Group Tours

The Virginia Insitute of Marine Science (VIMS) offers tours for civic clubs, middle- and high-school students, and other organizations throughout the year. Please choose the tour you would like to participate in from the table below and email [[programs]] to see if the date you would like to reserve is available. Requests for specific labs are accepted. For additional information, contact Susan Maples at 804-684-7846 or [[susan]].

Please note:

• Tours are for adults and children in 6^th grade or above.
• A minimum of 12 attendees is required, with a maximum of 30 per group.
• All tours require walking and standing for the entire scheduled time.
• Closed-toe, comfortable shoes are required for all participants.
• Arrival of a group more than 20 minutes after scheduled tour start time will result in cancellation.

We also offer regularly scheduled tours on Friday mornings during the summer months.

All tours begin in the Visitors Center in Watermen's Hall. Click for directions and a campus map.

Tour Offerings

Investigators
Tour

Year-Round

1.5 

10AM or
1:30PM

√

2

NA

√

Naturalists
Tour

Year-Round

1.5 

10AM or
1:30PM

√

1

Teaching
Marsh

√

Navigators
Tour

Year-Round

1.5 

10AM or
1:30PM

√

1

Fisheries
Collection

√

Explorers
Tour

Seasonally

1.5 

10AM or
1:30PM

√

1

Oyster
Hatchery

√

Voyagers
Tour

Year-Round

2

10AM or
1:30PM

√

2

Teaching
Marsh

√

Adventurers
Tour

Year-Round

2

10AM or
1:30PM

√

2

Fisheries
Collection

√

Mariners
Tour

Seasonally

2.5

10AM or
1:30PM

√

1

Teaching Marsh
plus
Beach Seining

OR

Fisheries Collection
plus
Beach Seining

√

The following labs may be requested in conjunction with the tours listed above:

• Comprehensive Coastal Inventory—Efforts to map and monitor the condition and use of Chesapeake Bay shorelines
• Environmental Chemistry—Methods to detect and  study environmental pollutants
• Harmful Algal Bloom Microscopy—Techniques to detect and identify algal species that may produce toxins injurious to marine life and humans
• Molecular Detection—Use of DNA fingerprinting and other tools to identify marine species
• Multi-Species Monitoring & Assessment—Monitoring the diet and age of Bay fishes
• Shellfish Pathology—Research to understand the life history, transmission,  and impacts of  oyster and clam diseases
• Zooplankton Ecology—Studies of the distribution and abundance of the drifting animals that play a critical role in the marine food web and carbon cycling