Students at Spanish by the Sea School

Whether you are retired and seeking a Caribbean adventure with purpose or family-bound and need a change from the pool and party atmosphere of all-inclusive resorts, Bocas del Toro, Panama has something to offer.

Scuba dive in Bastimentos National Marine Park, learn about fossils by participating in an archaeological dig or help save endangered sea turtles.

If your Spanish doesn't improve as quickly as you like, there are two private Spanish schools ready to help you move past 'una cerveza mas por favor'.

Volunteer to help Protect the Environment

The variety of fauna and flora contained in this region’s islands, rivers and bays with white or black-sand beaches, and the variety of eco-environments to see and experience is impressive.

Many travel to Bocas del Toro to participate in “voluntourism”, or helping to protect this lush tropical wilderness while being a tourist.

Natalia Decastro Gonzalez is a biologist and research coordinator with sea turtle projects at the Bocas del Toro Province. She states, “Bocas is a very important area for various species of sea turtles in different stages of their life cycle. Some of the places where the turtles come to nest are Zapatillas Cays, Chiriqui and Bluff Beach”.

It is primarily hawks-bill turtles who nest at Zapatillas and both leather-back and hawks-bill turtles on Chiriqui and Bluff Beach.

Hawks-bills are the most endangered species in the world. Green and loggerhead turtles are also native to the area and the focus of preservation efforts.

Two beach areas with volunteer programs are Playa Larga on Bastimentos Island and Soropta Beach near the mouth of the Changuinola river.

Volunteers spend three days or more living at the site and take shifts monitoring areas of the beach to protect vulnerable new hatchlings and to keep the eggs from being harvested, as well as adults (for the meat and shell) by locals which is illegal but still occurs.

Bastimentos Island is home to Bastimentos National Marine Park - established to protect the sea turtles and the abundant coral reefs found in the region.

The Institute for Tropical Ecology and Conservation (ITEC) has volunteer opportunities also, but is a non-profit professional organization primarily focused on offering field ecology courses for undergraduates and graduate students and supporting research in the academic area of tropical conservation.

They have outreach educational programs in the local community that a volunteer may be able to participate in as well as other activities.

Contact ITEC for more information on what is available during the time you want to visit.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution in Panama has a Bocas del Toro Research Station located on Colon Island.

Visiting scientists offer lectures on various topics that are open to the public.

Soposo Rainforest Adventures is not a volunteer organization but offers many activities for tourists such as day trips and overnight excursions with one option an evening of storytelling over a campfire with native Naso Indians.

Spanish Schools

Spanish by the Sea and El Paraiso are two Spanish-learning language schools located on the main island of Colon.

Both schools have hourly and weekly rates with private or group classes available.

They both have options for on-site accommodation and meals or placement in an apartment or family home.

Spanish by the Sea is located two blocks from the town center while El Paraiso is a 10 minute walk outside of town near the local beach.

When you are a student at Spanish by the Sea, you can participate in a volunteer project at no extra cost such as monitoring the sea turtles.

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