Full Day Volunteer at Wildlife Sanctuary

10/10 experience. Honestly deserves more than five stars. The guide who was with us the whole time was absolutely amazing! He took us on a tour and shared a ton of fun facts about all the animals. Getting to prepare food and activities for them was a blast. Even cleaning the cages was fun:) A sloth (one of my favorite animals) was like a foot above my head! Everyone was super nice and welcoming as well. Our car got stuck in the mud as we were leaving and the guide was more than happy to help get us out. Quite literally a life saver. Had the best experience, would definitely do it again if I came back, and would 10000% recommend to anyone visiting Manuel Antonio!

Been crooked by the association! Take care! Despite a great experience as volunteer, I was never reimbursed by KSTR. I paid for 2 weeks a bungalow as volunteer for me and my 7yrs old kid. After paying the full amount, they told me that I can’t stay the last 2 days: they surbooked on me without notifying me before the payment (around 2.5k euros). So I organised myself for other location and booking. ( Hopefully we were not on high touristic season so I found free places) BUT, I have asked for the 400 euros reimbursement and it’s now more than 1 month I am waiting for it. They play with me. They say this is a priority but day after day I don’t see anything coming. Be cautious! That’s not serious at all and I feel crooked. I will change this comment if the organization effectively reimburse me.

The tour & guide was very informative. I loved feeding the animals because I got to experience them close up. Recommend for kids or solo adults.

We had a lovely day volunteering with KSTR in March 2026. We were a family of 3 adults and 2 children (9 years old). Highlights were learning about the day-to-day care of the animals in the sanctuary as well as the ways that staff/volunteers make sure to keep the animals' living experience as similar to their wild experience as possible. A highlight was being able to see the animals up close, while still being taught the importance of not touching or interfering with them in any way. The two-toed sloths were a hit. We helped prepare food for the animals as well as made enrichment activities for the animals, helped clean enclosures and ate a lovely lunch. It was HOT and I recommend bringing plenty of water for yourself as the water machine on site is slow (like a sloth.) It is clearly an educational environment focused on the animals as the top priority, they are focused on debunking the pet trade and it was very helpful learning all of the stories of the animals.

This is a MUST DO in Costa Rica and a highlight of our trip (and lives!). We had the best day volunteering. We spent the morning with the amazing Francesca who gave us all the introduced us to and provided information about the animals at the centre and the stories behind why they are there. Then, we had lunch before we headed over to meet up with another staff member named Kaylor. He showed us how to prepare the food for the animals and then we made the meals and fed all their residents. The passion all the volunteers have for their centre’s mission is unmatched and it was so worth taking the time to discover and support. If you’re an animal lover and want to give back, this is the place for you!! You will not regret it!!

+3

I did the volunteer for a day experience, and I hate to say it as I am a huge animal lover and have volunteered in many conservation centers while traveling internationally, but I must say that this was beyond a disappointing experience, and provided one with barely any additional knowledge or time spent closer up with the animals than the regular tour. I thought sweating to death raking leaves for an hour would be worth it because eventually at some point I would be able to be up close watching some enrichment with the animals and be able to learn more about the them, but nope that wasn’t the case. Preparing the food for the animals was such a complete disaster that I left early. It took an hour and 40 min to make the food. I gave up after 50 min and sat waiting for a taxi. Ethan came up front to let me know when it was completed, the only one there that truly cares about visitors experience. There was no organization in the food preparation, total confusion having us each weighing food to then find out oh it has to be cooked, well weighed after cooking or before? And the only one trying to help us was one volunteer Ethan for 9 people. Ethan is super sweet. He is the only one who truly cared how things were going but he recently arrived himself and hasn’t learned all yet which is normal, but where then was some experienced worker that spoke English? Ethan was kind enough to make sure I got to see a sloth face when he learned I really hoped to see one. If it wasn’t for him the whole day would’ve been a waste. The tour for the volunteer for a day program is pushed together with regular visitors. It’s crowded and noisy and you can’t always see or hear what is being talked about. And the thought that later I’d learn and see more was squashed fast. And I hope that no animals got sick from the lack of organized preparation of their food. Really not how a volunteer program should be set up. There were also two people for a two week program doing things with us because they were confused where to be and without info for them they stayed with us. I never mind how much it costs me to volunteer, but this was a huge waste of time and money. I was able to provide more insight on the animals at times that I learned on other professional guided tours during my time elsewhere in Costa Rica. I don’t recommend this volunteer for the day tour at all. You are better off just walking around Manuel Antonio chaos with a guide or doing their regular tour. Preparing food for the animals here was even more chaotic than the line to get into Manuel Antonio Park. One nice worker listened to my information I just provided, but in the 45 min I sat waiting for my taxi no one cared to inquire or follow up with me. Some of the regular workers here walk around with an attitude and an air of superiority vs being friendly and making sure the visitors are enjoying themselves or ask them if they have any questions. While the organization does do a lot to help animal conservation here, the way the volunteer for a day aspect is beyond disappointing for those wanting a unique experience. I’ve prepared food for many elephants at ethical sanctuaries in Thailand volunteer for the day programs for the same price or less and had hours of organized instruction and education, even received a special t-shirt to wear to keep. I struggled with whether or not to write this as I don’t want to deter funding for the organization, but this was my second to last day of vacation and money and time were really wasted. You need more people like Ethan and you need a thought out itinerary that fits the number of people you allow to sign up for the program and you shouldn’t list activities listed on the information that are not offered, no training and enrichment I was told was in the day only leaving the food for the animals after being made, and I don’t want others to be disappointed.

Very nice volunteers working there, you learn a lot and see many different kinds of animals!! Lovely project. Thank you very much :)

I arrived at KSTR on a beautiful morning the property is absolutely gorgeous. I was greeted by Kaylor he was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the campus, it was so interesting to hear about the passion they have for the rainforest. The Sanctuary where the rescued wildlife is amazing so many cute animals and Kaylor went into detail about all of their stories and facts about each one. My favorite was Voldy, a little capachin monkey who suffered an electrocution and is missing a leg. The animals are well taken care of you can tell and everyone I met was so friendly. I got to help in the animal kitchen and meet other volunteers that are living on the campus, they were so kind and informative. Would really recommend visiting this place and supporting what they do here.

+3

This is a great and very worthwhile charity run sanctuary.. the staff are so well trained and knowledgeable about all the animals they rescue. I stayed for a couple of weeks and the other volunteers were great fun and dedicated. We also got the chance to explore outside the sanctuary,, seeing whales and watching turtles being released into the wild - loved my time there - definitely recommend either a tour, a full day volunteering or staying for a week it so..

Such a wonderful experience, especially for children. My 7 year old son loved helping feed and provide medicine for the animals and he learned so much from the tour. Some small logistical notes to anyone booking: the website and confirmation email needs to be updated re: transportation. You have to figure out your own transportation. If you are in Manuel Antonio, expect to pay about $30-50 each way. If you try to book on Uber, they will likely cancel because the app doesn't take into account that the road to KSTR is unpaved, so whatever Uber quotes as the price is far too low for the drive (especially when you consider the driver only gets half the price). We booked on Uber and the driver messaged asking for $30 cash instead of the $20 Uber quoted. We ended up paying him $40 because even $30 seemed too low. Anyway, the trip was worth it!