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Nicaragua Volunteer Vacation

Monty's Beach Lodge

Enjoy a week or two in a remote fishing village of Nicaragua on this exciting Nicaragua volunteer vacation. Stay at a Surf Lodge where all meals, surfing, paddleboarding, boogie-boarding lessons and rentals are included. Then spend some time releasing turtles, feeding families, setting up a water filtration system for a family, helping in the nearby community centre, orphanage, elementary school, etc. Stay, play and change the world!

Here are just some of the activities you can be involved in:

  • Surfing
  • Volcano Hiking
  • Paddle Boarding
  • Build a home for a family in need
  • Learn about turtles – turtle release
  • Learn about the environment
  • Teach English in a local school built by Monty’s
  • Learn to dance salsa
  • Practice and learn Spanish
  • Sponsor a meal at a garbage dump community
  • Learn or practice Yoga

Nicaragua Volunteer Vacation Sample Itinerary

Day 1

  • Fly to Managua.
  • 12 Noon Arrive at the airport
  • 1 pm Monty’s transportation to Jiquilillo (3.5 hour drive).
  • 5 pm Snacks, Orientation, Check-in, Safety, Surf lessons, Sunset
  • 7:30 pm Welcome Dinner

    • Day 2

  • 7:30 am Breakfast, Project tour of local projects (Health Clinic, Pop Bottle School/Baseball Field, Villa Nueva Esperanza). Beach clean-up at Padre Ramos Estuary followed by a swim in the bay (4 hours).
  • 12:30 pm Lunch followed by reflective time/journal writing/hammock time. Afternoon split group. Half to visit Women’s Cooperative Housing projects (home-building and gardening, chicken farm etc) and begin working home-building and the other half will be teaching English to local students (2-3 hours).
  • 5 – 6:30pm Sunset/surf/swim/sunset time. Visit Sea Shepherd Turtle Project at Sunset.
  • 7 pm Dinner
  • 8:30 pm Yoga after dinner for reflection time (highs and lows, etc).

    • Day 3

  • 5 am Sunrise paddle-board/kayak in estuary/mangrove (8 people max).
  • 7:30 am Breakfast
  • 11:30 am Home-building/gardening with women’s cooperative, gardening, landscaping, painting school etc.
  • 12:30 pm Lunch
  • 1 pm Reflective/hammock time
  • 2 pm Education classes (helping teach English) at Pop Bottle School and Villa Nueva Esperanza as well as continued work with Home-building and gardening.
  • 4 pm Sunset Estuary/Mangrove Boat Tour learning about the mangrove and environment and turtles.
  • 7 pm Dinner
  • 8:30 pm Yoga Deck after dinner for reflection, games etc.

    • Day 4

  • 5:00am Sunrise paddle-board/kayak in mangrove (8 people max) for those interested.
  • 7:30 am Breakfast
  • 8:30am Depart for El Limonal (Garbage Dump Community near Chinandega) where we will sponsor a meal for 300-400 people at our Soup kitchen. Purchase food, prepare, tour of community and also play sports and games with the kids as well as observe our health clinic we built and run there.
  • 12:30 pm Serve food then go for lunch in Chinandega. Market tour time in Chinandega.
  • 5 pm Return to Jiquilillo. Sunset/surf/swim/reflection time.
  • 7 pm Dinner
  • 8:30 pm Yoga deck for circle time (highs and lows, reflection, games, journal writing).

    • Day 5

  • Dawn-patrol surfing!
  • 7:30 am Breakfast
  • 9:30-11:30 am Baseball Game with the local kids at our “Field of Hope” baseball field we built followed by hotdogs and pop for local kids and families.
  • 12:30 pm Lunch
  • 1:30 pm Afternoon reflective/hammock time.
  • 3:30 pm Afternoon beach walk/surf lessons/visit Sea Shepherd Turtle hatchery/beach soccer game
  • 7 pm Dinner
  • 8:30 pm KARAOKE night for those courageous enough to sing!

    • Day 6

  • 7:30 am Breakfast 7:30am.
  • 8:30 am Home-building/gardening with women’s cooperative.
  • 12:30 pm Lunch
  • 1 pm Reflective/hammock time
  • 2 pm Education classes (helping teach English) at Pop Bottle School and Villa Nueva Esperanza as well as continued work with Home-building and gardening
  • 5 pm Sunset/Swim/Volleyball games/soccer games on beach.
  • 7 pm Dinner
  • 8 pm Bonfire night, games on deck, dance lessons on yoga deck

    • Day 7

  • 6 am Beach walk before Breakfast to observe the morning fishing industry (boats coming in and transactions in the heart of Jiquilillo with fish and all families helping out in different ways. Locals fish all night long and come back with catch around 6 to 7 am.
  • 7:30 am Breakfast
  • 8:30 am Classes for tortilla making and cheese making with a local woman in her home groups of 8 max.
  • 11:30 am Home-building/gardening with women’s cooperative.
  • 1 pm Reflective/hammock time
  • 2 pm Education classes (helping teach English) at Pop Bottle School and Villa Nueva Esperanza as well as continued work with Home-building and gardening
  • 5 pm Sunset Surfing/Swim/Volleyball/games/soccer games on beach with locals.
  • 7 pm Dinner
  • 8:30 pm Yoga Deck after dinner for Circle time, games, reflection. Beach Bonfire and music afterwards!

    • Day 8

  • 6 am Breakfast
  • 7 am departure for Cerro Negro Volcano to do hike/sandboarding experience.
  • 12:30 pm Lunch in the city of Leon.
  • 1:30 pm Shopping/Market time.
  • 4 pm Transport back to Montys
  • 7 pm Dinner
  • 8 pm Yoga deck for reflection time. 

    • Day 9

  • 6 am surf session, beach walk.
  • 7:30 am Breakfast
  • 8:30 am Home building/gardening, painting and optional visit to Health Clinic to observe tropical medical work in developing countries.
  • 12:30 pm Lunch
  • 1 pm Reflective/hammock time
  • 2 pm Education classes (helping teach English) at Pop Bottle School and Villa Nueva Esperanza as well as continued work with Home-building and gardening.
  • 4 pm Afternoon surf, swim, hammock time, sunset.. Possible baby turtle release at Sea Shepherd hatchery.
  • 7 pm Dinner
  • 8 pm Yoga Deck after dinner for reflection, games etc. Final bonfire night and celebration!

    • Day 10

  • Final Full Day! We will be connecting with the various groups.. Home building, gardening, teaching English classes, Women’s cooperative etc and saying goodbye to the various friends we have met and worked with/learned from. We will take sunset pictures and do packing in the afternoon/evening preparing for the departure on Tuesday. There will be a “talent show” at night and special goodbye dinner prepared by the staff.

    • Day 11

  • Departure day. We can discuss how we want this day to look depending on flights.

    • Activities included in the Schedule.

  • Surfing (tide dependent) can be done any day. Lessons are taught by Monty and local surfers he has trained. Donations for the classes go directly to the local surf kids.
  • Morning Paddle-boarding/kayaking in the estuary/mangrove.. best at sunrise (5:00am-7:30am).
  • Estuary/Mangrove Boat Tour.
  • Cheese/Tortilla making classes by “Sarah” a local mom. This is optional and is $10/person Max 8 ppl per class, can be arranged any day.
  • Afternoon beach time.. Soccer, volleyball, surfing, swimming with locals.
  • Cerro Negro Volcano Hike and Leon City tour (Full day volcano hike, sandboarding down volcano followed by lunch in Leon and market tour, cathedral, etc.
  • Visit Sea Shepherd Turtle Hatchery and support the program (donations for nests?)

    • Activities not mentioned but can be included.

  • Deep Sea fishing (morning activity, any day)
  • Horseback Riding (lower tide activity, any day)
  • Visit our own local health clinic (Monday-Friday) for observing and learning about tropical medicine/health care.

    • Project Costs

  • Sponsor a Home for a family.. Some groups are able to fundraise for an entire home and some come up with part of the money. We are very appreciative and understand that everyone does their best. The cost of a home is $12,500 USD and the latrine is $2,500 USD. We also like to help families with landscaping needs, gardening and/or helping with a chicken farm.
  • Sponsor a Meal for El Limonal Community. $250 USD when less than 6 people are sponsoring. Add $100 for more than 7 people to cover school bus transportation to get there.
  • Sea Shepherd Turtle Hatchery donations (approximately $50 per nest). *Our turtle hatchery at Monty’s Beach Lodge is now up and running!

    • Donations can be brought in your suitcase.

    • Cloth/Washable/Reusable Diapers!
    • Basic first aid kits families can keep in their homes
    • Sports equipment.. Especially baseball gloves and baseballs!
    • Fabric and sewing materials
    • Gently Used Clothing, Hats, Shoes
    • Shoes/Sandals
    • Reusable Grocery Bags/ Tote Bags
    • Reusable Water Bottles
    • Gently Used Kids’ toys 
    • Kids & Adult Daily Vitamins
    • Sunscreen
    • Sunglasses
    • Chapstic

     

     

    • Toiletry packs
    • Vegetable Seeds for gardens
    • Notebooks/ Paper in Binders/ Paper in Duotangs
    • Colored Pencils or Crayons (markers dry-up too quickly in this heat!)
    • Wood Pencils with Eraser & Sharpener (*mechanical pencils often end up as garbage)
    • Backpacks
    • Spanish books
    • Mini White Boards & Dry-Erase markers or Mini Chalk-Boards & Chalk
    • Puzzles
    • Magnetic English/Spanish letters for sentence building

    **Please make note to remove all packaging. We do our best to not bring in extra garbage and unnecessary packaging from other countries which compound waste problems.

    Cost of Trip per person: $1100 USD

     

    Trip includes food, accommodation, surfing, paddle-boarding/kayaking, soccer/baseball/volleyball, local transportation, estuary/mangrove boat tour, Cerro Negro Volcano hike and Sandboarding, Sea Shepherd turtle hatchery visit, organization of volunteer activities.

     

    Optional cheese/tortilla making classes ($10 per person), horseback riding $25 per person, deep sea fishing $350 per boat trip (max 6 people)

     

    * ITINERARIES ARE VERY FLEXIBLE AND WE CAN CUSTOMIZE IT TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS *

    Nicaragua Volunteer Vacation Opportunities