Program Reviews

I really enjoyed my time in Cuba and I have Jakera to thank for that! The staff makes you feel very welcome and you get to be a part of the Jakera family very quickly. As a solo traveler, it's so nice to feel that you have people around you that you can trust and also have fun with. Leonel and Leandro are super kind and helpful, they will help you with anything you need. The rest of the staff are also very nice and as a tourist it's nice to get to know and spend time with the local people. I also had so much fun with the other "clients" that I met there. I enjoyed the spanish lessons I had with Laritza, she really pushed me to talk spanish and gave me the confidence that i needed. I would absolutley recommend others to visit Jakera Cuba!!

This place is so great. The staff, the teachers, food, housing and overall experience. I learned so much and met so many great people. This is truly a paradise.
Spanish lessons are so good and if you start from scratch or already know some it will improve your skills. Laura and Peggy are very good at teaching.

All the staff is great as well as the other people who live here. Pablo, Mellie, Brandon, Sindy, Maikol, Chris, Ada and so on will all make your stay feel like a small home.

The city of Santa Teresa is small but good. Beach is beautiful and there´s many things to do. Jakera will also help organize great trips. ATV and isla tortuga were so great.

Cirenas, Monteverde and Natuwa are great things to do and you will learn a lot about animals, recycling and so much more.

The hostel was really nice and in the heart of Havana. The staff explained everything really well and you dive right into the Spanish and dance classes. The culture walks were also a really nice way to explore the city with your new friends. The spanish teachers will also do the culture walks which creates a really nice bond with them, they are really a part of the experience as well. Everything was arranged very well! If you are travelling further trough Cuba the staff is very helpfull in arranging whatever you need. This can be very handy when you visit Cuba and your spanish is not so good. The program is quite flexible, adaptions are possible.
Overall, it was a really great time with so many wonderful people! Really an unforgetable experience!

The Camp in Jakera is a very nice place that is situated between palms, trees and a river. Next to the family's two lovely dogs and a cat, howler monkeys, squirrels, iguanas, all kinds of birds and many animals more are your direct neighbors. The Host-family and staff is very cheerful, caring and happy to help with everything. The best thing though is the great food that is freshly made every day and is of great variation and flavour. Shoutout to chef Maikol who wouldn't miss the chance to swing the spoon with a little dance move!
In the 4 weeks Program, I experienced a lot of unique things that I haven't done before, such as surfing on beautiful playa hermosa, practising yoga at the beachfront or volunteering at the local community and recycling center. One of the highlights was the 4-days trip to Monteverde, where we saw the raw beauty of the cloud forest and got our adrenaline kicks at the longest ziplining cable in Latin America. In the turtle project, we rescued several hundres of turtle eggs from thieves and could even touch the wild turtles, an experience that I will never forget.
I enjoyed myself a lot during the last four weeks and am happy to have collected so many nice memories of this beautiful country. Whoever wants to learn some spanish, do something nice for the enivornment and the community and experience an unforgettable time is totally right at Jakera Costa Rica.

From researching and travel planning to our arrival and departure we had an awesome time! Tim and his staff were professional and responded quickly to our concerns. Our casa particular & señora Amy (love love love) you'll become family before you leave. Casa jakera: awesome cooks, food was amazing! Met some new friends from all over the world! Classes were great and helped refreshen my Spanish speaking skills. Overall the city is beautiful the staff is awesome amazing music art food scenery. Loved the culture and can't wait to go back!

**Prices were VERY reasonable compared to other companies**

Jakera Cuba is like a good home away from home; offering most of what you imagine a happy and healthy family would offer a family member and a guest. Cleanliness, comfortable mattresses, home-made healthy fresh food and support and inspiration to explore and be fearless locally because you know the Jakera team, and the kind and interesting and intelligent guests they attract, are there for you if you ask or they see you need it. Cuba, Havana was a last minute spontaneous trip to a place where I knew no one so I did have my concerns (but mostly about me) which were totally unfounded. Jakera's expert hospitality and the excellent courses and local dance classes coupled with my own fearlessness, discoveries and adventures made for my best adventure so far; sorry India and Sri Lanka I still love you and will return. Soon I hope to travel to Costa Rica with Jakera and hopefully see Panama too. 100% Jakera will be a fantastic experience and service.

I found Jakera online and loved my two weeks there! I used the shared accommodation and shared my room with 5 girls, the staff kept it very clean, my bed was comfortable and we had air conditioning. I am a vegetarian and they did a great job accommodating me. The dance was my absolute favorite part, they give you many options to choose from. My Spanish teacher was awesome as were all the great friends I made! Highly recommend:)

I came to Costa Rica 'All By Myself' and was worried about not knowing anyone. However, I found that I really had nothing to worry about, the host family and staff are extremely kind and are there whenever you need something. They definitely make you feel at home!!! Learning Spanish is really fun and interactive, and there is plenty of time to practice outside of lessons with locals and the staff. To top it all off; if you are finding it all to tough you can start or end your day with an incredible sunset/sunrise surf, there is really nothing like it. If I had the chance to come back some day I would jump on the plane ASAP!!!

These past few weeks have been incredible. I have really enjoyed all the opportunities which I've been given, I especially loved been in Santa Teresa and learning how to surf and also learning the Spanish language. I have deffinitley made life long friends from this trip and it was nice to mix with new people. A few of us loved it so much we ended up extending our stay. Would highly recommend so come see for yourself.

I travelled to Costa Rica on the 1st September 2016 for 10 weeks at Jakera Jungle Surf Camp. I travelled from England and met up with a group of 8 other 18-25 year olds. The accomodation completely exceeded my expectations, it was large and spacious and the location was spectacular. Every week we had to work on a different volunteering project which meant that there was lots of variety in what we did, from cleaning the streets as part of a waste management project to spending a week at an isolated turtle sanctuary working with baby turtles! In my opnion the time was managed very well. We had plenty of free time to do our own activities but at the same time we were kept really busy so we never felt bored or homesick. All in all I would definitely recommend this program to any young person that wants a completely different experience from an extremely unique culture. If I could do it again I definitely would and I can say 100% that it was the best 10 weeks of my life.