Tortugas de Pacuare
Volunteering Activities
What We Need
Work with turtles involves conducting night patrols, collecting turtle eggs, and relocating the eggs to a turtle hatchery where they will be safe from poachers.
Other work:
- Beach cleaning
- Recycling plastic
- Working in the vegetable garden
- mantainance of the camp, as cleaning the common areas building painting etc
- Animal monitoring
When & Who
What we Provide
We live in a basic place 2 wood cabins with capacity for 16 persons each, 2 rooms each cabin, all wood used in our cabins come from logs found on the beach, we are an eco-friendly camp, we have energía from solar panels so you coud charge phones, computers cameras during the day
3 meals a day - breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
In our camp we eat most of the time vegetarian, rice and bens is our principal Costa Rican diet, of course we Accompany this with vegetable hash, egg, potato omelette or any other accompaniment
Our Fees
Our goal is to save turtles, so the fee asked is very low and that help us to collaborate with the comunal Asotiation for paying locals for patrolling every night
2 Reviews
More Services we Offer
The project has some books and games to entertain oneself and chill out. The volunteers can also take part in some classes. Here are some activities we offer:
- A one-day trip to the mountain
- Game / quiz night
- Classes about Latin music, Spanish, cooking, survival
- Hanging out by Las Machas
- Baking cookies
- Caimans Tour
- Campfire and s'mores
Volunteers can also go to the Tortuguero national park or Puerto Viejo during the weekend. They just need to warn the staff one week before in order to make sure that the project has a sufficient number of volunteers to take care of the breeding pond and the beach.
Contact Person
Other Ways to Help
School materials for the kids in the school Barra de Pacuare, AA and AAA rechargeable batteries, and headlamps with red light
Additional Info about Us
Mita: she is the men in charge to prepare our food.
Anna and tash, the are in charge to the camp
Minor: he transport the volunteers to the camp is our boat driver
Luis: General coordinator of the program
Each year we are supporting thousands of baby turtles in their quest to reach the sea with the help of volunteers from all over the world and YOU can be one of them!
Come, enjoy wildlife, and experience the best adventure ever by saving turtles.
What does a volunteer need to bring to Pacuare?
In the following list, you will find objects that you should take with you in order to make your stay in Pacuare more comfortable. This list is also helpful for traveling around Costa Rica.
- There are no banks on the island, you need to have cash (colones)
- Put your stuff in plastic bags and remove the air with a straw, it is useful to organize them and if it rains, they will not get wet.
- Black Crocs with socks (comfortable and appropriate for night patrols)
- Soap-dish if you use bars of soap (for hygienic reasons)
- Mosquito bed net and mosquito repellent (Off or Relec) in the form of a spray, bracelet, and/or patch
- Underwear
- Coat and pants, especially if you come during the rainy season
- First Aid kit
- Hat
- Padlock
- Make a photocopy of your passport and laminate it. Take it with you instead of your passport when you go for a walk or go shopping.
- You cannot stay more than 90 days in the country without a visa. If you want to stay longer, you will have to leave the country for at least 72 hours.
- For some hours of the day, wifi is available. However, if you want to guarantee that you will have internet access whenever you want, it is best if you by a Costa Rican phone card. Kolbi is the more effective operator on the island. You can recharge it on the island but its efficiency depends on the climatic conditions and the number of devices connected.
Essential:
- Sunblock
- Dark clothes for night patrols
- Headlamp with red light (you can put a translucent red paper on it)
- A watch if you are an assistant
From March to June most of the work consists patrolling looking for turtles, from July most of the work, take care of the eggs in the hatchery and realize babies into the sea, August to October we patrolling in the north beach of Pacuare over the river, there is green turtle season from August to October
Why coming as a volunteer to save sea turtles in Costa Rica?
Costa Rica has many of the most important beaches in the world for turtle nesting. The government protects some areas, especially national parks, but many important beaches for turtles are unprotected. For this reason, we started the project Tortugas de Pacuare. With the help of volunteers around the world, we have been working and saving turtles for more than 12 years now! Without the help of the volunteers, protecting these wonderful animals wouldn't be possible.
What do we do? Patrol the beach at night looking for turtles and collecting data. The nests we save are brought to our hatchery and are protected until the babies hatch.
We volunteer in the community for two hours a day, working in the school, cleaning the area, planting in the kitchen garden, and teaching English to the kids from Barra de Pacuare.
Volunteers will work also in the maintenance of the camp, on the beach (to clean it) and in our recycling program.
Our program is a communal initiative. We work closely with the people from Barra de Pacuare; here you will learn lots about our culture because you will share time and will live in the local community. Some locals also offer the opportunity to do fishing tours, kayak, or tours by boat to Tortuguero National Park.
This project taught us the importance of turtles regarding the oceans and the ecosystem, it allowed us to see how magnificent these creatures are and it also showed us how to take care of them and their home.
The atmosphere in the project is amazing, you'll meet wonderful people, try new things and get to know yourself in the free time!
We'd definitely recommend it, this experience helped us grow as individuals and we are very grateful for it.
Gracias por todo Tortugas de Pacuare :)
¡Pura vida!
-Clara y Lina"