Step out of your comfort zone for a two-week experience that combines exciting adventure, unique cultural immersion, and impactful service learning. Live and work in a remote ranching village high in the cloud forest, and get your hands dirty building much-needed infrastructure. Organize a community soccer game with students from a rural elementary school and build your Spanish-speaking skills while living in a traditional Costa Rican community. Experience the beauty of this majestic nation by whitewater rafting through the lush rainforest on the Pacuare River, and learn to surf the gentle waves off its beautiful palm-fringed beaches. Sample sweet chocolate and coffee grown and harvested by local families, and learn the art of hand-making delicious tortillas and empanadas while learning to live the “Pura Vida” (Pure Life!) culture from local Costa Ricans.
Costa Rica
Pura Vida Experience
14 days
Trip duration
7th & 8th
Grades
14 days
Jul 16 - Jul 29, 2025
Miami, FL
Arrival & Departure
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![Sum-CR-PuraVida-Banner](https://arccprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Sum-CR-PuraVida-Banner.png)
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![Sum-CR-Cloud-Banner](https://arccprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Sum-CR-Cloud-Banner.png)
$4,895
Tuition
14 days
Trip duration
Jul 16 - Jul 29, 2025
7th & 8th
Grades
*Airfare for group flight from Miami additional
Overview
![](https://arccprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/70391-Summer_Costa-Rica-1024x1024.png)
Highlights
- Work on Critical Building Projects in a Rural Village Community
- Learn to Surf the Peaceful Waves of the Pacific Ocean
- Whitewater Raft the Canyons of the World-Famous Pacuare River
- Immerse Yourself in “Pura Vida” (Pure life!) Culture of This Amazing Country
- Organize a Community Soccer Match and Cultural Exchange at a Costa Rican School
- Zipline Through the Breathtaking Rainforest Canopy
- Explore Hidden Rainforest Waterfalls and Natural Waterslides
- 10 Hours of Service Learning
Want to learn more about traveling with ARCC or have more questions about this program?
Schedule a Call with Marisa Abrahams![](https://arccprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Sum-CR-PuraVida-Highlights-2.png)
Cultural Immersion
Live and work in a small, rural Costa Rican community high in the mountains. Spend time with a local family during a community homestay and learn more about their daily lives, from preparing traditional meals to tending farm animals. Practice your Spanish skills and learn more about their history and culture. Participate in exciting soccer matches and build bonds with members of the community.
Culture
Adventure
Raft down the exciting whitewater rapids of the beautiful Rio Pacuare and spend the night at a beautiful rainforest ecolodge overlooking the river. Pass silvery waterfalls, dense vegetation, and the calls of tropical birds and monkeys. Experience the amazing canopy ziplines and soak in refreshing waterfall pools in the heart of the jungle. The white sand beaches and warm Pacific waters provide the perfect opportunity to practice your surf skills and learn from professional guides.
Rafting
Surfing
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Service Learning
Lend a hand with ongoing community projects in the coffee-growing high country of Savegre, alongside community members and your ARCC teammates. Get a unique glimpse into a culture where daily life may be very different from our own lives back home. Help with daily tasks and ongoing projects in the community like repairing communal buildings or roads in the village, assisting with farm animal care, or working on a greenhouse project to grow saplings of native plants.
Service
Common Questions
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All food, lodging, transportation, and activities are paid for with your trip tuition. Group airfare is additional and the cost depends on the program.
In order to be sure there are enough seats available on international group flights, ARCC books the international tickets in advance and families are invoiced for the cost of the international airfare.
Families are also responsible for booking flights or arranging transportation for students to meet their leaders and other group members at the program’s arrival airport. The leaders and students then fly internationally together as a group.
Each program has a specific packing list that has been designed to fit the program’s activities, length, climate, and cultural differences. You will receive this packing list in the comprehensive Welcome Packet that is sent to all students after they enroll in a program.
In Costa Rica, the weather is a lot like Florida in the summer time. During the day it can be hot, sunny, and humid in the 80’s-90’s (26.6°-32.2°C). Late afternoons often bring showers, which will cool us off. Some days you will go to bed with only a simple cover as it is often warm enough to sleep without your sleeping bag. When we ascend into the high-elevation rainforest and cloud forest, the temperature cools to the 50’s (10°C) at night.
The specific service projects that each group will work on depend on the needs of the communities at the time that the groups are there. Past projects have included: Constructing composting gardens in a small village, making improvements to community roads or buildings, reforestation of native trees, or building a community soccer field.
Costa Rica is a relatively clean and safe place to travel. However, ARCC does recommend that you take some health precautions before your program. When you enroll in the program, you will receive more detailed information on pertinent travel vaccinations and immunizations. Please also refer to the Traveler’s Health section of the CDC website. Our leaders carry a full first-aid kit and are all certified Wilderness First Responders (WFR).
During this program, we sleep in a variety of accommodations: small hotels, community houses, and a jungle lodge.
Typically we will take a private 20-person shuttle from place to place. When traveling to more remote areas we will occasionally split into two groups and use smaller 4-wheel drive vehicles. We also take a short ferry ride during the turtle project portion of our program.
On this program, you will experience typical Costa Rican fare – rice and beans. This staple is supplemented with a delicious assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables. The group will also be creating the menu and preparing the meals during some sections of the program. Vegetarians and medical dietary requirements (i.e. allergies) are catered for. Students should inform ARCC of any dietary needs before the start of the program.
We suggest you bring about $75 per week on your program. This is for souvenirs, laundry, and other incidentals. ARCC pays for all meals, lodging, transportation, and activities. There is some time to shop for souvenirs in San Jose and elsewhere during the program. We recommend you bring some of your money in cash and the rest on an ATM card. In Costa Rica, the official currency is the Colón, but US dollars are widely accepted. We suggest that you carry about $25 of your money in small denominations (1’s and 5’s). Visa and MasterCard are also widely accepted. We do not recommend Traveler’s checks. ATM’s are found in San Jose, but are limited outside the city. As with any international program, we strongly recommend talking to your bank about its international withdrawal policies to avoid any surprise fees or card cancellations.
Yes, all students traveling to Costa Rica need to have a valid passport. Please make sure the passport expiration date is at least six months after your program start date. Be sure to make a photocopy of your passport and keep it in a separate place. If you lose your passport and you have a photocopy, it is much easier to replace.
No, US and Canadian Citizens do not need a visa for this program.
During the summer, Costa Rica is on Central Standard Time (Mountain Time during DST). Therefore, on your program the time will be 2 hours earlier than the US East Coast, 1 hour earlier than Central, and 1 hour later than the US West Coast.
Students are taught how to hand wash their clothes by their leaders, and will have the opportunity to do so throughout the program. Due to the remote locations we travel to, students do as the locals do, and use the warm Costa Rican sun to line-dry their clothes. For ease of travel, quick dry clothes are recommended on the packing list.
You will want to bring two pieces of luggage: your main bag and a daypack. Your main bag should be a backpack, travel backpack or large duffel bag. This larger piece of luggage should be approximately 4,500-5,000 cubic inches or 70-75 liters, and should be able to hold everything on your Clothing & Equipment List. The daypack should be large enough to hold an extra layer of clothing, a water bottle, sunscreen, some snacks, etc. Some travel backpacks come with an attached daypack that you can zip off and use. Otherwise, your school backpack is a good option. When you travel, you should plan to check your large piece of luggage and bring the daypack on the plane as your carry-on. Please keep in mind that while you will not be doing traditional backpacking on this program, the group will be navigating through airports, on and off buses, up and down stairways, and taking short hikes on unpaved paths. The group will be able to move much more efficiently if everyone is carrying their belongings on their back. You will also need to pack an EMPTY small duffel bag inside your main piece of luggage. When you get to Costa Rica, you will use this duffel bag to store certain items that you will not use during specific sections of your program.
No. English is widely spoken in Costa Rica and your leaders and local guides will speak both English and Spanish. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to practice speaking Spanish with your host families and other locals that we interact with during the program.
Have questions? Speak to one of our Program Directors, give them a call at (415) 332.5075 , they love talking about their trips!