Save turtles in Costa Rica

Turtle lovers needed

You will be working with a Costa Rican non-profit marine and research organisation in small village communities, helping them to protect nesting turtles and their eggs, and ensuring that the baby turtles make it safely to the sea.

You can volunteer to work with turtles at four beach sites along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Locations are in or close to small villages in basic but comfortable accommodation, set on or near the beach, in close vicinity of the mountains and rainforests.

Costa Rica is a stunning country, offering plenty of opportunities for surfing, horse riding along the beaches, exploring the mountains, rainforests and waterfalls, swimming, helping out in the community and seeing some amazing wildlife on your doorstep, from monkeys to toucans, from whales to macaws.

What will I do in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is home to stretches of lush turtle nesting beaches all along its coastline. Due to natural predation from animals and severe human interference such as turtle egg poaching, industrial fishing and selling turtle shell products, all turtle species from the Pacific Coast are, to some degree, in danger of becoming extinct. There are four project sites in which you can volunteer, each with its own charm and beauty. You can choose to volunteer at as few or as many sites as you please.

• The community project: A small beach in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica, it boasts high numbers of turtles throughout the season. There is an excellent community spirit here, and you can really get involved with many other community based activities other than turtles.
• The paradise beach project: A buzzing community of both Costa Ricans and American expats, this project site has a stunning white sand beach and plenty to keep you busy, with excellent surfing and other outdoor activites, a few bars and restaurants, and lots to explore.
• The rustic project: A remote camp on an uninhabited stretch of beach 9km from the closest civilisation will be your home, with an outdoor toilet, showers from a bucket and incredible sunsets. This is a beautiful, rustic and simple camp, not for the fainthearted!
• The tropical project: Breathtaking black sand beach shadowed by mountainous rainforests provides the setting for this project site near Panama. The next village boasts the longest wave in the world, offering amazing surfing. The surf in this village is pretty impressive too, and you will never be a loss for things to do, between the rainforest to explore and the beach to enjoy.

Getting there

You will fly in to San José, where you will be met by a member of the team. You will be put up in the capital for a night before making your way out to your project location the next day.

Highlights

• You immediately become a member of a small community, fully immersed in the language in culture, and can share in the day to day life of typical Costa Ricans in locations that are unspoiled by tourism and globalisation.
• You get immediate hands on experience with turtles, helping out in important research that will be used to help form campaigns to change regulations that endanger the species in Costa Rica.
• A genuine knowledge that you are helping a species that is dying out- and contributing to reversing this sad trend.
• Seeing some incredible plant life and wildlife- the turtles, whales, dolphins, crocodiles, macaws, toucans, monkeys, butterflies in their natural habitats
• Making friends and memories for life
• The opportunity to travel the rest of the country at the end of the project

Accommodation

You will be living in simple Costa Rican houses or cabins, sharing with other volunteers. The accommodation is on site, usually in the centre of the community, so you are always surrounded by plenty of things to do and people to meet.

Your meals will be prepared by the local community, who will offer a variety of traditional Costa Rican foods as well as more western influenced foods.