Apply Now

Help us with our sea turtle conservation project in Drake Bay!

5.0
(82 reviews)82

The experience

We are a conservation association that has been protecting sea turtles from the impact of man since 2003.
Our camp is located in Playa Ganadito, 50 meters from the sea, surrounded by nature, so you can find a multitude of animals and plants. During turtle season, during your experience you will have the opportunity to interact directly with sea turtles, conduct night patrols and work in hatcheries, collect data and release babies into the ocean

What you offer

15 hours of help per week

Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens

Animal Care: Help look after and take care of animals.

Social Work: Help with volunteer work in local projects and communities.

Farming: Plant crops, sow seeds and help in outside tasks.

Additional fee required

Amount: US$ 26 Per day

Description: Los voluntarios aportaran 26$ por noche para gastos de alimentacion, mantenimiento del campamento, limpieza y generador electrico

What you get

2 days off per week

Shared Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other travelers.

Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Discounts on Tours: Get discounts for tours and excursions around town.

Free Hiking Tours: We’ll take you on excursions and hikes around town. For free!

Free Events: Get free entrance for the best events in town.

Certificate: Get a certificate of completion after you finish your experience.

Requirements

Intermediate English or Intermediate Spanish

Over 18 years old

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Every year, around 200 Olive Ridley sea turtles come to nest on Ganadito beach in Drake Bay. Our goal is to protect and conserve sea turtle nesting sites from human impact, relocating the nests to our hatchery and releasing the greatest number of sea turtles into the sea. In this way we hope to tip the balance in favor of these endangered species so that the population can recover.

Our accommodations consist of shared rooms with gravel floors located in the heart of nature, where you will have the opportunity to see animals such as macaws and monkeys daily.
We are located on the beach so we do not have electricity, but we have an electric generator that allows us to have electricity for two hours every day. We do not have Wifi.

Activities & Shift

Since we are working with a wild animal that has a nesting and hatching season, the nature of the work varies throughout the year:

From February to June we focus on preparing for turtle season, repairing infrastructure, and preparing the beach and hatchery. We also grow organic food on-station, plant trees as part of our reforestation effort, and clean the beach of plastics that wash up on ocean waves. During this period we are not in turtle season. However, sea turtles continue to come out to nest with a probability of one turtle per week. For this reason, walks are carried out in the mornings to look for traces and relocate them to the beach where we will monitor them. For the walks, the volunteers will be organized in rotating shifts, each one doing one walk a week.

From July to November we focus on night patrols, they are planned according to the tide, the work consists of a night patrol of approximately 3 hours for three days a week. On the other two days, beach cleaning, reforestation and camp maintenance work is carried out in the morning.

From September to January, there are nests hatching in the hatchery, and each one must be exhumed and all the egg shells counted, etc. There's a lot of work to do, but there are also a lot of baby turtles to release!

Rules

The only days we receive volunteers are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

It is important that during turtle season you bring a red light flashlight to carry out night patrols. It is also recommended to bring a mosquito net for the bed.

Once your stay is confirmed, we will send you a document with more information and recommendations to prepare your arrival.

The volunteer's work is from Monday to Friday, so he has free weekends to carry out a multitude of leisure activities. such as tours to Caño Island, tours to Corcovado National Park, free excursions to hidden beaches, waterfalls, hikes, etc.