The project is located a remote Caribbean beach in Costa Rica, 2km north of the Pacuare river mouth. It covers 7.1 km of coastline of a black sand barrier, surrounded by tropical rainforest and several coastal lagoons and palm swamp forests. The beach is part of the 50 km stretch between Tortuguero National Park (famous for its sea turtles) on the north Caribbean coast and the Port of Limón city.
The area is not only unique in every way, but is also a famous nesting site for many Leatherback, Hawksbill and Green sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs. Illegal egg poaching and hunt for sea turtles, pollution and beach erosion are threatening the survival of the already critically endangered Sea Turtles in Pacuare. This has caused an alarming decline in turtles being born on this beach. In particular, the 7.1 km covered by the project, for it has no legal protection whatsoever. Volunteers play a very important role in changing the status of the turtles.
Sustainability
Part of the volunteer fees goes towards providing a salary for local guides, who participáte in the project every year.
What’s Included
Rustic style accommodation on the beach and 3 home cooked meals per day, training, all materials and a once in a lifetime experience!
What’s Not Included
Public transport from San Jose to Pick up point, airport pick up, insurance
Trip Itinerary
Volunteers arrive at the project on Mondays and Thursdays and receive in-depth training from our on-site biologist.There are two main tasks to do at night – the night patrols to look for nesting adult turtles, and the monitoring of the hatchery.
Night patrols take place every night between March and October. They last 4 hours and will go three or four times per night.
The hatchery is guarded 24 hours per day, and shifts can be from 4 – 6 hours
Day work can involve beach cleaning and recycling, hatchery and station maintenance, and other conservation activities
Program And Price
Minimum stay 1 week. Cost $40 per day plus $45 return boat transportation to project site. Start days Mondays and Thursdays only.
Awards/Testimonials
Cora Deschene, Canada – Pacuare Project
I decided to volunteer at Pacuare because I was meeting a friend and travelling in Costa Rica for 2 weeks but wanted to spend more time in the country. It sounded like a great project that works towards helping endangered animals but also improved the local community by giving locals job opportunities. Contributing to wildlife conservation and experiencing Costa Rican outside of the popular tourist towns seemed to be a fun way to extend my stay in the country. After arriving at the project I quickly realized that it was an amazing and made a huge impact. Therefore I decided to return for the remainder of my summer. Deciding to volunteer ended up being the best decision I could have made, I enjoyed my time with the program more then I enjoyed my actual travel vacation that was the original reason for being in Costa Rica.
