Cacao Coast Classroom: what to expect.
Caribbean Farm Day over looking the Caribbean Sea Costa Rica
If you have found your way here, you are probably trying to understand what this actually is before you commit to a conversation. Here is an honest account of what the programme is, what it is not, and what your family will experience.
Where we are
The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Not the Pacific side. Not San José. This coast has its own character, its own communities, its own pace. Afro-Caribbean culture runs deep here. The BriBri Indigenous people have lived in this region for generations. The rainforest meets the sea. Cacao grows here. This is not a generic tropical backdrop. It is a specific, layered, living place.
Founders Claire and Sam live here. Between the founding team and associate partners, Cacao Coast Classroom brings over 100 years of life on this coast. The relationships with educators, community members and conservationists were built before the programme existed.
The two programmes
Seeds & Stories runs Sunday to Friday, 8:30am to 1pm. It is a family immersion. Parents participate fully alongside their children. It is designed for families who want to experience this place together. Children aged seven and above are welcome.
Roots & Rhythms runs Sunday to Friday, 9am to 3pm. It is a drop-off programme. Children arrive independently and work as a group. It is designed for children aged ten and above who are ready to step in on their own, and for working parents who need quality structured care they can trust. Lunch is included.
Between the two summer programmes sits Wander & Wonder Week, a free and unscheduled week on the coast with optional curated add-ons available.
What children actually do
Each week follows a theme arc across five days: Culture, Cacao, Cooking, Conservation, Community. Across three weeks, the programme moves through a developmental arc.
Children learn cacao from tree to bar with Ancel, a specialist who has spent years working with cacao on this coast. They cook with Carling and Vic, local Caribbean people whose knowledge of traditional recipes and ingredients is not something that can be taught from a book. They work alongside Susanna, who has nearly 40 years on this coastline and leads conservation sessions at sea and on land. They make music with Fede, create art with Andrew, learn about sloth conservation with Olivia from the Sloth Conservation Foundation, and visit the BriBri community with a guide who belongs to it.
Every educator is a real person from this place. Nothing is performed for visitors.
What this is not
It is not a holiday. Something is asked of children, and they rise to it.
It is not a tour. Families stay, return, go deeper across three weeks.
It is not entertainment. The connections are real. The work is real. The experiences cannot be replicated.
It is not a worldschooling hub. This is a considered, small-group programme with a specific purpose.
The practical details
Groups are small. Design is considered. Nothing is scaled.
Pricing for a single programme begins at $2,800 per person, with family and early bird options available. Full pricing is on the website. All activities, educators and materials are included in Seeds & Stories. Lunch is included in Roots & Rhythms.
Each child receives a journal designed around the three-week developmental arc. It travels through the programme with them.
If you are weighing this up
Download the Family Guide. Read it properly. If it still feels right, get on a call with Claire or Sam. They will answer every question you have, and they will not pressure you.
Cacao Coast Family Guide
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