Estado de Jalisco Travel Forum

In September, I'm bringing nine 7th and 8th graders to the Mayto Turtle camp just south of Vallarta. The people who are in charge of making the arrangements are not very forthcoming in regard to certain details. Although, I have no say in the arrangements, I'm the one chaperoning and translating. We are supposed to sleep on the beach in tents they provide yet they say to bring our own sleeping bags and snorkel equipment. I think it should be provided. Has anyone had experience with this turtle camp? I'm familiar with Vallarta and the area but not this place. I want my kids to have a great and memorable trip. Any ideas, suggestions or comments? I'm all ears.
Transitoria

This sounds to me as a volunteer place.

El Mayto, Campamento de proteccion y conservacion de la tortuga marina, El Mayto seems to be more a volunteer and a camp where the municipal gob., or the Universidad de Guadalajara takes care, so it sounds to me that is maybe ok to follow their directions. Bring whatever you think it might be useful (not in excess), sometimes projects as this might sound a bit informal or contain a lack of details but I am sure they would be happy to hear suggestions to improve their service, sometimes they are more focused in the issues they might be experiencing, don't panic.

I am glad you are teaching your children positive things about biodiversity as turtles. I found your post very interesting. I only regret I cannot complety answer your question, but this is at least, an opinion since I have seen how some other similar places work.

It will be interesting to see your experience in El Mayto will be here on Vt. I am tempted into visiting this area in the future.

I am sure this is a noble cause, however were it my child, under no circumstances would I allow him/her to go without *all details very clearly specified in writing from an accountable source*.

What type of security is available in this place?
What diving regulations are in place?
Is there a first aid center nearby?
What are the arrangements if someone should get hurt or sick from the food?
What is around the area? Is it rural, are there any dangerous areas nearby?
Will there be a secure place to sleep for these kids?

We took many soccer players to Canada, and trust me, I, not the parents, insured I had answers to all these questions before even proposing the trip.

To me, not forthcoming = not coming. My two cent's worth.

Nomad

I just returned from taking a group of 15 middle school students to this camp. We patrolled the beach at night, saw turtles on the beach, dug up their eggs and reburied them in holes we learned to make to mimic the turtles' natural shape hole. We also dug into nests that were due to have hatched and brought out the hatchlings. These we sheltered until dark when we could release them on the beach and watch them make their way back to the sea. The tents were damaged from a recent hurricane but the students found it most comfortable to sleep on top of the four trampolines, anyway, for the sake of a breeze. They only used the tents for changing clothes. There is a bad undertow there so you can't swim directly off that beach, but the camp provides two large pools of fresh water where the kids can swim and splash during the heat of the day. Otherwise, they napped on towels in the shade of the trampolines. The food was great. We had latrines but bathrooms are under construction. We also went to a tree nursery and replanted tree seedlings for future reforestation projects. There is a great river you can hike to and a beach for swimming just 5 minutes away, to the south. In the beginning of November our students will have a birthday party for the approximately 1600 turtles that should be hatching from the eggs we reburied! The kids are so excited they are planning a fund-raiser to help with sea turtle conservation and are all talking about plans to go back on spring break or during the summer. I can't recommend this highly enough! Eco-teach offers a great package trip that includes visits to other areas as well.

I enjoyed very much to read about your experience, I will keep it as a reference for a future visit! Thank you so much for sharing it with us.