Program Reviews

I had an amazing experience on the Pacific Discovery Western United States Spring 2021 Gap Semester Program. I saw some amazing parts of the country which I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Participated in fun outdoor adventure activities which were new to me. Met some amazing like-minded students who will remain close friends for a long time. Learned a lot about sustainability, new cultures and environments and my role/contributions to these places or communities. Matured and grew immensely, discovering a lot about myself and others.

Overall this was a fantastic experience- I loved all of my group mates and instructors to the bottom of my heart. The activities we did were amazing and always left me wanting more, and I’m leaving feeling very confident in my ability to travel on my own in the future. I did get what I wanted- I challenged myself, learned a bunch of new skills, and met super cool people along the way.

Sometimes, we did struggle with budgeting for food- it was confusing where the money was for the 3 meals a day and a lot of us ended up supplementing with our own money out of pocket. Also the itinerary wasn’t exactly what it was advertised to be- could be due to COVID alterations, but we definitely missed out on some things and had a lot of free time.

I like how much the instructors trust you, the independence you are given, and the confidence this gave me to travel in the future.

If you’re on the the fence about taking a Pacific Discovery gap semester, go for it. My group bonded from the moment we met eachother and my instructors, Kim and Chris, are part of the family we created here. I’ve built an incredible support system for myself here with the support of my instructors and peers. I honestly never want to leave. Even the challenges we do are fun because they bring us closer together. It’s an opportunity to share amazing experiences with lifelong friends and I’m so happy I came here.

I went to Hawaii in Spring 2021. The fact that we could have a full program in spite of covid illustrates how great PD is. We got to do so many amazing things from surfing, cliff jumping, and hiking in a volcanic crater to tending kalo lo’i (mud fields) and removing harmful grasses from fish ponds. I truly believe that no other program could’ve given me the same amazing opportunities. Our lodging and food also were consistently great in my opinion. We generally stayed in very nice hostels or on farms set up for groups like ours to camp on. At the end of the day, this program was one of the best experiences of my life.

I have really enjoyed my experience on Pacific Discovery’s Hawaii semester program. This trip has pushed me out of my comfort zone and led me to grow in unexpected ways. I’ve learned so much about the Hawaiian culture and gained life lessons that I will carry with me long after I leave Hawaii. Our group has become very close and is always supportive when one of us is having a hard time. Everyone here is enthusiastic about trying new things and they’ve created a great community to share this experience with.

This program has been a pleasure all the way through. The itinerary is chock full of fun activities, and I have been very pleasantly surprised with how much cultural knowledge and enrichment I’ve been exposed to throughout. My group has run very smoothly, due large in part to the quality of my instructors, Kim and Chris, who I can’t compliment enough. They were very organized, and gave us the perfect balance of structure and freedom to enjoy Hawaii to the fullest. Overall, I couldn’t recommend this program enough!

this has been an amazing experience for the most part. the people in my group have become family and i love my instructors. most of the activities have been interesting and fun. overall i am very happy i joined this program. there are a few things however that could have been done differently or explained more thoroughly. the budget for this trip has not been up to par. quite a few of the places we have been are very americanized and a 5-7 $ budget for dinners is not easily attainable. we are all growing young adults, and this trip is very active. in short, we eat a lot. this can be worked on for future programs.
the next things is the itinerary. i understand that we are now living in a world that has been complicated by the pandemic. however we were given an updated itinerary for this purpose. there have been many occasions that what we are actually doing on the program does not match up to what i initially signed up for. that unfortunately has been disappointing. if the itinerary says that we are surfing or diving for a week, i would assume that would be at a least 5 days of those activities, not 3. i did not enjoy have an entire week at a permaculture farm and only 3 days surfing. we were also disappointed that our marine conservation week is not going to be what was advertised.
the next thing is that i would expect our entire trip to be planned out, per the itinerary. however there are days, meals and accommodations that we can all see have been thrown together in a hurry. that is not what i payed for. this was an expensive trip, i would hope these things would be figured out before we arrive.

We started our trip in Mexico. In Mexico I was happy to have time to get to know the group but I was also extremely bored with the lack of activities. Once in Tulum we had a blast with the students and exploring. However in Mexico we were asked to spend a lot of extra money on food and activities that PD hadn’t budgeted for. The hostel we stayed at in Tulum was absolutely disgusting to the point that I got a bacterial infection in my throat. Guatemala was definitely a highlight of the trip as we were busy outdoors nearly everyday. These activities were physically challenging but definitely worth it. Once in Costa Rica the service work began which was interesting but definitely slow paced and not as fun as Guatemala. It was frustrating to have to deal with expensive meals that pacific discovery gave not even half of restaurant costs, my own medical issues with little support, and very little information or activities planned for many days at a time. I loved my group and the instructors and if I hadn’t made such incredible trips I would have gone home in Mexico. I recommend the experience to anyone looking to travel however the cost was extremely high and definitely not what I had hoped for

This spring I went on a gap year programm with pacific discovery. I joined the programm, together with a friend, 2 weeks before it started so I didn’t have a lot of expectations.
Before comming here we got a packinglist with all the things we need. It said we needed a wetsuit, a divingwatch, a lot of conservative clothes, etc. The first two we didn’t need at all and we didn’t need as much conservative clothes as they told us we needed. I did need more normal clothes, summerdresses, shorts, t-shirts, etc. The next thing is that they told us that we would spend 5 tot 10 dollars a day, which is definitely not what I spent and I didn’t go crazy on the spending so I would
Recommend saying that you need more money. The accommodations where fine most of the time, except for the fact that in a lot of Them you didn’t have any personal space which can be hard. Besides this I love the activities (the hiking, surfing, diving and way more), I love meeting new people and making new friends. It was an experience which wasn’t always easy but definitely worth it!! Overall I love it!

I had a great time during my 10 week trip! Because of Covid, we only went to Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica but I think that made it even better because we could really get to know the countries we visited. I liked being immersed in the different cultures and seeing how each country differs. There was a huge range of things we did throughout our time including scuba diving, surfing, challenging hikes, kayaking trips, and a yoga retreat + more. It was great to get so close with the group of students and the instructors and I learned a lot.