Refugio Nacional Vida Silvestre Romelia

I whole experience full of nature, wildlife and plants. I spent three months in the refuge and I learnt a lot. We had some tasks during the day as clean trails, collect wood. And on the other side, the surveys of the proyects: turtles, bats, birds and mammals. Besides, the most beautiful sunrise :)

This experience was excellent, since the road to follow and transport across bus and a ferry, and later arrive at little town with friendly people. The place is beautiful in middle of the jungle and the beach, the staff is excellent, they are like a family for the volunteers and care them a lot. The sea turtle program was good and the volunteers can learned about this animals and others like the monkeys, coatis, insects, birds, iguanas, horses, plants, many things. My internship was a excellent adventure travel there, in Costa Rica here is my house. All the people of visit there will love this site!!

I was in Romelia from June to September, seeing the whole process of turtle season from building the hatchery, sifting sand for it, getting our first sea turtle nests, guarding the hatchery through the incubation period, and finally setting free the little baby tortuguitas! It was an amazing learning experience for conservation and for Spanish! I spent the whole three months speaking Spanish almost exclusively, which just made my heart soar. Romelia itself is a remote location, and getting used to living without immediate access to wifi or electricity or hot water is a challenge in the first couple of days, not know what to do with your time! But it's so easy to get accustomed to the slow and simple life, connecting with nature, having time to breathe and think -- you'll definitely miss it when you get back to life in the city! I was at Romelia for my own research project in addition to supporting sea turtle conservation. I worked on my Masters research on coastal pollution, collecting, organizing, and logging in a database some of the trash that washed up on the beach. Using that information, I made some posters and created a video to advocate through a public campaign. The staff and volunteers were wonderfully supportive and were more than willing to connect me to people in the region. We ended up participating in the International Coastal Cleanup, too! If you want to come as an intern, know that you can take control of your own project, whatever it may be, and you'll have people who will support you along the way.

Have you ever wanted to use some of your time on this planet in support of a good cause? Here's your chance... Eating home-made food for breakfast, watching a beautiful sunrise in peace and quiet at the beach, checking on potentially new hatchlings while enjoying a good read or relaxing in a hammock, having a swim in the sea before strolling back to your lodgings out in the woods, where you get ready for exciting night patrols looking for big sea turtles and their eggs - all of this can be part of your unforgettable stay at Romelia. What your experience in Romelia will look like may vary depending on the season and number of people involved in the project. Don't hesitate - contact the people in charge today to find out more about the current situation at this beautiful secluded beach of Costa Rica. Be open for whatever comes your way and you will have an unforgettable experience!

I spent the last 15 weeks at Romelia as a biology intern. I absolutely loved the program. I was there from the end of June until the beginning of October. At the beginning of the season, we helped build the hatchery and a jungle hut for us to stay in while watching the nests. It was very physically demanding, but very rewarding. Other jobs included gardening, clearing the jungle paths, trimming the vineyard, and picking up plastic on the beach. The high season for turtles is September through November, and the baby turtles start hatching mid-late September. As an intern, I led nights patrols on the beach, took several different bio-measurements, tagged the turtles, and collected the eggs to be moved to the hatchery. This was all done with the help of a volunteer. One of the best aspects of this program was all the wonderful volunteers I met from all over the world. We had a lot of fun. Something for future interns to remember is, this is largely a conservation effort, not a research project. The data and statistics are available to you if you're interested and the amount of practical field experience and leadership experience is invaluable. I'd recommend this internship to anyone. It was life-changing.

I spent four amazing weeks as a volunteer in Romelia in November 2014. And it was such an unforgettable and special experience!! Living a simple life in a rustic wooden house in the middle of a great nature and wildlife, being surrounded by the sounds of the jungle and the sea all day long – just marvellous! I enjoyed a lot the work we did: observing turtle nests in the hatchery, releasing babies to the sea, patrolling at night as well as helping out in the garden, cleaning up the beach or making funny tortillas:) There have been so many great moments while watching hatchlings crawling to the ocean or a mother turtle leying eggs in front of you. Also the stuff and team were awesome! We were like a family and had incredible fun in our freetime and also while working. This place was really inspiring! Saying good-bye was an emotional act then ... I didn't want to leave anymore :) I’ll go back soon for a longer stay. Romelia has its place in my heart forever! Pura Vida!!