A nonprofit organization in Costa Rica called Turtle Love is recruiting volunteers with no prior experience to help protect sea turtles nesting along the country's Caribbean coast. The program, based at Playa Tres, provides free lodging and three meals a day in exchange for beach patrols and conservation work.
Playa Tres is a five-kilometer stretch of coastline in Barra de Parismina, in the province of Limon, just south of Tortuguero National Park. The site serves as a base for community conservation work and applied research on species including the green turtle, the leatherback, the hawksbill and the loggerhead.
Turtle Love operates in partnership with environmental agencies to safeguard the turtles that come ashore to nest on the Costa Rican Caribbean coast. According to the organization's spokespeople, the project's central purpose is to conserve the sea turtles that nest on that coastline, work in which community involvement is decisive for the reptiles' survival.
Nightly beach patrols
Volunteers are required to carry out night patrols on the beach lasting up to five hours. The monitoring is designed to record turtle nesting activity and to deter the illegal removal of eggs and poaching. Trainees also learn to identify species from their tracks, measure shells, check for existing tags, count eggs and relocate nests that are at risk from rising tides.
Dawn duties and hatching season
Work continues at dawn, with censuses starting at 5 a.m. to check for signs of looting and confirm hatchings, sometimes after walks of up to 10 kilometers. During the hatching season, the group examines nest cavities in the sand to determine how successful the reproduction was and to free any hatchlings that remain trapped.
Volunteers who extend their stay take part in additional projects, including environmental education, community conservation, coastal cleanups and wildlife monitoring using camera traps.
Cost of the program
The initiative does not pay volunteers. Instead, it charges a daily fee to cover costs. The current rates are $90 a night for stays of between three and 14 nights, $84 a night for stays of 15 to 30 nights, and $66 a night for stays longer than 30 days. The fees subsidize food, lodging and scientific equipment, though a limited number of places are reserved for research assistants who receive a free three-month stay.
Who can take part
The general call is open to adults as well as minors accompanied by a legal guardian, with no prior experience required. Participants must be in excellent physical condition to cope with heat, humidity, rain and hikes of up to 16 kilometers carrying luggage over uneven terrain.
The stay takes place in a remote setting with limited connectivity and a multicultural mix of participants. Turtle Love said the patrols are not tourist excursions but part of a scientific study into the reproduction of marine wildlife and the threats facing their nests, which is why handling the turtles requires a week of supervised training beforehand.
Program dates
The program runs from February 1 to November 30, with a minimum stay of three nights at the Lapa Verde Biological Station. The fee covers lodging, three daily meals, ongoing instruction and an international certification. Flights, paperwork, vaccinations and medical evacuation insurance are the responsibility of each participant.
