Volunteer in Costa Rica with Maximo Nivel - Best Rated Projects

From the moment I came out of the airport, till it was time to go home I felt very welcomed and secure! Maximo does a great job with the orientation and making sure you are comfortable and know that help is always available. Special mention to Ashleigh and Ashanti for being very welcoming and informative staff, as well as friendly! My host house felt like it was my own home, everyone was very welcoming, and the food was delicious! The accommodation overall was very clean and nice! Overall i had a great time here in costa rica and enjoyed my program at the school. The children were very fun and entertaining to work with!

great experience for learning different cultures and being able to meet a diverse set of people. There is a very good staff when it comes to questions. In the healthcare project, I was able to involved and take vitals of patients. It was nice to be a part of a project where I was able to see the same people everyday. It was difficult to find my way around the city at first but Uber is easy to use here. I recommend having a basic understanding of spanish before coming because you will need to find your way to your project from your homestay.

I had an amazing time doing the Spanish Immersion at Maximo Nivel. My teachers were amazing and the staff were very welcoming and helpful. There were lots of fun activities to do after class and it was very easy to meet and get to know other students.
I've been very impressed with how organized Maximo Nivel is, from airport pickups, to picking amazing host families, to organizing classes. My host family was incredible, I would love to stay with them again. I felt very safe at the San Jose campus even travelling alone as a young female.
Thanks for everything Maximo Nivel!

My experience abroad was an unforgettable one. I was able to stay with a local that took care of me and showed me their culture. It was amazing and interesting at the same time. I high recommend anyone planning to travel abroad to go without hesitation. It will be humbling but also an eye opening experience. You will meet many people while you are here and make life long friendships. You will also have an opportunity to help out the community and make an impact. No matter how big or small you are changing someones day for the better.

I did two weeks of turtle conservation in Ostional and it was great! You start off in San Jose, where they provide a host family for you. Here you get all the necessary information (including where you are going) and you get to meet the other volunteers. How to get to that location is well explained and they give you the exact cash so you don't have to worry. I lived in the dorms in the ranger station and it was so nice! Jairo, the rangers and Yami (the cook) are incredible friendly and helpful. The food was great and there are some places to get snacks/smoothies nearbye. It was very hot when I was there but the coordinators try to create the planning in a way that you can work before or after the peak hours, which was great. The fun part about this is that all the research that you do, goes to a national database so everything you do is valuable which I loved.

The overall experience was great and I really recommend it to others!

I am a single female that enjoys travel, and was very interested in getting back by doing some volunteering. Maximo Nivel made this all possible with their warm and caring team. They helped me understand the cultural nuances to navigate my way. I felt safe and in a community of people that cared about the same things. I would highly recommend this for anyone interested in giving back while traveling the world. I really enjoyed being immersed in a Spanish-speaking culture. Maximo offers many Spanish classes. Did you were able to take while you’re here. They help you with making donations to the group that I was working with. OK I was just only chI really enjoyed being immersed in a Spanish-speaking culture. Maximo offers many Spanish classes. You were able to take while you’re here. They helped with coordinating donations to the group that I was working with.

I did the healthcare program in San Jose Costa Rica and absolutely loved it. It was the perfect combination of work and play as the placements were about 4 hours per day. The Maximo Nivel staff was so supportive once I was in the country. I was a little nervous in the beginning because I only had a week to make an impact and experienced a degree of culture shock on my first day here. However, after the orientations, meeting my host family, and the arrival of another volunteer, I felt right at home. I did not feel unsafe at any point of my program and was well prepared. It may seem as though you are heading into your program slightly blind, but you get all of the information you need as soon as you are picked up from the airport and taken to your host family. All the other volunteers are wonderful and you are all in different points of your journey so you can learn from each other. Even though I only volunteered for one week, I got to know the employees of the volunteer well and am so grateful to have met them.

In my opinion, you should have a basic level of Spanish speaking ability if you are coming for a short time. It makes the world of a difference in connecting with patients and your placement staff.

I highly recommend this experience to anybody looking to volunteer abroad in a meaningful and fun way!

I'm so grateful to have participated in Maximo Nivel's Medical Volunteer program in Costa Rica. All aspects of the program were terrific- the staff at Maximo were pleasant and professional. The program was well organized and well run. My host family was warm and inviting. The accommodations were spotless and very comfortable and the food was great. I'm a nurse in my home country and found the work at my project very rewarding and with just the right amount of patient interaction. The staff at my project were warm and very appreciative.