Oyster Worldwide
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βοΈ βοΈ Welcome to Oyster Worldwide
Your Gateway to Extraordinary Journeys!
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Journey on a transformative travel experience with Oyster Worldwide, where responsible travel meets unparalleled adventure. Since our establishment in 2000, we have been the trailblazers in crafting meaningful and unforgettable journeys, offering over 70 handpicked programs across 25 stunning destinations worldwide.
πΎ Animal Welfare and Conservation Volunteering: Join us in making a positive impact on the world's wildlife. Our animal welfare and conservation projects provide you with the unique opportunity to contribute to the well-being of our planet's incredible creatures, creating lasting memories and leaving a positive mark on the environment.
πΌ Paid Work Abroad: Take your career global with our paid work abroad programs. Immerse yourself in new cultures while gaining invaluable international work experience. Stand out in the competitive job market by acquiring skills that transcend borders.
ποΈ Adventure Tours, and More β Customize Your Adventure: Explore the world on your terms with our diverse range of options. Whether you're a nature enthusiast, culture seeker, or family adventurer, our trekking, tours, and family adventure programs cater to your unique preferences, promising awe-inspiring experiences and memories that last a lifetime.
π Unparalleled Experiences for Mature Travelers: Age is no barrier to adventure at Oyster Worldwide. Our specially curated mature travel trips offer enriching experiences, cultural immersion, and the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals who share a passion for exploration.
π₯ Why Choose Oyster Worldwide?
β Two decades of expertise in responsible travel β Over 70 handpicked programs to choose from β A commitment to ethical and sustainable travel β Unmatched customer satisfaction β Memorable experiences that transcend boundaries
Join Oyster Worldwide β Your Passport to Extraordinary Adventures! Don't just dream of the world π make it your playground with Oyster Worldwide. Start your journey today, and let us redefine the way you travel βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ
Reviews 528
Emma
Aug 08,2019I travelled to the turtle project with a 10 and 12 year old. Watching a turtle come out the sea and lay her eggs was phenomenal and an incredible experience which we will never forget. Unfortunately it was too early in the season for the hatchlings and also the community projects had not started so there was very little for us to do during the day. Nice group of volunteers made up of gap year students and families. The organisers were all very friendly.
Thomas Ferris
Aug 08,2019Marine Conservation Volunteer, Koh Phangan, Thailand I had an absolutely amazing time from start to finish. The organisation and support from Oyster (thank you Anne) was superb and even though it was my first time travelling alone everything went smoothly. My time in Thailand was probably one of the best experiences in my life. I met up with some fantastic people and the supervisors at CORESEA were brilliant.
Ruth howlett
Aug 08,2019I had a wonderful time. It was an incredible experience and I feel very fortunate that I was able to go. The two weeks were very different but both were excellent and there was so much to see and learn and enjoy. The local staff were very knowledgeable, friendly and professional and delighted to share their knowledge. It was an amazing experience and I would recommend the trip to others. Georgie, in the UK office, was very helpful. She kept in good contact with me and was very encouraging.
KRISTIN FRY
Aug 07,2019Best experience EVER!
Alex Linnell
Aug 06,2019Romania Bear Sanctuary I had an amazing time in Romania and would love to go back in the future. Very well organised overall with day trips on the weekends arranged for new volunteers. The bear sanctuary is an unbelievable place to be and the people I met were a massive part of my enjoyment, Razvan our local contact couldn't have been more helpful. The city of Brasov is also extremely nice, it's very clean and feels very safe. It's one of the best things I have ever done.
customer
Aug 03,2019I loved my trip to China. It was one of my greatest experiences and I met many new people. This would not have been possible without Oyster Worldwide
Cathy
Jul 31,2019Great support. Oyster answered all my questions!
Alex Bowden
Jul 30,2019Oyster were really helpful throughout the project and were really easy to contact whilst abroad if I had any questions. Before leaving for the project they gave very helpful advice on everything you need to know and definitely made the process very uncomplicated whilst also being very enthusiastic about the projects you were about to do which definitely helped to calm the pre-departure nerves! The projects themselves were totally amazing - I enjoyed every minute of them. The sports coaching was especially rewarding as you could see how much the kids enjoyed the sport (you can really tell this by the very excited reaction from the kids when the bus arrives at the schools for coaching) and all the volunteers loved spending time with the kids especially singing and dancing at the end of the coaching sessions which was a big highlight. Spare time around the project was normally spent playing games with your friends for example volleyball was very popular as well as pool, table tennis or just chilling and watching tv as well as games night too - my favourite being a huge game of hide and seek and of course the weekly karaoke nights which was another favourite! The big 5 experience was also great. It was so good to see how previous volunteers had made a positive impact on the reserve and therefore how much your work would make an impact too. Both projects organised great weekend activities too and all were a lot of fun. Overall my time in South Africa was the best experience of my life so thank you Oyster for unforgettable memories!
MHerne
Jul 26,2019Make sure the ratio of boys and girls is what you are expecting. Also ask about the ages of the other volunteers.
Carter
Jul 25,2019Great communication - Before, during, and after. Oyster were great at helping my friend and I on our travels and volunteering. We had many different volunteer programs and they helped us sort these out into a plan. They also helped out on the travelling that didn't involve one of their volunteer programs. They stayed in contact with me throughout my travelling, to make sure that everything was going smoothly. Couldn't ask for more. Best thing I've ever done.
Joe Craven
Jul 24,2019Very good! They were very helpful, made the entire experience very easy, and were generally able to answer all of my questions. Also, they made you feel comfortable and secure when travelling to less well protected areas of the world, and gave me memories that I'll never forget.
A.
Jul 23,2019The work at the sanctuary can be a little bit messy, especially at the foodprep when it comes to exploding dairy packaging or dripping oil when fence painting, but it's fun when you're with the other volunteers and put on some good music! Watching the bears is awesome and you can take some really good photos when going on a feeding tour that is offered to you while you're a volunteer. Razvan is great and always trying to make everything possible for you, e.g. any transport facilities on your days off. Even when you're there for 2 weeks only you'll have a lot of fun with the other volunteers and maybe make some new friends. Or you just cuddle the dogs at the sanctuary or the cats at the flat.
Alex
Jul 22,2019I find its bad to go into something with too many expectations but the Portugal constructions met my expectations pretty dead on. You work for half the day and are free to explore the city the other half. The Hostel you are located at is very friendly, helpful and has a great laid back vibe. Met great other volunteers there and made cool memories June 2019 - 2 weeks
Guillaume Lauck
Jul 19,2019Oyster Worldwide did a very good job by - giving all important informations before and after booking, - phone contacts, - giving kit list for recommended equipment before departure, - asking for a feedback during the trip, - being reactive on each email I sent - choosing partnerships with local associations with social and environmental awareness !
Ella Rolf
Jul 18,2019Hello So a few weeks ago I did a two week volunteer trip to Romania to help out at the bear sanctuary. The experience was quite insightful and I have some great memories at the sanctuary and in the town I was staying as well. At the sanctuary, me and my friends had a tour of the sanctuary and it was beautiful, there was so much space for the bears to roam around in as the enclosures were quite large and they had all the natural habitat that they needed, like they would have in the wild I was quite impressed. When it came to the work we mostly did food prep. Even though the food prep is very important task, I did feel like it was getting repetitive at times and I wish we did other tasks whilst we were there. But unfortunately it rained during the evenings so we couldn't do any outside work. However I was excited to actually see the bears get feed as we drove around the sanctuary to see the food be given to the bears. I say that was the highlight while I was there. Another highlight while I was there was when I had an opportunity to actually adopt a bear called yogi, I'll recommend people to do it as the money that you give, goes towards the bears. However, I would like to see a couple of improvements hopefully in the near future when it comes to food prep building. 1) Better hygiene. When I was there the only thing you could clean a knife with was just water i wish we had some disinfectant to clean them better. And not only that I think the creates that we put the food in maybe be cleaned better too with disinfectant. Also once the workers used the creates that had food in, I didn't see them being cleaned out and they just been stack up with the other creates to be used again, I occasionally see old food still in the creates. 2) Saftey. The knives that we use for food prep are placed on a bench. Which could be dangerous as the dogs at the sanctuary come into the food prep room and they could easily reach the knife and possibly put it in their mouths. It would be nice in future to place the knives in a more safer place like a knife rack or a box. To conclude I had a really great time at the sanctuary and seeing the bears close up. Hopefully the couple suggestion that I made earlier are useful and insightful. But all in all I'll definitely reccomend this to others. And big thank you to Oyster for helping me experience this I appreciate it and I'll come back again soon.
adamski2108
Jul 17,2019This is the second time I have volunteered through Oyster Worldwide. Last year I spent 2 weeks at the bear sanctuary in Romania and loved it so much I came back for 6 weeks at the start of July. It was super easy to book and Anne was really helpful and is always there to answer questions you may have. There is tonnes of information about the project on the website and it makes planning your trip so much easier. When I arrived back in Romania it felt like I'd never left. RΔzvan is amazing and incredibly helpful and will make anyone's time here fun and memorable. The apartment is clean, spacious and has everything you need to have a comfortable stay. The other volunteers are great company and we often explore together or relax with a drink on an evening. Brasov and the Transilvania region are gorgeous. Big mountains covered in forest with rolling green hills in between. The city has lots to do and if you want to go and explore the area, RΔzvan is there to help. He helped us to find the best way of getting to SighiΘoara, which is definitely worth a visit. The sanctuary is stunning and I love being there surrounded by the bears enjoying their lovely home. Their stories are very upsetting but thanks to many amazing people, these gorgeous bears can enjoy being bears again. It is truly a privilege to walk around the sanctuary and see them walk out of the forest to enjoy the food we helped prepare. The daily tasks can range from preparing food (bear ice cream, fruit, veg, meat and even filling bread with honey) to painting fences etc. When the work is done there is always time to watch the bears playing and splashing around in the pools. There are also wolves, donkeys, goats, horses, deer and of course the sanctuary dogs, who love to say hello, especially when there is food around! It's great to be back!
Katerina Chrobok
Jul 17,2019This volunteering experience was everything that I have expected and more. It started off with a warm welcome from the local volunteer coordinator, Razvan, and other volunteers. During the mornings, I worked at the children's hospital in the neuropsychiatric department. As an aspiring doctor, I found it very interesting as I got to work with a wide variety of children with different illnesses/disorders. My experience was further enhanced by the play therapist, Cami, who was very friendly and answered all my questions regarding the Romanian healthcare system and helped me understand the illnesses/disorders that I got to witness. During the afternoon, I have traveled with the mobile unit, either with the nurse or physio. I got to see very different yet very interesting cases with Bianca and Janina. Both were very friendly and strongly contributed to making my work experience as enjoyable as it could have been. With Bianca, I got to see the process of dressing open wounds such as ulcers and even got some hands-on experience as she taught me how to measure the blood pressure of patients and then let me do it. With Janina, I got to see many patients with paralysis of certain body parts due to different causes. I got to watch the process of massaging and exercising the paralyzed body part. Both Bianca and Janina were explaining the patient's case to me together with their treatment, and any time I had questions, they were more than happy to answer them. Lastly, Brasov is a beautiful place and there is always something to do over the weekends. I received a list of places to visit and things to see on the day of my arrival. Transport was always provided if the desired visit was not within walking distance. Overall, I really enjoyed my time here and hope to return next year!
Georgia
Jul 12,2019I have travelled with Oyster before (on their turtle Costa Rica programme) so I had more trust in using them again compared to another agent. This time I did the Romania bear sanctuary programme which was awesome and I had an amazing time there. The bears have had horrible pasts and it is wonderful to see them living in such a peaceful and natural environment. Oyster are a great company and I will use them again however there were a few things that popped up that I thought were a bit off. One of the reasons my partner and I wanted to volunteer at the bear sanctuary was to take part in monitoring the behaviour of the bears. This was advertised on their old website (which has now been updated) and is missing on the new website so when we arrived we found out that this wasn't part of the project which was disappointing to us. As much as I enjoyed working at the sanctuary, much of the work was food preparation and the description of this on the website and from the staff was very brief. I understand that volunteers need to do the jobs that are available at the sanctuary, but doing food prep all day long, stinking of expired dairy products was not quite what we expected. Of course, it's part of the job and helps the sanctuary out, it was just a bit disappointing that we weren't told what the food preparation actually involved until we got there. I was quite shocked at how poor the health and safety aspects were in the food preparation room - the use of knives and the floor being slippery is really an accident waiting to happen. The crates which the food is prepared / stored in are never washed so they stink, we were never told or encouraged to clean the crates ourselves. There is a first aid kit and hand sanitizer in the food preparation room but I don't think it's enough. Even a wet floor sign would be good! Another thing that I didn't really like was that we weren't supervised. We were left on our own at the sanctuary and if we had any problems we would need to call Razvan (the Oyster rep - a top guy!!) The staff at the sanctuary speak very little English so if we had a question we were unable to ask them. As someone with high anxiety and Autism, I found it extremely difficult to make a call to Razvan for any reason, my partner ended up doing all the calls for me and then helping me with the work. I think there is a fault here, if my partner was not there to help me I don't know what I would have done. Either someone who speaks English needs to be around on the grounds or the volunteers should be supervised - this would also help to make sure the volunteers are doing the job correctly. On a positive side of things, the flat we stayed in was nice, comfortable and had a washing machine which made laundry a lot easier! It was right in the centre of town so it took minutes to walk anywhere. Brasov is absolutely beautiful and I miss the bears loads already !! Apart from a few negatives, I really did have an amazing time in Romania and would recommend the project to anyone who doesn't mind getting mucky and loves animals.
Stuart Geeves
Jul 11,2019Both good and bad We did the bear sanctuary work in Zarnesti in Romania. Would like to stress that we worked with Razvan in Romania, such a top guy. The sanctuary - nice. And good to see a good home for the rescued bears. Feeding and food prep is interesting. However there is a definite hygiene issue. Crates after feeding aren't cleaned. They could have had raw meat. Bread. Veg or dairy in them, not even washed. Floor is extremely slippery which is bad as you have to use a knife all of the time. No ventilation when working in the food prep room. So when the sanctuary workers park their vehicle in the room, the fumes from the vans are pumped into a confined space. No face masks or even clothes to protect your breathing. The mould you have on the bread, which the bears can eat, produced a large mould cloud. And after one particular day I was caughing up green dirt. Accommodation - average. WiFi was out for almost a week (not a big issue tbh) Basic appliances, not a microwave. Bathroom floods as shower curtain didn't fit correctly. Boiler overflow was a small water bottle, which overflows, constantly. We were not in the Oyster flat but an airbnb However the flat placement and Brasov itself. Was beautiful, people who work for Oyster have been brilliant throughout. I would use them again, Anne had been very helpful throughout. Following the comments from Oyster after my initial review. If there are cleaning materials for the volunteers to use, for crates, and or spillages. Unfortunately they had not been pointed out to our group on our initial tour of the sanctuary and food prep area, however since speaking with Oyster, these have been located and highlights that they are available for other groups. Unfortunately there was no longer hose or water broom for us to clean the floor with either (or again, if there was it was not immediately available to us, and also when we asked) - same for this, they have since been located and they are indeed available for use. I think that when we asked the question about the at the time, the question may have been misunderstood. Miscommunication happens I suppose. Update: A few months after this, and a couple of phone calls with Oyster, everything mentioned above has been actioned and a video produced onsite for all safety tips. This was great to see that they took this seriously. I even assisted on the editing of the video myself. So I have increased the review up to 5 as this exceeds my expectations and I was so impressed on how they dealt with it.
Aliya Prichard-Casey
Aug 09,2019Oyster were absolutely brilliant in helping organise my trip abroad and made me feel extremely safe and comfortable travelling so far. I found a truly unique experience with oyster and my trip will forever be remembered fondly.