Food, Lodging and Travel
Families live in the research centre on a 42-hectare reserve bordering the Pacific Ocean and the Terraba river. Facilities are of high quality, with large, spacious, and clean rooms, fans, new orthopaedic mattresses, free internet usage, one free laundry wash per week, a purified water system, and an education and research library available for volunteers. The building is surrounded by the tropical rainforest full of wildlife and nature trails and there’s a hammock chill out area outside and all of this lies adjacent to the Pacific ocean where the turtles come to nest! Within the nature reserve also lies the river where they carry out caiman and otter research too.
In terms of sleeping arrangements – We have one family room, a double room and lots of single rooms available and one single with bunkbeds. Rooms get booked up quickly, and some families tend to book far ahead of time, so please contact us to check availability if you are interested. If you can’t book a family room, families also book singles and then move mattresses around and use spare rooms for luggage!
In terms of food – from Monday to Friday, lunch is provided and cooked for you, but you will need to prepare breakfasts, dinners, and weekend meals alongside other volunteers and staff members. All food/ingredients will be provided and we can cater for all diets and also fussy eaters!
Free Time
Families get one full free day every week, where you can plan a full day tour or activity. You will also have some mornings/afternoons off depending on the schedule. There are many activities available locally, including taking surf lessons, Spanish lessons, horseback riding, zip lining, whale watching, mangrove tours or the full day Cano Island or Corcovado National Park tour which are highly recommended too!
There is also plenty of downtime and families can opt out of activities if its too much as well. There are also local shops and restaurants within walking distance in the village of Ojochal, and it has been said the Ojochal is the Culinary capital of Costa Rica!
How to get there?
International flights to San José from Europe are usually with American Airlines or United Airlines via the USA, Iberia via Madrid, or KLM via Amsterdam or from November to April, you can fly direct with British Airways from London. Please remember to look for San José International Airport (Juan Santamaria) – code SJO. We can help advise on all travel and accommodations in Costa Rica, such as a lovely guest house surrounded by tropical gardens serving delicious breakfast and a swimming pool for the first and last night in San Jose, airport pick-up and drop-off, and tickets (bus, air, or private shuttle) to and from the reserve. Usually families spend a night in San Jose on arrival to recover from the flight and jet lag and get an 8AM morning shuttle transfer to the Reserve the next day – we ask you arrive between 8AM and 2pm on your start date, but not any later. Any questions, please email: Victoria.McNeil@workingabroad.com