Community Service & Eco Adventure in Costa Rica

Arco's pre-program communication was impeccable. There were regular updates at just the right time with plenty of information. I was always informed. Arcos should be a model for every study abroad program. My high schooler's Spanish increased. We appreciated the eye-opening excursions and cultural activities that exposed Aden to Coast Rican life and its people. Definitely a life changing program. Come ready to try delicious food and make new friends.

The greatest benefits of the program were the cultural exchange with Costa Rican people (especially the homestay family, kids at the school and residents of Atenas), sense of independence and confidence, resilience from navigating challenging situations, improved Spanish, exploration of a new place, food, and lots of fun activities.

Arcos provides extensive communication and support with the service details. It was a great experience! My son loved the journey! The program was very accommodating. He enjoyed joining the gym in Atenas and especially loved painting the school and interacting with the students for his community service project.

The communication with Arcos Journeys Abroad was fantastic. My son appreciated the Costa Rican culture and autonomy he was afforded in the small town of Atenas. I encourage you to give your child the experience living with a host family - it’s such an amazing experience.

This Arcos trip was a wonderful experience! Highlights included the intentional free downtime, allowing my daughter to explore a safe, relaxed town and immerse herself in the local culture where English was not prevalent. She loved surfing and her host family was amazing. We would absolutely consider another Arcos journey!

My 16 year old had the best time! He not only improved his Spanish but got lots of community service hours completed doing a variety of things in the local community. There was also lots of fun activities… highly recommend!

The homestay experience was good overall, though I am a picky eater. Challenges included adjusting to local food and cold showers. However, the program provided new experiences, great friends, and opportunities to see nature. I highly recommend this program to future students.

The program activities were fun and I enjoyed the childcare aspect of the community service. The homestay part of the program was excellent. I benefited a lot from practicing Spanish, seeing beautiful places, and meeting new people. A tip is to always be nice to people. I would absolutely recommend this program!

I genuinely suggest doing the Community Service & EcoAdventure program in Costa Rica. I particularly enjoyed the classes and working with the kids at the school, in addition to the cultural activities, tours, beach, homestay with my Costa Rican family and great directors.

The classes focus effectively on conversation, which significantly boosted my Spanish skills in a real-world setting like Costa Rica. My homestay was enjoyable. This is a worthwhile program that offers incredible learning and strong connections. Be open to the environment and activities, and speak Spanish with your host family as much as possible!

The program directors were understanding, welcoming, and shared great cultural insights. My homestay experience was fantastic; the host mom was kind and the food was incredible. The community service was impactful and I enjoyed the cultural activities. I learned so much about Costa Rican culture and practiced my Spanish!

I loved getting to experience the Tico (Costa Rican) culture firsthand and getting to eat all sorts of local foods. It was a wonderful experience to go around the town of Atenas and do community service, as well as benefiting the community. The directors were great;

I practiced Spanish a lot and I made so many friends. My homestay was awesome. I rose to the challenge of getting accustomed to being in a new place. My program director was great and she even threw a surprise birthday party for my roommate which was really sweet!

I liked that there was a good variety of different community service activities throughout the week. I had a very good director! Be prepared for no air conditioning. This program was a great way to try new things, experience new cultures, explore Costa Rica and meet new friends!

My biggest challenges were trying new things such as surfing and zip lining. The greatest benefit was overcoming fears of trying new activities, getting to know a new culture, and living with a local Costa Rican family. I'm really glad I decided to stretch outside of my comfort zone!

My two Arcos directors were both super sweet and helped us with any concerns or issues we had! Everything was super organized. The food and the amount of fruit was so good. I loved getting to openly explore everything with my new friends. Definitely recommend this for a summer abroad!

I LOVED OUR HOMESTAY MOM. HER FOOD WAS AMAZING! My Arcos director was very sweet and knew what she was talking about. She was helpful and fun during the whole trip. Planting trees was a lot of fun! I enjoyed the experience! The hardest part was saying goodbye to the wonderful people I met.

My homestay was so amazing, the family was so sweet. Apart from my worries that I didn't speak enough Spanish (which wasn’t really much of a problem) everything went smoothly while I was there. This trip is something I will never forget. I had so much fun completing all of the community service and I felt good doing all of it!

I LOVE MY HOST MOM! SHE'S AMAZING! I highly recommend the homestay because you get to live with a family, absorb the culture, and learn Spanish in a natural setting. The trip overall was really good and I feel like it was a good restart that I needed in my life.

My daughter gained more independence and confidence. She regained some of her fluency in Spanish and earned community service hours through valuable experiences helping others. Teens enjoy the combination of service and fun and it’s a win-win to do both on a trip to another country. She had a great experience in Costa Rica with Arcos!