I was super set on doing a volunteer trip abroad, and after much research, I am so glad I ended up at Vivemar in Puerto Escondido! I went for 9 days in May of 2023 to help with sea turtle conservation. I was quite literally saving the turtles! My volunteer activities included cleaning the turtle's nests, doing night patrol to protect the turtles laying eggs, and educating kids at local schools. I honestly had no idea what to expect, but I had the best trip and would do it again!
Going to volunteer in a semi-remote town in a foreign country was a bit out of my normal comfort zone, so naturally I had tons of questions before I arrived. The volunteer organizer will communicate all the necessary info, but she is super busy, so getting all the deets can be a little difficult. I had to go in a little blindly, trusting it would all work out. If you are interested in volunteering with ViveMar, this blog is for you! I will answer everything you need to know including how to get there, the cost, the volunteer activities, the town and more.
This is definitely a volunteer trip, and not a vacation, although you will have ample free time to have some fun and explore the town. This trip is not for the faint of heart, given the heat, late night hour shifts and getting your hands dirty. You have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone and roll with the punches! If you are willing to put yourself out there, the volunteers are very kind and you can experience tons of adorable baby turtles up close.
What is ViveMar?
Vivemar works for the conservation of natural resources and culture on the coasts in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico with specialization in sea turtle conservation. Vivemar protects more than 16 miles of coastline that goes from Manzanillo beach to Vigía beach. They are a non-governmental organization founded in 2011 by people from the community of Baja de Chila, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Vivemar volunteers are able to acquire knowledge of sea turtles, mangroves, birds and environmental education. In volunteering, you can get closer to nature, visit local schools and be a part of the tight knit volunteer community. People from +18 countries have visited Vivemar to volunteer.
Volunteer Requirements:
You have to volunteer for a minimum of one week, but you can stay for many weeks if you please. You do not need a visa or have to have any past experience in order to volunteer. You just have to be passionate about the turtles, the environment, and be willing to get your hands dirty!
Steps in order to secure your volunteering spot:
Get in touch via WhatsApp to check availability with Cinthia Venzor. Once she communicates your preferred date has availability, confirm your spot.
Send Cinthia a letter of reasons of why you want to volunteer which includes name, age, email, telephone, studies, time and date to volunteer.
Make payment via Paypal. Send a photo of the proof of payment and photo passport.
For more information, check out Vivemar's volunteer page here.
Volunteer Activities & Schedule
Volunteering activities include cleaning the turtle nests on the beach, assisting with tourist turtle releases, painting signs for the hatchery, educating children in local schools, and patrolling the beach at night.
At the beginning of your volunteer stay you will get a schedule for the week with all your shifts. This is helpful to plan your days out if you want to go into town. It is subject to change, but for the most part it stayed consistent throughout the week.
Everyday you will have 3 shifts: one morning, afternoon and evening shift. All of your shifts equate to about 8 hours per day.
Morning Shift: Nest Cleaning or Turtle Education at Local Schools
Visiting the schools lasts from 8-9am. Going to the local schools to do turtle education with the kids was probably my favorite activity. You teach them about the importance of protecting the turtles for the environment and why to not eat the turtle eggs. The kids are so cute and energetic. It was also a special experience to get to know some of them and see the schools they attend.
Nest cleaning happens from 10am-12pm. You will go with the bioscientist to the hatchery to learn about egg hatching and nest cleaning. If you find turtles that have hatched, you will release into the ocean. This is a peaceful activity, with just a few of the volunteers with you on the beach. Get ready to dig in the sand and hopefully find some baby turtles!
Afternoon Shift:
Everyday you will have a shift from 4-7pm to help with the turtle release for tourists. They teach the tourists about the project and then they can pay to release a turtle. These donations help fund Vivemar while spreading knowledge of how to contribute to the conservation efforts. During this time, I would answer any questions, help clean up and make sure the tourists are releasing the turtles safely.
Evening shift: Night Patrol
Everyday you will have one night shift either 9pm-12am, 10pm-1am, or 3-6am. During the nightshift you will patrol 13 miles of coastline looking for turtles who are laying eggs. If you find a nest, you will collect the eggs and bring them back to the hatchery so they can safely develop there. If we don’t collect the eggs, poachers or predators will get them which contributes to the decreasing population putting the sea turtles in danger.
Link to Vivemar's volunteering page: https://vivemar.com.mx/en/tour/volunteering/
Do I need to speak Spanish?
As the Vivemar website states, you do not need to speak Spanish in order to volunteer! Although it is not required, I recommend intermediate level Spanish if possible. I did my Spanish minor in college and have been recently retaking classes. I am not fluent, but many of the locals and volunteers do not speak any English. As far as getting around and communicating with the volunteers, it is good to have some vocabulary or conversational level for your own comfortability, but it is not at all required. Sometimes I would be on shifts for 3 hours with people who speak zero English, so intermediate Spanish fluency helped a ton. I learned so much about the town and the turtles by talking to them, so I was very grateful to be able to communicate. They were very kind in teaching me words I didn’t know and slowing down their Spanish so I could comprehend easier. They appreciated my efforts in speaking Spanish with them as well.
How to get to Puerto Escondido:
If you are flying from the US, you will fly from your local airport to Mexico City then to the Puerto Escondido Airport. It is a very small airport, so most flights coming from the US will go through MEX. MEX is not the most comfortable airport to hangout in, so I would try to minimize your layover time if possible. I flew from San Francisco to Salt Lake to Mexico City to Puerto Escondido. My flight was $180 and took about 8 hours.
If you live in Southern California, you can fly directly from the Tijuana Airport to Puerto Escondido on Volaris airline. I did this on the way home and I would highly recommend it. This option was super fast and cheap. My flight was a little under 4 hours and only $90. In the terminal you will be in Tijuana but you can use the Border Express to walk onto the US side. This is super convenient, safe and the airport is super nice! The TIJ airport is only 40 mins from San Diego. This was my first time doing it, but definitely not my last.
Getting to the ViveMar Volunteer House:
The volunteer house is only 10 mins from the airport. The organization will help you get a taxi driver set up before you arrive or you can take a taxi once you walk out of the airport. The taxis waiting at the airport are still inexpensive relative to U.S. standards (~$16), but are much pricier than the normal cost of a taxi in town. I would recommend using the driver the volunteer house recommends.
Staying at the volunteer house:
The volunteer host will be waiting for you upon arrival to give instructions. At capacity, the house can fit about 14 people in total. Luckily for me, there were only 5 volunteers during my stay (myself and my friend included) so it was pretty spacious and quiet. There are three “bedrooms”: two are smaller rooms with only 2-3 beds you can pay more to have as a private room and the third is a hostel style room with 4 bunk beds as a shared space. We spent the extra $50 (easily worth it in my opinion) to have our own room. Our room had plenty of space, an overhead fan and the beds were quite comfy with blankets and pillows provided. The house has one AC, which is a life saver in the heat, and it keeps the living/sleeping areas cool. The house has one toilet indoors, two toilets outdoors and three showers in total. They were renovating the kitchen while I was there, which will provide a large communal cooking space. There is a nice outdoor patio for hanging out, eating and hammocking. The side yard has a laundry line and an herb garden for use.
Baja De Chila is the neighborhood where the house is located. It is a small quaint area, with very few stores and is mostly residential. We found one local taco place we loved and one coffee shop for the mornings - both the owners were so kind. The neighborhood is fairly quiet and I felt very safe there. It is only 10 mins by taxi or collectivo (shared Taxi which was 15 pesos) into the main part of town.
All in all, the house and neighborhood exceeded my expectations. It is by no means luxury, but it had everything I needed and I felt comfortable there the whole time.
When to Visit:
I went in the beginning of May. I really enjoyed the level of the crowds and the temperature. The volunteers warned us that June through August is the rainy season, so I would avoid those months. The most popular months are November to January for the leatherback turtle hatching season as well as stellar weather. Safe to say, any time September-April would be a good time to visit.
You have to check in with the volunteer coordinator to make sure they have availability before booking your flights. During the high season, the house can be full with volunteers. Make sure to coordinate your trip around a time when they have availability
Cost:
We paid the volunteer organization $450 to stay for 7 days. Since it is a nonprofit, it helps cover the costs of house upkeep, ATV gas money, utilities, etc. My roundtrip flight was around ~$300, bringing my trip expenses to ~$750. For eating, drinking, and activities outside of volunteering, Puerto Escondido is super affordable. I was there for 9 days in total and spent $300 including shopping, eating, and drinking. If you are on a budget, you can definitely spend less than this, but I wanted to dabble with some of the more touristy places and try some of the nicer restaurants. My dinners ranged from 50 to 400 pesos depending on how nice the restaurant was.
Things to Bring:
Pesos: Many of the stores and services in Puerto were cash only (taxis, vendors, low cost transactions) so I would recommend ordering pesos from your bank beforehand.
Bug Spray: There are not very many bugs, but at night it is a good idea to wear bug spray to prevent mosquito bites. Some of the mosquitos carry illnesses so it is good to avoid bites as much as possible. I didn't run into any issues.
Towel: The volunteer house will provide a bed, pillow and blanket, but not bath towels. I would bring one with you or buy one for cheap in town.
Athletic Clothes: Volunteering activities will often be dirty and sweaty, so leave your luxury clothes behind and opt for some comfortable gear you won't be afraid to get dirty.
Sunscreen: You will have lots of time in the sun between all the activities and the UV is very high. Bring and wear lots of sunscreen!
Reusable water bottle: The volunteer house and many places throughout town will have places for you to refill your water that is safe to drink. You will need to drink tons of water in the heat. I would recommend a water bottle that will keep your water cool! This is my fav bottle.
Books: There is access to wifi but it is limited bandwidth for anything more than texting. I would recommend a book or two for hanging at the volunteer house for entertainment.
Overall, I had an amazing trip and it was truly life changing. I learned so much about the turtles and the community in Puerto. It was tiring at times, but it was completely worth it and I returned with so many amazing memories (& new friends!). In my free time, I fell in love with Puerto and would be willing to live there for a short term at some point. I felt so safe and welcomed the entire time. Not to mention, the beach, the food and the mezcal was unbeatable. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me!
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