Delta and American Airlines have frequent flights into Nassau and may be a good option for your trip. We do not recommend booking your flights with third-party services such as Expedia, Travelocity, etc. as these services have very strict cancellation/rescheduling policies.

  • Flights - DO NOT PURCHASE YOUR ROUND-TRIP NASSAU FLIGHTS YET! We have not reached the course minimum. Once we do, we will send you an email with instructions on purchasing flights. As part of your program fee, we will schedule and purchase your round-trip flights from Nassau to Andros. If you would like to start researching flights, please see below for the specifications.

    • You must arrive in Nassau, BS (Lynden Pindling International Airport) by 12:45 pm on Monday, January 12, 2026. IFS will purchase your connecting flight to Andros and it is imperative to land by this time in order to catch that connecting flight. Your flight home can leave Nassau, BS anytime after 11:00 am on Friday, February 20, 2026. IFS will purchase and coordinate your travel to Nassau from Andros that morning. If you need to arrive a day early based on flight times, we recommend you stay at The Orange Hill Inn.

• Program Fee: The total program fee is $6,499. As mentioned in your acceptance email, a non-refundable $500 deposit is due with the Student Agreement (linked below) to secure your spot in the class. Space is limited and first-come, first-serve; your spot in not guaranteed until we receive payment. The rest of the program fee $5,999 will be due on the following date:

  Final payment and all forms due December 3rd, 2025

• There are 4 options for ways that you can complete payment: 

  • Credit Card: You will receive an email from PayPal with the subject line: Invoice from International Field Studies. You may need to check your spam folder for the PayPal email. Please keep in mind that there is a 3.5% processing fee for any payment done through PayPal that is over $500. 

  • Check: If you'd prefer to send a check through the mail, you can do so by mailing it to our office at 1550 Old Henderson Road, Suite E268, Columbus, OH 43220. There are no extra fees for sending a check through the mail.

  • Zelle: We also accept Zelle payments. There is not a fee for paying with Zelle. If this is your preferred method, please let me know so I can send you our Zelle information.

  • Wire Transfer: If you would like to Wire Transfer the money please let us know and we can email you the details needed. The fee is $15 for a wire transfer.

• Forms: All forms are due December 3rd. Some of the forms are online and some are paper. Please be sure to scan and submit the paper forms to the appropriate links below. A doctor’s visit is required for all students for the PADI Medical form and the Medical Consent form requires notarization (for US citizens only). Please be sure to list all medical conditions and any diet restrictions on the online medical form. View the menu here for reference.

• Dive Insurance: Dive insurance is required for all Forfar Marine Science Program students and it is not covered in your program fees. Please be sure to secure dive insurance and send a copy to our office by the form due date. You can read our blog post on dive insurance to learn more. Past students often purchase the DAN Membership for one year for about ~$40 which comes with travel insurance that will cover your stay at Forfar. For dive equipment, see our Packing List and note our partner Columbus SCUBA offers a 20% discount to our Gap Year students!

College Credit: IFS is partnering with Seattle Central College (course SSC 297) as well as Wright State University to offer college credit to Forfar Marine Science Program students.

Seattle Central College: Interested students that complete our program can enroll in SCC's "Travel Study" course. More information about the course and how to enroll can be found here: seattlecentral.edu/programs/alternate-programs/travel-study/courses. Please also click on the "How to enroll" and "Policies and Procedures" sections that can be found in the yellow drop down menu on the left. Students will need to complete their Enrollment Form and pay by providing payment information on the Credit Card Authorization Form. Contact Karen Kato karen.kato@seattlecolleges.edu for further information and questions. Please note that credit can not be awarded retroactively so if you are interested in receiving credit, please enroll prior to your Gap Year program.

Wright State University: Interested students that complete our program can apply for WSU’s Study Abroad program. More information and the application can be found here: studyabroad.wright.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgramAngular&id=40631. Click on the green “apply now” button to begin the application for WSU’s study abroad program. Contact Joy Wanderi joy.wanderi@wright.edu for further information and questions. Please note that credit can not be awarded retroactively so if you are interested in receiving credit, please enroll prior to your Gap Year program.

Required Forms - Pt. 1

Online Forms

• Medical History Form (include photo of your passport)

  • Fill this out first and allow for up to 20 minutes to complete the registration.

  • Have photos of your passport ready to upload

• Travel and Excursions Form

• College/University Credit Questionnaire

  Form with Notary Required

• Medical Consent and Assumption of Risk (Must be notarized)

  • US citizens: Submit Notarized Medical Consent Form Here! Or you can email a copy of the form to support@intlfieldstudies.org

  • Non US citizens: A notarized signature on the medical consent form is only required for US citizens. If you are NOT a US citizen, please complete this form without notary.

  Flight Itinerary

• Once you get the go ahead to purchase flights then please email a copy of your flight itinerary to support@intlfieldstudies.org

Required Forms - Pt. 2

• PADI - Liability Release

• PADI - Continuing Education Release

• PADI - Medical (Doctor’s Signature Required)

  • Please complete the PADI - Medical questionnaire by answering EVERY question. Regardless of your answers on the PADI - Medical form, every student is required to have a doctors signature at the request of IFS.

• Copy of your DIVE INSURANCE 

  • Dive insurance is required. Purchasing the Individual basic DAN annual membership does meet this requirement, additional insurance packages through DAN are optional. Read our blog post to learn more. If you purchase your DAN membership through this link, IFS will receive a small referral commission.

Travel Documents

Available closer to travel date