CREC
April 10 to 17, 2027
Key Information
This is Costa Rica and our dedicated Team
Spend a week in Costa Rica with our team, living with local families, practicing Spanish in daily life, and giving back through service projects that support both rural and Indigenous communities. Along the way you get Costa Rica’s outdoors too, rafting the Pacuare River and ziplining through the rainforest. The program blends Spanish immersion, cultural exchange, and community service, with some adventure mixed in. For an art group there is a creative thread to pull on as well, from weaving and textiles with the local families to a working cacao farm and a stop at the Basilica of Cartago.
Day 1: Arrival
Welcome to Costa Rica! Your flight lands in the evening at Juan Santamaría International Airport. Our team meets you at arrivals and drives you to your hotel Studio Boutique near the airport. After a long travel day, tonight is about settling in, getting some rest, and gearing up for the adventure ahead. We’ll have a light orientation over dinner so everyone knows what’s coming.
Day 2
We pick you up after breakfast and drive out to Sitio Mata, just outside the town of Turrialba, in the heart of Costa Rica’s rural highlands. The ride itself is already an experience, volcanic landscapes, sugar cane fields, and small towns along the way. Once we arrive, we do our full welcome session: orientation, ground rules, and what to expect for the week ahead. Then the big moment, students meet their homestay families. These are local families who open their homes and their lives to host students for the next three nights. This is where the real immersion begins. Dinner is with your family tonight.
Day 3
Morning starts at a local cacao farm where students learn the full process from pod to chocolate, getting their hands dirty along the way. From there we head to Nórtico, one of the few certified fair trade coffee farms in the region. Students walk the plantation, learn about sustainable farming, and taste the coffee straight from the source. In the afternoon we switch gears with some light canyoning through the river gorges nearby. Nothing too extreme, but enough to get the adrenaline going. Rappelling down waterfalls and jumping into natural pools, a good way to end the day before heading back to your homestay family.
Day 4
Today is all about giving back. Students set up a community flea market where they sell clothes they brought from home in good condition, everything priced at a dollar or fifty cents. All the proceeds go directly to the local Cabécar indigenous community. It is a simple project that gets students interacting with the community in a real way. Then at night we throw the big fiesta, music, dancing, food, and a celebration with the homestay families. This is also our last night with the families, so expect some emotions. Crying is absolutely allowed, and honestly, kind of expected.
Day 5
We say our goodbyes in the morning and pack up early. Today we move to our ecolodge, tucked right at the edge of the mighty Pacuare River, one of the top rafting rivers in the world. Students can choose to raft in to the lodge, a good way to arrive, or ride in on our own trucks if they prefer to stay dry for now. On the short hike to the lodge we pass through the Cabécar indigenous community, who share a bit about their way of living and how they hold on to their traditions alongside modern life. Either way you arrive, the setting is something else, dense jungle, howler monkeys, toucans, and the constant sound of the river. The rest of the afternoon is free to explore the lodge, swim in the river, or just take in the place.
Day 6
Full adventure day. We start the morning with our zipline course through the jungle canopy, multiple lines strung high above the treetops with views of the Pacuare valley below. Then comes the Tarzan swing, which is exactly what it sounds like. In the afternoon we hike down to the Leap of Faith cascade, a waterfall where students can cliff jump into the pool below. It is optional, but the peer pressure is real and most people end up going for it. We head back to the lodge for dinner, everyone swapping stories from the day.
Day 7
We raft out of the Pacuare valley this morning, the full river experience, class III and IV rapids through one of the most beautiful gorges in Central America. Once we are off the water, we dry off and drive back toward San Jose. We check in near the airport and spend our last evening together over a final dinner and a reflection circle. By now the group is tight, the kind of bond that only comes from going through a week like this together.
Day 8: Departure
On the way to the airport we make a quick stop at the Basilica of Cartago, the country’s most important pilgrimage church, for a short look at the building and the detail inside. Then we get you to the airport with time to spare, say our goodbyes, and send you home. See you next time.
