Save the Turtles and Beach Clean-Up

Non-profit
·
founded in 2004
Jenny
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Coordinator | Jenny
Coordinator | Jenny
Book with Flex Option! Choose new departure dates or change to a different volunteer program at no extra costs.

High­lights

Volunteer and be part of organized beach cleanups in order to protect our oceans
Achieve successful results through collaborating with your local team
Be in contact with a beautiful places, surrounded by nature, and three awesome beaches when doing cleaning activities
Be assured that you are safe and enjoy all the activities the program has to offer
Participate in free time activities for free
Join us to help with community and environmental related tasks and especially to rescue the sea turtles and Beach Cleaning. This volunteer program is especially suitable for:
Age 19+
Singles
Couples
Families
Groups
50+

The main reason for this project is to protect our Biodiversity from all the dangers that threaten it: such as humans, pollution, etc. It is for this reason that your help as a Volunteer is very important.

We work with all the Natioional Parks of Costa Rica, Wildlife Refuge, Wetlands, Biological and Forest Reserves

This project pretend to protect More than a half of the Turtles are in extinction. Loss of habitat is the number one threat to turtles around the world. Other threats include the baby turtles using like pets and eggs trade, overconsumption for food and medicine, pollution and climate change. 

The Trash can travel through all the rivers and oceans of the world, and accumulate on beaches and in ocean gyres. These wastes damage physical habitats, transport chemical pollutants, threaten aquatic life, and interfere with human use of rivers and river, marine, and coastal environments.

1. BEACH CLEANING: This program is about beach, ocean, and coastal cleaning expeditions. Retrieving plastic from our environment is our main purpose. Volunteer role at our camp is creating good team work while at our activities. Volunteer roles also include camp related chores, like cleaning equipment, classifying plastic for recycling and reusing. Also keeping personal space clean and maintaining general camp order. The volunteers can expect to be in contact with a beautiful park, surrounded by nature, and awesome beaches, while we do the beach cleaning activities. We expect that the volunteers have a positive attitude, and good team building and social skills. Team collaboration and respect among the team is always expected from the volunteers. At this volunteer camp you can help us make a difference in our efforts to maintain our environment and have a great time doing it!!! 

2. SAVING THE TURTLES: Our projects have the most beautiful vegetation and attractive environment and are located at the Caribbean as well as the Pacific side.

We work with leather back turtles from January to August and with the green sea turtle from August to December, the remaining months we prepared a kind of nest and we works with the community and the school. The project is closed in the end of December.

Leather Back Turtles: Leatherbacks can exceed 540 kg (1180 lbs). Leatherback turtles are generally not killed by poachers for their meat but for their eggs which are among the most desirable turtle eggs.

Green Sea Turtes: Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are not actually green but take their name from the colour of their body fat. These turtles are hunted for both their eggs and their meat, which is widely held to be the most delicious of all the sea turtle species.

The volunteer will be trained in sea turtle monitoring techniques and will work under the supervision of the Research Coordinators. They will work mainly with adult Leatherback turtles, adult Green turtles and Leatherback hatchlings. Some Hawksbills may arrive to the beach but it's not very common. The primary responsibilities of the Volunteers will include leading night beach censuses, conducting morning beach surveys, tagging and collecting data, and relocating and excavating nests.

Monitoring activities are carried out along 6 km of nesting beach. Volunteers will be in charge of leading volunteers and/or groups of students while on the beach, explaining the beach protocol and supervising them on the process of data collection.

Volunteers are expected to participate in other activities carried out by the Reserve like environmental education activities, talks and workshops with students and volunteers, beach cleaning, recycling projects, or other needs of the station. Volunteers are expected to work long hours throughout day or night, often with little sleep.

The place is surrounded by nature and is very safe site for volunteers, it is a small community where everyone knows each other and help each other, the Coast Guard station is 200 meters from the project, we don’t have electricity yet, but we have a solar panel that provides us with electricity to charge phones laptop etc. and it provides light for the night.

Typical day

1. BEACH CLEANING: 

Schedule:

Volunteer work schedules are generally in the morning hours, 8am till noon 12:00am. Since walking the beach is sometimes tiring to do all day long. We divide our work day in morning or afternoon shifts. / 8am-12:00am or 1:00 pm
Weather is better in the morning for the beach and coast clean ups. Walking the beach and coastlines and then separating the plastic retrievals for proper recycling, or reusing purposes. After each clean up, we generally clean and wash all the equipment (reusable bags) and uniforms.

Volunteer Camp Chores:
If a specific day we do not do a beach clean up, we use our time productively doing chores in our camp volunteer camp. Cleaning uniforms, washing our equipment, painting for maintenance purposes, or simply helping out preparing meals.
With volunteers we also help out in several ecological projects implemented by the program. We have a Butterfly farm, an Hydroponic garden, or helping out maintaining the trails for birdwatching like sign elaboration and painting.

2. SAVING THE TURTLES:

The turtle activities of the volunteers are: 

  • night patrols in different shifts (one group goes from 20:00 to 00:00 and another from 00:00 to 04:00)
  • working in the care nursery where they carry all eggs to guard them until they hatch (this is done in periods of 4 to 6 hours 24/7 depending on the number of volunteers who have the project) 

We also work in social work such as 

  • a vegetable garden at the school which is right next to the project 
  • teaching English at the school 
  • make composting with coconut fiber
  • recycling program for plastic
  • maintenance work the volunteer house take turns every day to help in the kitchen
  • cleaning the beach
  • bird monitoring
  • different occasional social work

Free-time activities

On their free time, volunteers have plenty of activities. Since we are secure inside the project, we don’t only count with our own activities, but can also participate in the project activities without an additional cost.  The Guanacaste Area counts with beautiful beaches, supermarket, and  restaurants.

All these activities include:

  • Snorkeling
  • Surfing lessons
  • Kayak tours
  • Paddleboard tours
  •  Hiking and Trailrunning
  • Waterfall visits
  • Beach soccer
  • Dancing lessons
  • Waterpolo
  • Beach Volleyball
  • Fusball
  • Tennis court
  • Bingo nights
  • Table games
  • Bird watching

Water Sports
Swimming
Hiking
Riding

Require­ments

In order to join the program you need to be at least 19 years old on the program start date. There might be exemptions if you can provide the permission of your legal guardian(s) or if your are accompanied by your parents.
Language Skills
You need to speak English (basic level)
Nationality Restrictions
No restrictions. Helping hands from all over the world are welcome.
Time Commitment
Your helping hand will be required on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday

What's Included

Services by Volunteer Now Costa Rica

  • The fees include three times of meals and accommodations in shared dorms.
  • We provide all the equipment needed for this project.
  • Pick up is included.
LOCAL TRANSPORTATIONS ARE NOT INCLUDED

Airport Pickup at Juan Santamaria International Airport

The volunteer is picked up at the airport and spend the night in our  hostel (no additional cost) and the next day at 9:00 am he's taken to the project.

Those volunteers who are arriving overland or are already in Costa Rica will be picked up at a meeting point decided beforehand. 

Transport back to the airport is not included because some volunteers decide to travel by themselves around the country.

Accommodation

Accommodation is shared with other volunteers in our dorm style accommodation.

Food & Beverages

Three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner, fruits - typical food from Costa Rica but we also have special food for vegetarian volunteers.

Internet Access
Good access at the project site
What's NOT included?
Visa, flights, travel insurance or vaccinations are NOT included in the program fees.
Flight Tickets
The nearest airport is Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in San Jose. We assist you to find cheap flights to Costa Rica.
Travel Insurance
Going abroad is an adventure and it is always best to be prepared. Sudden illness or injury, cancellation or theft - a travel insurance for Costa Rica provides security and is a plus to have.
Vaccines
If you are intending to volunteer in Costa Rica you should seek medical advice before starting your social journey. Check your required vaccinations for Costa Rica.

Dates & Fees

NO CREDIT CARD FEES

Details on arrival

Volunteers can arrive any day of the week in daily hours.

Minimum stay: 14 days

Volunteers arrives to San Jose, staying at our hostel (price included), the next day preferably Monday morning take a bus that takes them to a nearby town, (3 hours), then another bus is taken to another community (30 minutes) and must then take a boat that takes them to the project (30 minutes).

Availability
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Duration
2 - 4 weeks

Program fees

Costs: Prices in USD
2 weeks (min. stay)
$770
3 weeks
$1,155
4 weeks (max. stay)
$1,540
Average fees
$385 /week

Please note that the above shown program fees are estimated. Volunteer Now Costa Rica will let you know about the final price during your application process.
Deposit (15%)
The deposit is simply to reserve your volunteer placement. Payments are handled by PayPal, our trusted global payment provider. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can also pay using a credit card.
Final Payment (85%)
Your final payment will be agreed with Volunteer Now Costa Rica during the application process. Common solutions are either via bank transfer or a cash payment at the project site.

Why book with Volunteer World

Extra security layer by Volunteer World
Volunteer World is the world's leading comparison platform for international volunteer opportunities. We guide you through a safe and easy application process - including all necessary payments. Planning your next meaningful trip with Volunteer World gives you free access to our:
Quality Assurance
High ethical standards & transparent social impact
Flex Option
Change your reservation at no extra costs
Refund Guarantee
We refund your fees if Volunteer Now Costa Rica cancels your trip
Support & Mediation
We cover your back no matter what happens
Our services are free of charge!
All program fees are charged directly by Volunteer Now Costa Rica.

What are people saying about Volunteer World?

Save the Turtles and Beach Clean-Up

Join us to help with community and environmental related tasks and especially to rescue the sea turtles and Beach Cleaning.

$385/week

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