Learner Stories – AquaTerra Boat Tours

Elizabeth McCooey, Co-founder and Director, AquaTerra Boat Tours.

Discover how AquaTerra Boat Tours, a marine based tourism business, benefitted from our Biodiversity Leaders Programme by acquiring practical tools to apply across their operations and help build confidence in the biodiversity decisions they are making for AquaTerra now and into the future. We spoke to Elizabeth McCooey, Co-founder and Director, at AquaTerra Boat Tours to find out more.

In your own words, how would you describe your role?

I am the co-founder and director of AquaTerra Boat Tours, a marine based tourism business on Valentia Island in South Kerry. My role spans tour development, daily operations, safety, and our sustainability strategy.

What motivated you to undertake a programme at the Skillnet Climate Ready Academy?

As a business already committed to sustainable and regenerative tourism, I sought to deepen my understanding and introduce more structure to our approach, particularly in protecting biodiversity in the marine environment where we operate.

How has this programme helped you in your career or daily work?

The training gave me clarity, confidence, and a practical framework to advance our biodiversity work. It helped assess our environmental impact more thoroughly and gave structure to ideas we had already been developing. It provided me with the tools to develop a realistic, achievable, and fully aligned action plan that reflects our values at AquaTerra. On a personal level, it has strengthened my leadership in this space and helped position AquaTerra as a responsible marine tourism provider, committed to protecting the place we call home.

How has your organisation benefitted from the knowledge and skills you gained?

As a result, AquaTerra now has a defined biodiversity action plan that aligns with the scale of our business while still delivering a meaningful impact. The structure also made it easier to bring our crew into the process and to communicate our efforts to guests in a more informed and engaging way.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience?

The experience with the Skillnet Climate Ready Academy was genuinely practical and worthwhile. The support was clear, the content focused, and it always felt relevant to the realities of running a small marine tourism business. It wasn’t just theory; it gave me fundamental tools to apply across our operations and helped build confidence in the decisions we are making for AquaTerra now and into the future.

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