top

Volunteer in Mexico - It Will Change You Forever...

  • World's most affordable fees guaranteed
  • Pay your program fees directly to your host families and projects
  • Experienced local staffs to attend to your every need
  • Flexible schedule that leaves evenings and weekends free for fun, travel and exploration

Travel and volunteer in Mexico! The largest country in Central America boasts of fascinating Mayan ruins, large cities, mountains, deserts, pristine beaches, quaint villages, indigenous languages and culture and sumptuous local cuisine. Volunteers in the Pacific Coast of Mexico, in and around the region of Jalisco, and get lost in picturesque landscape, beaches and traditional Mexican hospitality. Volunteers can surf, snorkel, enjoy world famous local cuisine and travel to other parts of this vast country. Barra de Navidad and Melaque, where most of the programs are located, share the same long curing beach. They’re both small towns. People are very friendly and everyone knows each other. It’s also a great place to immerse in local culture.

Despite all this, Mexico is beset with many programs like poverty, neglect, violence, and a lack of education. Therefore, time and dedication from motivated volunteers is significantly needed and appreciated by locals. Helping Abroad invites you to volunteer in Mexico to work in a variety of community development projects such as assisting orphanage homes, teaching English in schools, helping children with learning disability and conserving sea turtles. As a volunteer in Mexico, you will enrich the lives of others while exploring an enchanting and beautiful Central American country and its culture. Regardless of the project you choose, you will undoubtedly change the lives others while growing personally, professionally and emotionally. Your views of the world will be forever changed. Are you ready to go beyond your boundaries and explore Mexico? Begin your Mexico journey today! Email us now and we will gladly send you more information. You won’t regret it!

Program Fee

Helping Abroad volunteers Program starts every 1st and 3rd Monday of each month.

Are you looking for a safe and affordable volunteer abroad experience? Do you want to see the fees you pay, being utilized towards the welfare of the project and host families? Helping abroad, a 501 c 3, offer volunteer programs at unbeatable, low prices. At Helping Abroad, we maintain a level of transparency of funds, especially for volunteers who want to know where and how the fee they pay are being channelized. The volunteer fee is paid directly to the families that host volunteers and the project that volunteers work on. The program fee is divided as registration fee ($299) and weekly fee. The registration fee is used to cover our expenses like advertisement and office expenses. The weekly fee is divided between room/local food (3 times a day, 50-70%) and project donation/ support to local project staff (30-50%) and local coordination fee (10%). The allocation may differ according to location and project type. Therefore, our coordinator will explain these issues before you pay the fees. Please find the breakdown of the cost in a weekly basis below:

Duration Teaching English Special Education Sea turtle conservation
1 Week   $258   $258   $279
2 Weeks   $391   $391   $433
3 Weeks   $524   $524   $587
4 Weeks   $657   $657   $741
5 Weeks   $815   $815   $920
6 Weeks   $948   $948   $1,074
7 Weeks   $1,081   $1,081   $1,228
8 Weeks   $1,214   $1,214   $1,382
9 Weeks   $1,372   $1,372   $1,561
10 Weeks   $1,505   $1,505   $1,715
11 Weeks   $1,638   $1,638   $1,869
12 Weeks   $1,771   $1,771   $2,023
Airport:   Manzanillo   Manzanillo   Puerto Vallarta
Pick-up fee $50 $50 $110
Additional Fee
  • Mandatory Comprehensive Travel Insurance $3.49/day
Program Fees Cover
  • Accommodation (host family or camp)
  • Food (3 local food a day)
  • Airport pick up)
  • Program Orientation
  • In-country support
  • Personalized project
  • Pre-departure information
  • Certificate of completion
  • Fundraising ideas and letters
  • Discount for returning volunteers
Program Fees Exclude
  • Visas
  • Airfare
  • Personal expenses on soft drinks and foods
  • Daily transportation
  • Airport return transfer

The volunteering programs in Mexico fees will cover expenses that will begin on the first day of the program (usually the first or third Monday of the month) to the last day of the program. If you arrive before the first day of the program or you decide you stay beyond your program’s last day, you will be responsible for the additional expenses, which would typically be around $30 a day for room and meals at a hostel.

Volunteer Programs

Teaching English (Melaque)

volunteer teaching students

Tourism, trade, commerce and globalization are quickly on the rise in Mexico, increasing the demand for English. The influence of American culture, particularly movies and music, has also raised the level of interest in English. As a volunteer in Mexico teaching English to children, you will drastically improve their personal and professional opportunities and brighten their futures. In Mexico, many primary and secondary schools struggle to provide adequate English lessons, despite its growing importance. English speaking volunteers are highly valuable to these schools, which lack resources, appropriate facilities and qualified teachers. Helping Abroad partners with schools in and around Melaque. As a participant in the program, you will have a rewarding experience as you immerse yourself in a unique culture, improve educational environments and give your students hope at competing in a global market.

Educational Requirements and Project Skills

No specific skills, qualifications or experiences are required, although Spanish skills are desirable to communicate effectively. If your Spanish skills are poor, we suggest enrolling in our Spanish language course to make your stay more rewarding–both for you and for the people you help. You should have a passion for teaching and caring for children. Volunteers must be hardworking, patient, confident, enthusiastic and good with children. You should bring energy and enthusiasm to your projects.

Your Responsibilities as a Volunteer

The Helping Abroad volunteer teaching English in Mexico project offers an array of formal and informal educational programs for children. The primary responsibility for volunteers is teaching conversational English while making the language fun and interactive, but volunteer activities in Mexico will also include:

  • Working with local teachers
  • Assisting school administrations with curriculum development and planning lessons
  • Planning and leading extracurricular activities such as dancing, games, music, sports, art, etc.
  • Helping children successfully finish their homework
  • Assisting school administrations with fundraising and other operational tasks
  • Promoting health and sanitation
  • Teaching other subjects such as math, science and physical education
  • Helping local teachers with their English so they may teach more efficient classes in the future

Please Note:  The activities above are mere examples of volunteers’ daily activities, but this may change due to requests from local staff members and teachers. You will receive your work schedule from the school administration. In addition, you will work with a school supervisor that will provide guidance and assist you develop your teaching lessons. You are only required to work only 3 to 4 hours a day, Monday through Friday, therefore, you will have ample time to relax and explore Mexico.

Special Education Project (Barra de Navidad)

Volunteers with special children

Make children with disabilities feel special, be there for them, and in return your work will be warmly appreciated by the parents and the staff. Volunteer in Special Education Project in Mexico and work in a school that specializes in educating children in need. As a volunteer, you will work with staffs to ensure the school can run all their programs smoothly and help the disable children overcome their difficulties. The school is the only one in the region that helps these children. Their program is funded by the Mexican government, but the school is still financially not strong enough to hire all the staffs required to take care of children that travel from far to attend the school. With the help of volunteers like you, the school can run their programs, take better care of the children and make them believe in themselves. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to assist the children who really need dedicated volunteers.

Educational Requirements and Project Skills

No specific skills, qualifications or experiences are required, although Spanish skills are desirable to communicate effectively. If your Spanish skills are poor, we suggest enrolling in our Spanish language course to make your stay more rewarding–both for you and for the people you help. You should have a passion for teaching and caring children with learning disabilities. Volunteers must be hardworking, patient, confident, enthusiastic and good with children. You should bring energy and enthusiasm to your projects.

Your Responsibilities as a Volunteer

The Helping Abroad volunteer working in special education project in Mexico offers an array of formal and informal educational programs for children. Volunteers will work as assistants in classrooms, workshops or in activities that are fun and interactive, but volunteer activities can include:

  • Working with local teachers
  • Assisting school administrations with curriculum development and planning lessons
  • Planning and leading extracurricular activities such as dancing, games, music, sports, art, etc.
  • Helping children successfully finish their homework
  • Assisting school administrations with fundraising and other operational tasks
  • Promoting health and sanitation
  • Teaching other subjects such as math, science and physical education
  • Helping local teachers with their English so they may teach more efficient classes in the future

Please Note:   The activities above are mere examples of volunteers’ daily activities, but this may change due to requests from local staff members and teachers. You will receive your work schedule from the school administration. In addition, you will work with a school supervisor that will provide guidance and assist you develop your teaching lessons. You are only required to work only 3 to 4 hours a day, Monday through Friday, therefore, you will have ample time to relax and explore Mexico

Sea Turtle Conservation Project (Campamento Majahaus)

Volunteers in turtle conservation

Sea Turtles have swum in the ocean for more than 100 millions year than human beings have been in this earth. But human activities like fishing, pollution, turtle egg and habitat destructions are threatening to wipe turtles out. It is time now to promote sea turtle conservation and save these wonderful marine animals.

The fishermen in the Pacific Coast of Mexico near the Colima region have documented a sharp decline in sea turtles, mainly olive ridley turtles, coming off shore to lay eggs in the beach. The fishermen were so worried that they organized a team to start protecting the eggs so the hatched turtles could return to the ocean. Since then, the project has steadily increased the number of turtles returning to the ocean. Today, the project wants to expand the area where turtles lay eggs and recover more them and hatch them in a hatchery. The fishermen envision a return to time when thousands of turtles invaded the beach to lay eggs. The project wants to make this a reality.

So what are you waiting for? If you are an animal lover, this is the ideal project and the perfect opportunity to gain field experience, save turtles and travel to a tropical paradise!

Educational Requirements and Project Skills

No specific skills, qualifications or experiences are required, although Spanish skills are desirable to communicate effectively. If your Spanish skills are poor, we suggest enrolling in our Spanish language course to make your stay more rewarding—both for you and for those you help. You should have a passion for turtles and the environment. Volunteers must be hardworking, patient, confident and enthusiastic. You should bring energy and enthusiasm to your projects.

Your Responsibilities as a Volunteer

As a volunteer working in the turtle conservation project in Mexico, you will work on a wide-range of activities. Depending on individual skills and interests and the needs of local staff in the conservation projects, volunteer roles and responsibilities may include:

  • Cleaning and conserving turtle habitats
  • Patrolling turtle habitats to collect eggs (nightly patrols)
  • Recording data (measuring turtles, nest temperatures, population, etc.)
  • Carefully moving turtle nests
  • Preventing predators
  • Monitoring and releasing hatchings
  • Developing organic fertilizer
  • Tagging turtles
  • Fundraising
  • Helping with information technology and web design for conservation efforts
  • Advertising and promoting conservation campaigns
  • Assisting with administrative and organizational tasks

Please Note:   The activities above are mere examples of volunteers’ daily activities, but this may change due to requests from local staff members and teachers. You will receive your work schedule from the school administration. In addition, you will work with a school supervisor that will provide guidance and assist you develop your teaching lessons. You are only required to work only 3 to 4 hours a day, Monday through Friday, therefore, you will have ample time to relax and explore Mexico.

Major FAQ's

  • Who will meet me in airport? What should I do if I am delayed or miss my flight? When should I arrive?
  • Please book your flight to the Manzanillo Playa de Oro International Airport (ZLO), Manzanillo, Mexico, which is the pick-up point for all Helping Abroad volunteers in Mexico. The Helping Abroad country coordinator will be waiting for you at the “Arrival” gate. Please look for a person with both the Helping Abroad’s company logo and your name on a sign card. In case your contact person is not there, please contact the Helping Abroad office and we will immediately follow up on your contact person whereabouts. Coordinators’ contact details are available in the pre-departure handbook. If your flight is delayed, immediately contact Helping Abroad so we can make adjustments to your program. Helping Abroad will be responsible for creating the necessary changes in your program.

    The program fee covers expenses from the first day of the program to the last day of the program. If you arrive before the first day of the program and/or stay beyond the last day of the program, you will be responsible for these expenses.

  • What are the visa requirements to volunteer in Mexico?
  • Volunteers must acquire a tourist Visa in their home country prior to departure for Mexico. You can read about visa information for Mexico here.

  • What do I need to know about health and safety in Mexico?
  • Volunteers should be aware of all health and safety information before traveling to Mexico. You can read about health and safety in Mexico on the website listed below:

  • What immunizations/vaccinations are recommended before arriving to Mexico?
  • We strongly recommend that volunteers obtain vaccinations before arriving in Mexico. You can speak with your health-care provider to determine which vaccinations you will need. Please read CDC recommendations about vaccinations and preventive medicine: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/mexico.htm

  • What is the local currency and exchange rate?
  • The Mexican Peso (MXN) is the official currency of the country. You can exchange money when you arrive at the airport in Manzanillo. ATM machines are widely available in Mexico and are the best way to get money. Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted in some larger cities. Make sure you notify your bank that you will be out of the country and give them your expected arrival/departure dates. This will prevent your account from being locked and you will be advised about any fraudulent charges.

    Please visit XE, a privately held online foreign exchange tool for rates. XE.com ( http://www.xe.com )

  • How can I communicate with my family/friends while I am abroad? Is there Internet access?
  • If you have an unlocked cell phone that contains a SIM card, we recommend that you bring it because you can buy a Mexican SIM card upon arrival. Phones are important to have for safety and communication with family and Helping Abroad staff. Internet cafes are widely available in larger cities, but less available in rural towns. You will have placement details in your pre-departure packet.

  • How is the climate in Mexico?
  • Mexico’s terrain is extremely varied and so is the weather. The weather in Mexico is determined not only by latitude but also by altitude. On the coast the climate is generally balmy year-round but some months are rainy and others dry. Mexico City can have days and nights that are quite chilly.

    For accurate weather please visit ACCU Weather ( http://www.accuweather.com )

  • What should I bring?
  • You can purchase basic necessities in Mexico at reasonable prices, but we suggest bringing the following:

    • An unlocked mobile phone (you can use it after buying a Mexican card)
    • Camera
    • Sleeping bag
    • Mosquito repellent
    • Insect repellent
    • Sunscreen
    • Books about Mexico
    • Map of Mexico
    • Toiletries
    • First aid kit
    • Flash light
    • Electricity adapter/converter
    • Sun glasses
    • Good shoes (for work and travel)
    • Towel
  • Should I bring gifts for my host family?
  • You are not required to bring a gift but it is common courtesy as a token of appreciation for hosting you. If you are working in orphanages or schools, you can bring items such as school supplies and games. Remember that many children will desire what you bring, so you may want to bring a large amount of one item (pencils, pens, notebooks, games, art supplies, etc).

NOTE: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) is derived from generic information about the country, and should not be used as a definitive travel guide. Travel information and situations abroad change constantly, and the information contained here may not be up to date. Participants should consult Helping Abroad staff or travel advisors to verify this information