Costa Rica

• Every meal including breakfast, lunch, and dinner and unlimited water will be provided.
• Your daily accommodation.
• All airport transportation and transportation to volunteer projects, schools, and designated activities.
• Building materials and educational resources, and local labor costs as needed.
• Local cultural activities (see program itinerary for specifics).
• Community donations.
• Tuition for Leadership development course.

As a participant, you will receive guidance from local researchers who will teach you how to assist in conserving endangered sea turtles. You will learn how to handle the sea turtles and their eggs properly with care, and ensure the crucial survival of these species.  The volunteer work with sea turtles will require you to dedicate your time to nightly beach patrols, as you experience first hand their nesting cycle, and impact these species have within the environment. It will be physically challenging, but the contact you make with these rare creatures and the opportunity to learn about and actively protect their habitat is an incredible experience like no other.

In addition, your help to rehabilitate local forests is essential. Along the coast, there are mangrove trees to be planted and some gardening in the nursery on the beaches. In the mountains, the reforestation efforts in the cacao forests  will also help preserve Costa Rica’s rich eco-system, including plant life and over 500,000 different species of wildlife. You’ll be in the company of toucans, sloths, the blue morpho butterflies, as well as monkeys, iguanas, and hundreds of other species who will benefit from your efforts as you gain a deeper understanding of the importance of environmental conservation.

What makes the teaching experience in Costa Rica unique is the broader spectrum of education you will be able to help provide.  Current educational projects include assisting in providing environmental conservation education through after-school projects. These efforts will educate local school children about why the various sea turtle species or environment conservation is important and needed, and how Costa Rican natural environments can be preserved. The environment is precious, and the sea turtles, the brilliantly coloured macaws, and screeching monkeys are just a few of the species that rely on your care of the rich bio-diversity that is Costa Rica’s natural beauty.

You’ll have trained facilitators alongside you to guide you to create the most positive impact with your skillset. Your current knowledge of your own progressive style of education is very valuable to young learners here and enhances their understanding.  If you have your TEFL certification, or would like to earn this qualification, you can enroll in our online course and be able to bring professional training to your Costa Rica experience. With your volunteer efforts, local communities can embrace the opportunity for their children to have an education they might not otherwise have, and further understand the importance of a sustainable environment.

Through your engagement in the leadership workshops you will truly appreciate being able to develop a deep teaching and learning connection with the local Costa Rican community through your volunteer efforts, which is essentially what it’s all about. Assisting in the patrols, sea turtle nesting, reforestation of the coastline or other helpful activities here does not only provide you and the locals with a more solid base for environmental education, it also deepens the understanding of what life is like in Costa Rica.

Your own leadership skills will be shaped and strengthened while creating positive change in these communities and ecosystems.  Our qualified facilitators will assist you on your path of personal development to ensure you feel the positive impact of the deep connection you develop within the community, as well as enable you to apply your leadership skills directly to local endeavours.  An invaluable life experience will be gained along with a sense of achievement in an environment where your volunteer efforts and leadership abilities truly matter and make a measurable difference.

This is about more than learning to speak Spanish or building sea turtle egg hatcheries. It’s about more than eating local Costa Rican cuisine. It’s about challenging yourself and exploring a new  country, a new culture, and a different way of life.  You will explore rainforests, tropical beaches, and zip line through jungle tree tops over flowing rivers below the shadow of a volcano.

This is what the EDventure International programs are about. Costa Rica is a country about “Pura Vida” – a country so vibrant with life and sun, and diverse populations of wildlife and habitation, and local people who are so warm and friendly. From the jungles to the mountains to the beaches, you will culturally connect and communicate, and fully immerse as you try new foods, experience new settings and new ways of life.

Enrich your Costa Rican cultural experience by appreciating its beautiful topography, from pristine beaches to cloud forests, and all teaming with fascinating wildlife. The climate is tropical, hot and sometimes very wet, but the locals don’t mind this, and take an easy-going outlook to appreciating life.

Fresh ceviche is part of the local cuisine, and pico de gallo will be a common “Tico” dish to enjoy, or drink a cold, fresh-squeezed fruit juice while relaxing in a hammock on the beach.  Immerse yourself. Explore the coasts or jungles, taste locally grown produce sold in nearby markets, practice your Spanish getting to know the locals, or salsa dance the night away.