Costa Rica Sports and Teaching

Project Location
Matapalo, Pacific Coast, Costa Rica

Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a beautiful, biologically diverse country. Located in Central America, it has everything to offer the intrepid traveller; with rainforests, white sandy coastlines, volcanoes and more, over 25% of the country is protected through their National preserve system. In addition to this, Costa Rica forms less than 0.1% of the world’s landmass, but it has 5% of the overall biodiversity.

Matapalo
Playa Matapalo is a tranquil stretch of white sandy beach, found on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Located in between major tourist destinations of Dominical and Quepos/Manuel Antonio, Matapalo has managed to be overlooked by the general backpacking community, causing the village to retain its authentic Costa Rican charm and laid-back atmosphere. This makes Matapalo the ideal place to volunteer, if you want to experience a genuine Costa Rican village and be able to explore the numerous tourist destinations nearby.

Free Time
As well as joining the turtle project, there are a lot of other activities that you can do during your free time. Matapalo beach is a long stretch of white sand, that remains fairly deserted and an ideal spot for swimming. In the village, there are a couple of bars and restaurants too.

Matapalo is located about an hour from each of Dominical and Quepos, two of Costa Rica’s most popular tourist areas. Dominical has a reputation for having a great surf beach, where there is a couple of surf schools offering lessons and board/equipment hire. It is also possible to go horse riding, nature walking and rafting in the area too. Manuel Antonio National Park in Quepos and Marino Ballena National Park, half way to Dominical, are within short distance from Matapalo, making them ideal weekend destinations.

Getting There
You need to arrange your international flights into San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital. From San Jose, you will be collected by one of our coordinators and taken to your accommodation, before starting your Spanish course on the following Monday. If you opt to volunteer only, our coordinator will meet you at the airport and instruct you how to get to Matapalo by public bus.