Program Reviews

I have volunteered with mulitple sea turtle research and protection projects in the past five years, working in various Caribbean and Central American countries. Ocean Spirits was difinitely once of the best programs that I have volunteered with.

Living, working, dining and playing with the staff and other volunteers, we quickly became friends and a well organized team. The volunteers are an important part of this team, and that importance was made known to me and was easily felt by me.

The Leatherbacks turtles, admittedly are my favorite. Their huge size and prehistoric appearance is truly something to behold. I felt honored and blessed to just be in the presence of these incredible creatures. Plus to know that I was able to be of some help in the process of saving these endangered turtles for future generations, is a wonderful feeling that continues to stay with me.

The accommodations were very comfortable and the view of the sea and outer islands from the dining area is spectacular. The best part by far is being on the beach at night with the Leatherback turtles. I felt honored to be able to work with these endangered creatures and witness the nesting process. Words cannot describe the immense good feelings I had while mid-wifing a hundred turtle eggs from a 1000 + pound mother. It's life changing !

The Island of Grenada is beautiful and the people are quite friendly. The staff at Ocean Spirits are dedicated, welcoming and very helpful.

My hope is to return to Grenada and Ocean Spirits, either this year of next.

My hope is to go back to Grenada and Ocean Spirits within the next year, or as soon as my work schedule allows. Since you have read this review, then you already have some interest in this type of project. Sign up and go, you'll have a great time in a beautiful setting, and will feel good about your new connection with nature.

If you love nature, you want to get in touch with people all over the world and you want to make a difference - you will definitly find in Grenada what you are looking for ! The Ocean Spirit team welcomes warmly volunteers ready to experience one to one environment protection. You will learn and discover about local community, environmental conditions and real constraints.

While you sleep on the beach during the nights in order to be ready when a turtle comes up to perform one of nature magic incidents you realize that this is the right place to be. And I can tell that you feel very small next to a Leatherback turtle ;) In the morning you aftre spending the night on the beach, you can help digging out old turtle nests for analysis. During the day you are free to explore the neighborhood, get in touch with local people or just relax in the beauty of Grenada island. As Ocean Spirit also tries to include young local people, you will have the task to inform them about the environment and humain impact.

One thing I also enjoyed was having diner together in the evening. Some of the participants will get prepared to spend the night at the beach the other stay at home and organise the next day. Those diners always were a place to share experiences and stories with people you will live with for a couple of weeks.

Finally, I would like to point out that Ocean Spirit turtle and environment project is a safe and well organised project which is more then worth the contribution you have to pay in money - as you will go home with an unforgettable priceless experience.

As a 17 year old travelling alone to the Caribbean, I was so grateful to the wonderful staff for going the extra mile to not only be very social and welcoming but to also ensure that the trip was the safest that it could be.
I really enjoyed spending time with the other volunteers who'd come from all over the globe and found the evening meals all together a lovely way to get to know each other better.

My favourite parts of the experience were nest excavation and night survey; i found it very interesting being able to compare the positioning of nests with their success rate while on nest excavation, while the night survey allowed me to get up-close-and-personal with the turtles.

I really overlooked till I returned to the UK the good that the time away did in terms of my fitness- the long walks on the beach were really good, gentle exercise.

I also appreciated how flexible the staff were, espcecially as I was only able to stay for 2/3 weeks. While there they were happy whenever possible to alter plans and switch shifts if anyone wanted to make any specific plans.

Overall I genuinely found the project to be one of the best experiences of my life and would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

If you love turtles this project if fab! The very nature of working alongside them is priceless. During the weeks I was a volunteer (summer 2011) I only saw 4 nesting turtles but I also go to see hatchlings making their adventure to the sea, definitely a highlight.
The night patrols are hard work, but it all depends on the attitude you take towards it. This is also true for the house work that needs to be done. There is still a very reasonable amount of free time to do plenty of exploring/relaxing.

Ocean Spirits is a very organised conservation project. If you choose to take part in this programme you will definitely be making a positive difference to the population of the endangered species the leatherback turtle.

Whilst you are there working on the project you are actively involved gathering information and vital statistics of the nesting leatherback turtles and (if you're lucky) the hatchlings. Then afterwards the supervisors keep you updated on the data collected by all the staff and volunteers involved that season and the following seasons to come. It is rewarding to see the results of your hard work.

The work is fantastic. It is an amazing experience to get up close to these wonderful creatures. You will measure them, count their eggs and sometimes if it is a new turtle you can assist in tagging and naming her. You each have a bag with all the equipment you need for the surveys, you pack these yourself every time you go out and are responsible for cleaning and putting the stuff away when you return the next morning. It's worth mentioning this as small details like this are what goes to make the project run smoothly. I have done charity work which is less organised and it can make it difficult to get the job done.

Just to warn you the night patrols can be quite tough. Keeping awake once you've sat down to rest can sometimes be a challenge but probably the most difficult part is the relentless mosquitoes and earlier on in the evening the 'blister bugs'. However the turtles make it all worthwhile. I will always remember one night where I got to sit on a moonlit beach and watch one of the turtles return to the sea, the best part was when she crawled past so close I began to think she was going to crawl right over me! I'm sure she was curiously checking us out, my heart was pounding and I felt so elated.

The early morning nest surveys are very early but the motivation to get up and rake over the turtle tracks to protect the nests from poaching makes you jump out of bed and get down to the beach. Plus it always felt so good to be on the beach that early.

The accommodation is comfortable. Everyone helps to cook and keep the house clean, this is part of the rota. Dinners are taken all together as a group which I liked and I never tired of the view from the balcony where we would eat and relax.

In your down time there are lots of places to explore, like the waterfalls and the chocolate factory. The organised trip to Sugar Loaf island was great, the supervisors really looked after us and cooked for us on the beach, including fresh fish straight from the sea.

With regards to a previous comment, yes your experience can depend on what people and supervisors you work with. Unfortunately not everyone is guaranteed to get on with everyone else but that can happen everywhere in life and you just need to concentrate on the people you do get on with. Overall I would say the atmosphere is generally a good one and we are all there for the same reason, the turtles, so immediately you all have something in common. I look back on my experience with Ocean Spirits with fondness. Overall I had a great time :)

I know the program definitely means well. However as far as your personal experience goes (because most are there for the overall experience not just conservation), it all depends on the staff, particularly the supervisors. I can tell from other sites that a lot of people felt welcome and bonded with staff however I personally did not feel that welcomed when I first arrived. They seemed to have little interest in getting to know the new volunteers which was very hard for a newcomer. When it came to night surveys, some supervisors were impatient which was very discouraging as a new volunteer. The majority of the local staff on the other hand were very welcoming and patient. There was a lot of unnecessary drama and politics involved with the conservation aspect as well. Another huge let down was the fact that depending on when you choose to go in the season, you may only actually see a couple of turtles during your entire stay. In addition, I found there were to many volunteers for the amount of work to be done. With regards these facts, I found the project information very misleading and felt a little scammed.
Overall this was a life experience more than a research experience with some of my best and worst memories. Your experience will depend on the staff, your fellow volunteers, and the time of season you chose to go.

I spent a month on Grenada in the summer of 2011, 3 weeks of that was with Ocean Spirits. One of the most amazing experiences I have had. Although we were there to work as a volunteer, there was loads of free time to enjoy the island. Sunrise over the neighbouring islands madegetting for morning survey worthwhile and you got to enjoy a dip in the ocean before coming back to base for breakfast. we all took turns of chores such as cleaning or shopping or cooking.- cooking duty was interesting. Being older than some of the other volunteers, cooking for everyone didn't bother me but it did scare some of the youngers - it didn't matter though - we all just mucked in and helped - don't remember having an inedible meal.

Getting up close and personal with turtles on the beach was unbelieveable. You don't realise how huge these creatures are until you are sat next to one of the beach. The real upside for me was tagging a new nesting female and naming her after watching and assisting in her nesting routine. The downside on the beach were the nights when it rained - horizontally - so glad I brought waterproofs. The downside away from the beach was the mozies - they really liked me unfortunately.

Overall amazing experience and one I would recommend for anyone no matter what age you are, the staff and locals are welcoming and the volunteers support one and other. You are doing good work for a beautiful endangered creature and enjoying the delights of Grenada.

I really had a great time on the project, I stayed for 6 weeks and really felt like I was part of the team and my time was well spent. Night surveys are long but so worth it when you get to see a nesting leatherback or hatchlings coming up out of the sand. In addition to all the rota work the staff organised lots of fun trips to waterfalls, hikes through rainforests, boat trips to smaller islands, BBQ and my favourite a snorkelling trip where I saw a huge ray and so many fish.

I traveled to Grenada three years ago and took part as a volunteer with the Ocean Spirits Project. I had an amazing experience and loved every minute of it.

The Island its self is welcoming and spectacularly beautiful. You get a real sense of Grenada not just the holiday parts by staying at Ocean Spirits as you are immersed within local life. All the staff and other volunteers are friendly and will do anything to make your stay enjoyable.

The food was fantastic and accommodation was perfect (be prepared to cook though as everyone gets a go).

The view of Sugar Loaf Island from the balcony is just picture perfect, the local walks and bus rides are very quaint, I think this Island is one of the most stunning places on earth.

The volunteer work with the Leatherbacks is an amazing once in a lifetime opportunity. If I had the time and the money I would love to go back again.
I hope you consider this fantastic volunteer placement as you will have a fabulous fun filled time.