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Catch waves & Save Sea Turtles on Pacific coast of CostaRica 🌊🐒

5.0
(38 reviews)38

The experience

Join us near Manuel Antonio, protect endangered sea turtles & surf. Make a real impact while enjoying a great volunteer experience!
Collect eggs & see baby turtles hatch, thanks to your efforts! 🐒
Enjoy surf lessons on an amazing wild beach πŸ„β€β™‚οΈ 🌊
Dive into slow tourism, relax, and pura vida way of life 🀘
Immerse yourself in local culture, and make a positive impact πŸ‡¨πŸ‡·
Meet people from around the world, take meaningful action for the planet

What you offer

20 hours of help per week

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

Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens

Additional fee required

Amount: US$ 74 Per day

Fee pays for: Benefits for travelers, Materials for volunteer activities, and Donation to project

Description: This is a non-profit organization. The project does not receive any subsidies from the state. The fees help: Maintain the camp, house, and ensure the area is pleasant Purchase food for all meals, coffee, and fruits Buy materials for animal care (gloves, bags, hatchery supplies, etc.) Pay the staff working on the project Support the project's growth and operations Pay the surf lessons

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 Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Surf lessons: Take free surf classes at the local beaches.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

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

Fast Internet Access: High-speed internet for you to work remotely

Requirements

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Tortugas de Isla Damas is a conservation organization located in the south of Quepos, very close to Manuel Antonio National Park, on the Pacific coast. It is easy to get here from San JosΓ©. The 6 km beach is wild and typical of Costa Rica. We are a local family deeply committed to nature, animals, and especially turtles. That’s why we decided to create this project in the beautiful Isla Damas.

Our goal is to protect the nesting populations of Kemp's Ridley sea turtles. We offer an affordable, rewarding volunteering experience on the Costa Rican Pacific coast. Volunteers can enjoy slow tourism and immerse themselves in the local Pura Vida lifestyle with us. We live and work sustainably to preserve biodiversity and ecosystems. We love sharing our culture and wildlife with others.

Activities & Shift

Surf by day, Protect Turtles by night!
We are not a surf camp, but a conservation project.
But the beach is perfect to learn surf so we provide surf classes with a professional surfer in addition to the turtle project.
Classes are close to the project, in a surf camp.
We provide with this program 4 lessons a week, with possibility of more with an additional cost.

Why do we have to protect turtles?
Nesting turtle populations are endangered due to threats from poachers and natural predators.

What do we do exactly?
During the season, we patrol the beach at night.
Our aim is to collect eggs from nesting turtles and bring them to our hatchery for care and protection. We have can have 300 nest in the hatchery.
Once the eggs hatch, we release the baby turtles on the beach and watch them make their way to the sea.
We collect data to monitor the species' evolution.

Who can join us?
Anyone who is passionate about these issues is welcome.

Turtle season is from June to January.
We already have collected more than 30 nests.

Rules

It is a very remote place, non-touristic. There is no shop.
Bring anything you could need (snacks, books...).
You have to be able to spend time by yourself or with the others volunteers.
We provide wifi but the signal is not always good so you can come with a local Sim card (kolbi or liberty).
You must respect work times, the place, and the others.
We provide laundry for 5$ (if normal size)
To arrive in Tortugas de Isla Damas, you can take a bus in San Jose until Quepos at Tracopa terminal. The cost is about 11 dollars.
Then a transport until the island that we organize for you for 10 dollars (taxi and boat).
We come for you at Quepos bus terminal, so your trip is easy and safe.
We are close to Manuel Antonio.
You can have several free days to visit other parts of Costa Rica.
Enjoy the more you can and have peace and fun!