Plan your Own Trip to the Chincoteague Bay Field Station
Looking for a unique fun educational experience that feels like a vacation? Check out the Chincoteague Bay Field Station’s upcoming adventures. They have programs all year long. There programs are not just for homeschoolers. CBFS has programs for EVERYONE! They offer courses and field trips for college students, grades schools, families, and the community. You can do everything from building your own kayak to photography. The list of hands-on feet wet adventures is incredible. They also have summer camps for families and groups like the Boy Scouts.
This is an amazing family vacation because all you need to do is bring your love of fun and sense of adventure. No cooking – all meals are provided for you. No planning- everyday is jam packed with activities. No extra cost – everything is included in the program fee. But the best part is that it is educational! Everyone will learn something!
So down to the nitty gritty details. Let’s talk about the rooms. The rooms at the Chincoteague Bay Field Station are clean and spacious. They are dorm style rooms complete with single beds and very clean. I was surprised to find out that my group of 3 had two rooms and our own bathroom assigned to us. The bathroom had two separate shower stalls and two toilet stalls so our mixed gender family could all get ready at the same time which saved us time so we could sleep later. After all the activities everyday we were tired and needed all the sleep we could get.
The food was good and there was plenty of it. The meals were served cafeteria style. Breakfast choices included hot items like bacon and eggs but there were also cold choices such as fresh fruits, yogurt, and cereal. The best lunch was a cook out at Pocomoke River State Park. The staff made hamburgers, hot dogs, and even veggie burgers. The hands down winner for dinner was a traditional Chesapeake Bay boil done Chincoteague Bay Field Station style – in the lab. The staff boiled up blue crab, shrimp, corn, potatoes, and sausage then poured it out onto the lab tables which were covered in plastic and newspaper. We all had mallets and dug in. It was so delicious and a ton of fun. They taught us the best way to crack open a crab and get to the tasty meat inside. Don’t worry the staff at CBFS did not forget the Old Bay seasoning and drawn butter!
What about the cost? Well for $195 per person we stayed 3 nights and 4 days in clean comfortable rooms. We had 7 meals total. As far as included activities, well the list is exhausting and also unique to each program. Just a few of the things we did include kayaking, canoeing, trawling for organisms aboard a flat bottom research vessel, shelling on a restricted access beach, and hiking. We had expert guides the entire time and not only were the guides well educated the were also entertaining. All the educators had a great sense of humor and made the trip fun for the whole family. We will be going back to the Chincoteague Bay Field Station back again and again!
Visit the Chincoteague Bay Field Station website to get started planning your trip and check out our Chincoteague Bay Field Station Adventure slideshow and Day 2 and Day 3 of our trip.