Projects Abroad send volunteers to the sandy beaches of the Pacific Coast where they help to protect five species of sea turtle: Olive Ridley, Green, Loggerhead, Leatherback and Black. Unfortunately these turtles have rapidly become endangered species over the past twenty years. Projects Abroad have set up a camp and research centre to try to preserve these species.

The camp is called Campamento Tecoman and is located on the beach itself. Here our volunteers work alongside Mexican biologists and other experts, patrolling the 18-mile beach and conducting various other tasks related to the preservation of these turtles. Volunteers also work at a local Crocodile Farm as well as conducting research at a nearby coastal lagoon.

As well as patrolling the beach volunteers must also collect eggs from natural nests and bring them back to the protected area to incubate them. This work is essential as poachers also patrol this beach and any nests that we do not rescue are unlikely to survive. We also collect very useful information regarding the population, ecology and biology of the turtles.

Working with turtles takes place mainly during two night shifts, one from 10:00pm to 3:00am and the other from 3:00am to 8:00am, depending largely on hours of daylight and changing turtle activity. From January to May there are less turtles nesting each night, allowing us to concentrate more on the other activities of the camp such as extending the new corral (the protected area in which collected eggs are reburied).

Volunteers usually work in pairs on a rota system so that everyone gets a chance to experience the full range of work. Nightly activities include beach patrols using our quad bikes, monitoring the corral and releasing turtle hatchlings.

Our users say...

"Riding a quad bike down miles of sandy, private beach, searching for turtles and their eggs and warning off poachers was the best. That night we found 15 nests and 12 turtles, we were so busy we worked an extra hour. I had so much fun and would really recommend it to others.!" -

Sara Bell

0845 344 7562

Help, Learn, Explore. You can do all of these with Projects Abroad. We organise flexible volunteering programmes in the developing world. We have sent 20,000 volunteers away to 23 different countries since 1992. We offer projects such as Teaching, Care, Conservation, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Journalism, Business, Law and Human Rights amongst others.