Program Overview

Want to feel the wind in your hair, sand between your toes, and waterfalls cascading around you? Come explore Costa Rica with Travel For Teens and Nazareth Academy High School! This Costa Rican cultural immersion and adventure features central, authentic accommodations, community service, superb meals, adrenaline-inducing adventure activities, and of course all of the pura vida vibes!

Hop off your flight in San Jose and kick off your Costa Rican adventure in Alajuela, where you’ll dive into the local culture with a cooking class and explore a coffee plantation. Contribute to a rewarding community service project at an animal rescue center before heading to the beautiful beaches of Montezuma. Here, you’ll protect sea turtles on night patrols, zipline through the jungle canopy, and enjoy days of snorkeling and beach activities. Wrap up your trip with a visit to the laid-back surf town of Santa Teresa for surfing lessons, a sunset dinner, and live music.

This trip combines adventure, cultural experiences, and hands-on community service for an unforgettable Costa Rican getaway. Join us today on a trip of a lifetime!

This will be a 9-day tour taking place between June 4th – 16th 2025

Price

$4295

What's Included

  • Round-trip airfare (without checked luggage)
  • All breakfasts and dinners
  • All accommodations: 3 star hotels based on twin, triple, & quad occupancy for students; twin occupancy for adults (single supplement surcharge possible)
  • All admission fees
  • All departure taxes
  • Gratuities
  • All registration charges
  • All ground transportation (coaches, trains, public transport)

Who Can Join?

This trip is open to all Nazareth Academy High School students!

 

Countries

Costa Rica

Registration Deadline

October 23rd, 2024

Contact Information

Bridget Shaw

bshaw@nazarethacademyhs.org

View Informational Webinar Recording

A TFT representative will give a short presentation and answer your questions.

 

Trip Itinerary

DAY 1: Welcome to Costa Rica!

  • Fly to San Jose, Costa Rica
  • Meet your TFT Counselors at the airport
  • Board our private coach
    First-day meeting – we’ll go over the rules and expectations for the trip, and answer any questions you may have
  • Check into our hotel in Alajuela
  • First Costa Rican dinner
  • Head to bed after a full day of traveling

DAY 2: Dive into Costa Rican culture

  • Breakfast
  • Experience the vibrant flavors of Costa Rica with a hands-on cooking class taught by our local guides!
  • Lunch
  • Explore the rich heritage of Costa Rican coffee during an immersive tour of a coffee plantation
  • Back to the hotel
  • Dinner

DAY 3: Community service

  • Breakfast
  • Community service at an animal rescue center
  • Lunch
  • Continue with service work
  • Back to the hotel
  • Dinner

DAY 4: Montezuma

  • Breakfast
  • Take the ferry to Montezuma
  • Lunch
  • Meet with the staff from the Conservation Station
  • Dinner
  • Night patrol at the conservation to protect the sea turtles

DAY 5: Canopy tour & service work

  • Breakfast
  • Jungle canopy zip line tour
  • Lunch
  • Community service on the beach, we’ll focus on maintenance tasks to protect the nesting sites of turtles
  • Dinner

DAY 6: Island adventure

  • Breakfast
  • Spend the day swimming, playing beach volleyball, or sunbathing on the beach
  • Snorkeling
  • Lunch
  • Chill at the beach
  • Back to the hotel
  • Dinner
  • Night Patrol

DAY 7: Santa Teresa

  • Breakfast
  • Day trip to Santa Teresa
  • Surfing lessons
  • Lunch
  • Free afternoon to explore the town
  • Sunset dinner with live music, good food, and great vibes!
  • Back to the hotel

DAY 8: Head back to San Jose

  • Breakfast
  • Take the ferry to Puntarenas Lunch on the road
  • Check into our San Jose hotel
  • Dinner
  • Evening activity and hangout

DAY 9: Fly home

Travel with us and discover why we are consistently winning awards for Top Youth Travel Organization.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Travel For Teens?

We are in our 21st year in the teen travel business and have emerged as the industry leader for teen travel in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Oceania, and Africa. We operate over 100 programs in 47 countries on 6 continents.

Our philosophy: We offer genuine and authentic trips for travelers, not tourists.

Our goal is to engender a passion for learning about other cultures and places through living like a local in that place.

How much is tuition and what does it include?

Tuition for the trip is $4,295, which INCLUDES round-trip airfare (without checked luggage), all breakfasts and dinners, all accommodations, all admission fees, all departure taxes, gratuities, all registration charges, all ground transportation (coaches, trains, public transport)

Tuition does NOT INCLUDE (not meant to be an exhaustive list): meals not listed in the itinerary, travel insurance, beverages other than filtered water at meals, COVID testing and PPE equipment (as applicable), phone calls home, deviations from the itinerary, laundry, souvenirs, shopping, visas and visa application fees, personal and medical expenses, activities and admissions that are not program-related or referenced in the itinerary, excess baggage fees, damage to hotels, or additional expenses related to unforeseen circumstances (e.g. transportation delays/strikes or natural disasters)

Who can go on this trip?

The trip is open to all Nazareth Academy of High School students. Space is limited and is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.

What is the payment timeline?

Deadline to register: October 23, 2024

$750 trip deposit due within three business days of registration

Balance due in three installments

After I register, what happens next?

Once your deposit of $750 is paid, you will receive an email that confirms receipt of your deposit and registration.

After registration, you will receive an email that contains your USERNAME and PASSWORD to MyTFT. All forms to be completed by parents and physician as well as packing lists, travel tips, travel insurance information, and other important information can be found on the MyTFT portal (hard copies of the essential legal/medical forms can be mailed to participants upon request). Our contract and release must be signed by all custodial parents (or guardians) and the participant. We will host a second meeting via webinar in advance of your departure to go over all last minute questions and details.

Where do we stay?

We will be staying in three-star hotels throughout the program. The names of the accommodations are available to all families once they have signed up.

Single rooms can be requested and will be suject to an additional fee.

Note: singles must be requested at the time of registration to be guaranteed.

Trip Emails & Photographs

PHOTOGRAPHS

We will take dozens, if not hundreds, of photos each day. The best photos will be posted as regularly as possible (ideally every day) to a private photo-sharing platform (Waldo Photos) where you can follow along with the trip. We will send you an email to alert you when we post new photos. Low-resolution photos can be viewed for free during and after the trip. All of your High-Resolution matched photos can be purchased and downloaded in real-time during the trip or after the trip for $50.

EMAILS

The Trip Director will be in regular email contact every 24-48 hours, internet willing, with our families. Emails will include fun detailed updates about the day’s activities and are a great way for families to follow along with the journey. Email will be the best way to communicate messages to the Trip Director.

Safety, Sickness & Communication

SAFETY AND SICKNESS

The safety of our participants is our #1 concern, which is why we have only experienced trip leaders running the show. We offer 24/7 communication throughout our programs and have detailed risk management and safety policies in place. Please review our policies here.

For information regarding our specific policies with Covid-19 please review our Covid-19 protocols page here.

 

What are the safety qualifications for our staff?

Our staff members undergo a rigorous hiring process. They receive the same background check as school educators, an extensive training process to go over all safety precautions and protocols, and are required to be certified in CPR and First Aid.  We exclusively hire responsible, multi-talented individuals who are safety-minded and are as passionate about teen travel as we are.

What is the food like on a TFT program? Can you accommodate dietary restrictions?

In a word – delicious! At TFT, we believe food should be an integral part of the travel experience and always make an effort to eat at authentic establishments when we can. What better way to immerse yourself in the culture of a place than by sampling the local delicacies, and we encourage students to do so whenever possible! Just as we stay away from Americanized hotel chains, we try to avoid restaurants with menus that cater only to tourists because every good traveler knows the best food is found wherever the locals are eating!

We also love to have picnics al fresco and do this whenever possible, which is a great way to taste some local food while sitting out in the fresh air taking in the sights and sounds of our surroundings.

As always, we are willing and able to accommodate vegetarians, vegans, gluten allergies, and other dietary restrictions.

Do I need to speak the language?

No, our skilled staff members will help you get around and even teach you a few fun phrases!

Are participants allowed to have their cell phones on the program?

We do allow participants to bring their phones, but we ask that they use it solely as a camera when we are out and about during the day. We want everyone to focus on living in the moment and fully experience each new destination we are visiting without being absorbed in their phones. We ask that participants look at their journey with us as a way to disconnect. When we have downtime at our hotels in the evenings it is okay for participants to use their devices to connect with friends and family back home.

What is the activity level of this trip?

This is an active trip. The goal of the trip will be to maximize each day. We aim to achieve a good balance of activity and downtime. You will need to be comfortable walking about 5 miles a day in total.

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