Caribbean Coast, Costa Rica — This Is Our Home
This Summer, Let the Caribbean Coast Teach Your Family Something Unforgettable
Seven weeks on the Caribbean coas, two immersive programmes with a week of open adventure in between.
"We weren't just learning about Costa Rica, we were living within it."
— Parent, Caribbean Coast Costa Rica, 2026
"I learned that I'm braver than I thought."
— Age 11, Caribbean Coast Costa Rica, 2026
Summer 2026
Our summer season runs across seven weeks on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Two distinct programmes one where the whole family learns together, one where children step out independently with a free week of open adventure between them.
You can join one programme, stay for both, or build your own summer around what calls you.
Seeds & Stories
July 26 – August 14 · Three weeks · Ages 7+
Seeds & Stories is a full family immersion. Parents don't drop off they are part of it, every day.
Monday to Friday, 9am to 1pm, your family learns and creates together on the Caribbean coast. Not side by side in a classroom but out in the world, doing things that leave a mark. The kind of learning that children carry with them long after the summer ends, and that quietly reshapes how families see each other too.
You'll work with cacao from tree to bar with Ancel. Cook and explore Afro-Caribbean farm life with Vic. Study the coastline with Susana. Plant trees to protect sloth habitat with Olivia. Walk the forest with Kiawe. Make music and discover local rhythms with Federico. Create mixed media art with Andrew. Learn water safety with Mike and the Caribe Guard team. Work alongside Derek, an Indigenous community leader whose roots in this land run deep, and whose community you will have the privilege of contributing to.
Every day is different. Every educator is the real thing. And woven through all of it culture, conservation, cooking and cacao is something harder to name but impossible to miss. A sense that this place, and the people in it, are changing something in your children. And in you.
For families with children aged 7 and above. Parents participate fully throughout. Maximum 12 participants.
Wander & Wonder Week
Between our two programmes sits something a little different.
Wander & Wonder Week is a free week, a breath of space and open adventure. There is no programme, no schedule, no curriculum. Just time.
Some families stay on the coast and let the Caribbean do what it does best. Others venture further, to the islands of Bocas del Toro, the wild rainforest of the Osa Peninsula, the volcanoes of Arenal. Wherever calls you.
For families joining both programmes it's the perfect pause. Curated add-ons are available for those who'd like a little guidance, ask us when you apply.
Roots & Rhythms
August 23 – September 11 · Three weeks · Ages 10+
Roots & Rhythms is where children arrive independently and the Caribbean coast becomes their classroom.
Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm, a small group of no more than twelve children aged 10 and above spend their days doing things that matter. Learning that is hands-on, sensory and real. The kind of experiences that build something in a child that no curriculum can replicate quiet confidence, genuine curiosity, the particular courage that comes from doing hard things in a community that holds them.
Vic in the kitchen. Olivia and Kiawe in the field. Susana weaving stories and leading conservation. Federico bringing the rhythms of the coast to life. Enzo teaching dance. Ancel and Juanita unlocking the secrets of cacao.
Lunch is included every day. Parents have the Caribbean coast to themselves.
The community comes together at the opening, the closing, and on cooking days when parents are welcome to join for a shared table. There are opportunities throughout the three weeks for families to come together, and moments that are simply for the children.
For children aged 10 and above. Maximum 12. Details shared on application.
The People Behind It
Cacao Coast Classroom was built by Claire and Sam, founders, owners and the people you will speak to directly when you apply. They are present across both programmes, and you will always have direct access to them before, during and after your time on the coast.
Susana is a familiar presence throughout both programmes, on-site, known to every child and family, part of the fabric of the experience.
At any given time, at least two of the three will be with your family. The third is never far.
Every educator, guide and community partner is personally chosen and locally rooted. These are not hired hands they are people whose lives are woven into this coast.
Rooted in the Community
The organisations we work alongside are not vendors or suppliers. They are neighbours, community leaders and people whose life's work is woven into the same coastline we call home.
El Puente — The Bridge elpuentethebridge.org
El Puente sits at the meeting point between the Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve and the wider community of Puerto Viejo a resource centre that has spent years quietly building bridges between worlds. Founded on the belief that resources should flow in both directions, El Puente offers Indigenous families access to food, education and emergency support, while offering visitors and volunteers access to something equally rare a genuine window into Indigenous culture, knowledge and daily life. Our community service days are hosted here, where our children and families work alongside and learn from the people who built and sustain it.
Coral Conservation coral-conservation.org
Coral Conservation is a Costa Rican NGO dedicated to the research, education and restoration of the coral reefs of the South Caribbean coast, from Cahuita to Manzanillo. coral-conservation The reefs along this coastline are among the most biologically significant in the region and among the most at risk. Coral Conservation works on beach and sea cleaning, coastal reforestation and scientific research, grounding everything in the belief that protecting the ocean is inseparable from protecting the communities that live beside it. When our children study this coastline, they do so alongside an organisation for whom that work is not a programme, it is a life's work.
Caribbean Guard caribbeanguard.org
The southern Caribbean coast is one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in Central America and one of the most powerful. Caribbean Guard exists to change the relationship between this community and the ocean, training local lifeguards, swim instructors and water safety educators with the goal of keeping the people who live here, and the visitors who come, safe in the water. Founded and led by local community members, their mission is simple and vital: to put water safety in the hands of the community it belongs to. Every programme we run begins with a session led by the Caribbean Guard team because this knowledge is not optional here.
Ara Manzanillo aramanzanillo.org
After 15 years of successful reintroduction of critically endangered Great Green Macaws into natural habitat, Ara Manzanillo is dedicated to restoring and conserving wild parrot populations in the Caribbean rainforests of Costa Rica. Aramanzanillo With fewer than 1,000 Great Green Macaws remaining in the world, their work is not conservation in the abstract it is the difference between a species surviving and disappearing. Through their programmes, Ara Manzanillo has successfully reintroduced approximately 120 Great Green Macaws into the wild, boosting the country's population by 40% and the world population by over 10%. Aramanzanillo When our children visit the release site with Andrew for their art session, they are not visiting a wildlife centre. They are standing inside one of the most significant conservation success stories on this coastline.
The Sloth Conservation Foundation slothconservation.org
The Sloth Conservation Foundation works to protect sloths in a world that is changing faster than they are. More than 3,000 sloths are lost in Costa Rica every year to habitat loss, road collisions and human encroachment. SloCo's response is practical and measurable: trees planted, wildlife bridges installed, sloths monitored in the wild and rainforest reconnected. When our children track sloths through the forest or plant trees to protect sloth habitat, they are contributing to work that is already making a difference real data, real science, real stakes.
Worldschooling and travelling families who want more than a beautiful backdrop.
Families whose children are ready to do things, not just write about them. To make real friendships, learn from real people, discover real places. To find out they are more capable than they knew.
Seeds & Stories is for families who want to experience all of this together. Roots & Rhythms is for children ready to step into it on their own.
One programme or two, a family of two or six there is a summer here for you. Every child is seen. No one is extra.
WHO THIS SUMMER IS FOR
Investment
Our full programme details and pricing are shared on application. Apply below and you'll hear from Claire or Sam directly.
Early bird deadline: May 15
— E, AGE 11, COHORT ONE 2026