Caribbean Coast, Costa Rica — This Is Our Home
Here's exactly how the two weeks unfold.
Roots & Rhythms opens with nature, wildlife and conservation. Seeds & Stories deepens into culture, cacao and community. One connected journey, built day by day, from a life already lived here.
The Cacao Coast Classroom Experience is a two-week, family immersion, place-based learning programme in the nature and wildlife of Costa Rica's Caribbean coast, founded and led by Claire and Sam, two mothers whose connection to this coast spans decades. Designed for worldschooling and travelling families with children aged 8 and up, each day runs with a parent present throughout, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 1pm. Structured around five pillars: Conservation, Culture, Community, Cacao and Creativity, the experience is rooted in genuine relationship with the Afro-Caribbean and BriBri Indigenous communities who were part of the founders' life here long before the Cacao Coast Classroom Experience began.
The investment is $1,200 per person for the full two weeks.
A Typical Day
Most days run from around 8:30am to 1pm, with a steady rhythm of structure and space
Opening Circle We start together: setting intentions, building connections, introducing the day's theme.
Shared Experience Conservation work, wildlife observation, cultural immersion, cacao, or time with community partners: the heart of the morning.
Snack & Connection Local fruit, a short pause, conversation, often flowing back into the morning's activity rather than breaking from it.
Creative Reflection Journalling, sketching or storytelling, where the day's learning becomes personal.
Closing Circle We gather to reflect before the afternoon, which belongs entirely to your family.
The Two-Week Arc
Week One: Roots & Rhythms
Families meet the coastline, the wildlife and each other. It's wonder-led: tracking sloth activity in the canopy, learning the coast and coral up close, a green macaw conservation morning that flows into mixed-media art, a walk through botanical gardens and cacao farmland. Children watch, ask questions, and start to get their hands dirty.
Week Two: Seeds & Stories
The focus shifts to culture, cacao and community. Cacao work deepens, from tree to bar and into uses well beyond chocolate. Families sit with Indigenous ancestral storytelling, visit a BriBri family farm, and spend time with the community partners who make this region what it is. By now the group has become something closer to a second family, and the experiences ask a little more of everyone who rises to it
Together, the two weeks move from observation to participation, building toward a closing
Experience Feel & What's Included
Experience Feel
Curious, grounded and warm throughout: a rhythm that holds steady even as the focus shifts from nature to people. Week One is led by Costa Rica's wild side: wildlife, coastline and forest, explored slowly enough to actually notice it. Week Two is culturally rich, seen largely through the lens of cacao: not observed from the outside, but lived alongside the people who call this coast home, until it starts to feel less like visiting and more like belonging. Both weeks move at the same unhurried pace, with small groups who get to know each other properly.
What's Included
Daily guided programming, 8:30am to 1pm
Conservation, cultural and cacao experiences led by local partners
All transport during the programme
Materials for creative reflection and journalling
Local fruit, simple snacks and water refills throughout each day
Small-group facilitation throughout, max 12 participants
Closing celebration in the final week
Thoughtful pre-trip support: packing guides and direct guidance before you even arrive
A WhatsApp group to stay connected with the other participants and team.
Ongoing relationship beyond the programme: this isn't goodbye when the two weeks end
“What will this actually be like for our family?"
Fair question: two weeks is real time, money and energy, and you want to know it'll be worth it. Here's the honest answer: this isn't a tour, and it isn't a holiday. It's built from a life already lived on this coast: our connections to local conservation projects, Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean communities, local educators and the rhythms of this coastline aren't staged for visitors. They are simply our life in this place. You won't be shuffled between attractions; you'll work alongside the people, wildlife and traditions that actually shape our home.
Something is asked of the children who join us: curiosity, presence, a willingness to get stuck in. They rise to it, often surprising themselves and you. Parents tell us this is where the real shift happens: not in any single activity, but in watching their child become a little more capable, a little more at home in the world.
If you want the full day-by-day picture before deciding, the Family Guide goes deeper. If this already sounds like your family, here's how to apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Cacao Coast Classroom Experience?
A two-week, founder-led, place-based learning programme on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Children aged 8 and up take part with a parent present throughout, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 1pm. Built around five pillars: Conservation, Culture, Community, Cacao and Creativity.
Can families book just one week?
No. The Experience runs as a single fortnight: Roots & Rhythms in week one and Seeds & Stories in week two. The two weeks are not sold separately.
What ages can take part?
Children aged 8 and up, with a parent present throughout. Children aged 13 and up may be considered for a drop-off arrangement, case by case.
What does it cost?
$1,200 per person for the full two-week Experience. One flat rate, no tiers.
Is this a worldschooling hub or drop-in programme?
No. Families commit to the full fortnight. Everything is designed around that continuity.
Who leads the programme?
Claire and Sam, the founders, alongside educators and community partners who live and work on this coast. When you hear back after applying, it will be from Claire or Sam directly, never a booking system.
Ready When You Are
Every group stays deliberately small: never more than 12, so every family is known, not just accommodated. Nothing here is built to scale, and that's exactly why it works.
Investment: $1,200 per person for the full two weeks.
Upcoming Dates
Autumn 2026: Sun 1 Nov to Fri 13 Nov
Spring 2027: Sun 24 Jan to Fri 5 Feb
Summer 2027: Sun 11 Jul to Fri 23 Jul
Autumn 2027: Sun 3 Oct to Fri 15 Oct
Joining our list also flags you for any additional dates as they're confirmed.
Applications are reviewed personally: you'll hear back from Claire or Sam directly, not a booking system.
