Costa Rica Volunteer Programs | Most Affordable & Trusted

I volunteered in Costa Rica in childcare for a week and then toured around Costa Rica's for another week.

My volunteering program was in a daycare in San Jose and involved keeping the kids occupied and also to teach them English. You are given a lot of flexibility and trust in the program, from redecorating part of the daycare to make it more exciting and fun, to introducing new games and activities to engage and educate the kids, the options are wide open. No matter how long you volunteer for, you will be able to see an impact of your actions in the kid's appreciation of your work.

In Costa Rica I met many wonderful people that further enriched my experience. The other volunteers and the staff at the local volunteering company made it a much more sociable and safe experience.

Costa Rica has some of the most amazing sceneries, wildlife and also offers many extreme activities. In a week, some of the activities I managed to do include zip-lining above a forest, a bungee jump from 143m, enjoying the beautiful Manuel Antonio beach and seeing the Poas volcano and the waterfall gardens.

Overall it was an unforgettable experience that I hope to be able to do again in the near future.

I loved the experience volunteering with IVHQ in Costa Rica. The staff was so accommodating and friendly, from the time I booked the trip to the time I was headed home. I felt safe and welcomed and had a great time. I made wonderful friends from all around the world. Staying with a host family was a beautiful experience I will never forget. It was a wonderful way to truly immerse yourself in the culture. The Childcare program was fulfilling and brought me so much joy. I will definitely do this again!

Volunteering at the assisted living facility in Costa Rica through IVHQ was such a humbling experience. I went there expecting to change lives (in even the slightest way) and ended up changing my own. The people you meet along the way give your journey more meaning than you'd ever expect.

I was able to emerge myself into the city and way of living like a local and it pulled me out of my element but helped me grow as an individual. On a daily basis I learned new things and was always meeting new people.

The experience seemed overwhelming at first but with the help of staff, new friends, and my host family, everything fell into place and was one of the best traveling experiences of my life.

There is nothing like being on a Costa Rican beach at night, with millions of stars shining over you. Well with the Turtle conservation project you get this every night while you have the once in a lifetime experience of working with Turtles. You'll have "pinch me" moments on a daily basis!!

"My thoughts"
What are my thoughts? What am I thinking really?
Before writing this review I look back at everything I went through, from day one until my last day and now from where I stand.
I remember being so scared but at the same time so excited, I remember thinking "what am I doing? Am I ready for this? Am I where i'm supposed to be?"
Turns out that I was, my entire experience was at the right place at the right time.
When I say "I remember", I make it sound as if this was a long time ago but actually, this was three weeks ago. The thing is that in this incredible place, days feel like years but the weeks go by so fast.

"Don't sugarcoat it", they said.

Well my first day at Ostional was alright, the people were welcoming,
the place was really really hot and I was so tired that I didn't know how my body could still manage to be awake. My thoughts the day after while at work were "Will I make it through without giving up before the program ends?". I knew I wanted to stay, I knew I wanted to do this, but most importantly I knew I had to be patient and let my body and mind adapt to my new surroundings.
To my surprise, after going through all this impatient thoughts, everything in my mind was wiped off when I saw the first turtle I had ever seen. It was as if I had been renewed and suddenly, in my third day there, I already felt like time was running and I did not want to leave this place anytime soon.
I was very lucky, from day one I got to see many turtles and work with approximately 260 turtles in an arribada that brought around 13,000 turtles to shore.

About my homestay: At the beginning we all feel out of place I guess, and that is completely normal since you arrive to an unknown place and get to be in a different home apart from your own. The good news is that after a few days I could easily call it home as well and feel relieved whenever I came tired from a long, exhausting day.

Recomendations: The instructions and recomendations given by IVHQ before departure were accurate so I would just say: pay attention to them and don't miss a thing!!! Luckily I had everything I needed because of it. (Dark and light clothes, bug repellant, hiking shoes, RAIN COAT, sunglasses, etc.)

My one and only personal recomendation is PATIENCE!
If you are missing home, if you feel out of place, if you still haven't adapted just be patient and positive since the experience you will have will be worth all fears and will surpass the expectations you had and will also make you want to stay way longer!

What else can I say? One must pay attention to what thoughts were then and what they are now, as they evolved quickly from "What am I doing?" To "What else have I been missing?!" and allowed me to have unforgettable trip. I feared, I laughed, I traveled, I LEARNED and now I miss and I regret not staying enough time! I need to start planning my way back to these turtles!

I volunteered to teach English and had requested to teach to younger children when I applied for the program. However, this did not seem to be taken into account, as I was placed in a program with teenagers in their last year of high school. Although I was disappointed by this at first, as this had not been what I had been expecting, and I had brought material specifically for younger children, I absolutely loved this project. I loved being able to get to know the students and being able to talk to them and learn about San José and Costa Rica, through conversations with them. My second project did not live up to my expectations whatsoever, and this was partly my own fault, as I insisted on having a morning project, which meant I would be working in a proper school. In the school I worked as a teacher's assistant, which was not what I wanted to do. But Maximo Nivel (the organisation that runs the program in Costa Rica) was extremely helpful, and as soon as they found out I was dissatisfied, they tried to come up with different solutions and eventually they moved me to a different project. At my third project, I got to work with younger children. I absolutely loved this project, because I had a lot of independence and I got to run the class room, how I wanted to. I must say though, I think I preferred working with the high schools students, because it was easier to teach them, than it was to teach children. As children need to be constantly entertained and therefore there is a need for a lot of energy in the class room.
I loved my host family as well, we got on extremely well and would sit and talk for hours. This was great practice for my Spanish. The food was also amazing.

I worked on the Childcare project in San Jose, Costa Rica through IVHQ and had a great experience. The in country support through Maximo Nivel (organization that runs the programs in Costa Rica) was incredible. Everyone there was so helpful, whether I needed to find a restaurant to eat at or a bus ticket across the country, they were enthusiastic about helping out. On the first day of the project, the staff took myself and other volunteers to the place and gave us an orientation. At my placement, I worked with kids ages 2-10 years old for 4 hours a day. I had the option to work underneath a supervising teacher at the daycare if I wanted a more structured experience or to run my own activities with the older kids. The other volunteers and I prepared crafts and games to play with the kids and we had a lot of freedom to decide what to do with them. I had a great time and will definitely be volunteering with IVHQ again!

So the first two days I was placed in San Jose at a host family that did not speak any English so it was very hard to understand some of the thing she was saying. Lucky enough I had eight other volunteers with me in the house so even though host family could not speak English all the other volunteers did, so it felt like home. Then twe got picked up about 530 in the morning and got taxis to the bus station and where on are way to junquallial. It was about 4 hours away from San Jose. I love every minute of the program 1st you get up and eat breakfast and relax until lunch then after lunch you can either relax some more or go for a swim. Around 2:30 you start working it could be planting trees, working in a garden, or working in the hatchery to dig out the nets. You work for about 3 hours and then you have a out hour before dinner which you could got down to the beach and watch the sunset. Then you eat dinner and probably go to bed because you go on night patrol the time always changes because of the tides. We had ones at 8pm and some late ones at 2am. It is amazing to get to see the turtles lay their eggs. I am sad to say I did not get to experiences this, so I would say if you volunteer with sea turtles stay for a longer period. I did get to release baby turtles back into the sea. Over all the program was a great experience.