Monterrico Hotels

ARCAS sea turtle hatchery: Hawaii Park budget

I spent a week at the sea turtle hatchery that ARCAS has in Hawaii Park. The cost is $10 per night and if all goes as planned you will need to purchase food and cook it for the other volunteers one night. Not a big deal as you can walk into town an purchase provisions in town which is a 15-20 min walk south. Life is basic here. At the time I was here Edwardo was the guy running it and Jon (a Brit expat) was his backup. The $10 includes clean sheets and free (at the time of writing) internet on an ARCAS owned laptop. In exchange for the cheap board you will be expected to help out with patrols (10pm-5/6am), turtle releases on the beach and a host of other things..some volunteers have painted the the men's and womens dorm which are 15-20 feet from the commons area where they have the office, visitors reception, kitchen, bathrooms and 6 upstairs bunks. They will also give you a locker for your valuables and a sealable bucket for your food that you bring/purchase. They have bottled water delivered weekly along with 2 refrigerators/w freezers for keeping perishables.

All bunks are screened but Colum the ARCAS manager in Guatemala will encourage you to bring one anyway..l gave mine away while I was there as the nets they had were adequate. There is no hot water and you will need a small flashlight for those light night bathroom runs.
There are buckets on site to hand wash cloths and a local lady stops by every couple of days and will do your wash for you but watch out as she has sticky fingers and you may get everything back that you gave her so better to do your own. The beach is great out front but watch out for rip currents as they recommend people swim in pairs. See my other tips for more info.

• Opinion of Price: least expensive
• Related to: Backpacking, Adventure Travel, Eco-Tourism
• Written January 7, 2011

View of the lodge from the street

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