ISLS: Schools: Summer Youth Spanish & Adventure Program

ISLS is a world leader in Youth Spanish Immersion Programs. Over the past 18 years, ISLS has welcomed literally thousands of students, parents and families to our unique and educational summer programs in Costa Rica. Each of our Teen Spanish Camps is designed to combine the learning of the language with fun, adventurous, educational and culturally significant activities. Our Children’s Camp in Playa Tamarindo is the only one of its kind in Latin America.

For the summer of 2010, we are offering an exciting selection of camps and locations. We will have ISLS owned and operated programs in Costa Rica in Playa Dominical, Playa Tamarindo and Turrialba. We are also offering Spanish immersion programs in Spain through our affiliated partner schools in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid, Castila), San Sebastian (coastal Basque Country), Puerto de Santa Maria (Cadiz, coastal Andalusia), and Sevilla (inland Andalusia).

The Teen Spanish and Surf Camp in Playa Dominical, Costa Rica, is still our signature program and the only one of its kind in Latin America. Our Teen Spanish Immersion and Volunteer Program is offered in Turrialba, Costa Rica. The Spanish and Adventure Camp is now offered in both camp locations. Our Children’s Spanish, Art and Sports Camp is in Playa Tamarindo, which is a great place for a family vacation.

All three teen camps in Costa Rica are designed so that students can mix and match our programs in order to combine multiple options. If you would like to do one week in one program and one in another, this is possible. Enrollment in all three camps is limited to 15 students per week. This means that students get the highest student to counselor ratio of any teen program in Latin America, 5 to 1. You will need to sign up in advance to secure your slot.

Youth Camp Discounts!

We offer two different types of discounts for our Youth Spanish Camps in Costa Rica; Sibling and Long Term. The Sibling Discount is for families that send two or more children at the same time. Each child will receive $100/week off the standard price of the camp. For the Long Term Discount, any student who attends for four or more weeks will receive $100/week off the standard price of the camp. These discounts can be used together and they available for all three teen camps as well as for our Children’s camp. For more information on this discounts, please contact us directly.

Start Dates

* Adventure Camp location July 11 will be in Turrialba and July 18 will be in Dominical.

Camp Prices

$295/week is the Tour and Lodging Supplement for the Surf and Adventure camps.

$600/week is the Standard Price for the Children’s Spanish, Sports and Art Camp.

Camp Information

Below you will find a brief description of each camp. For more complete information including: itineraries, list of tours and references, please contact us. Also, if you give us your mailing address we can send you a photo CD-ROM.

There are six different weekend adventure tours, one each weekend during the summer. These tours are designed to showcase the diversity and beauty of Costa Rica. During these tours students will river raft, zip line, horseback ride, snorkel, repel down waterfalls, visit volcanoes and get up close and personal with Costa Rican wildlife. No other teen camp in Costa Rica has as wide a range of locations and adventure activities!

Teen Surf and Spanish Camp (Ages 14 - 17)

This is our signature program and is what we believe to be the most unique Teen Summer Spanish Camp in Central America. Students from ages 14 to 17 are eligible to participate in this exceptional Spanish immersion program. The camp offers interactive Spanish classes, surf lessons, and weekend adventure tours, as well as group and cultural activities.

This is the perfect program for high school students looking for a fun Spanish learning environment, while at the same time either learning to surf or practicing their skills on some of the best breaks in Latin America. Each week long session includes 5 days of Spanish classes, 4 hours/day, along with 4 afternoons of surfing. Students are lodging together in a local 3 star eco resort near the beach. Each weekend, students will participate in a 2 day adventure tour to a different part of Costa Rica.

The ISLS Surf and Spanish Camp is located in Playa Dominical, Costa Rica, at our private language institute. This is a small beach pueblo on the central Pacific coast of Costa Rica. There are about 800 permanent residents in the town and the area is very tropical and undeveloped. There is abundant wildlife in the surrounding rainforest as well as miles of unspoiled beaches and coves. It is truly a topical paradise!

Each week students will participate in a beach clean up effort to protect the natural environment. Other volunteer activities are also available.

Teen Spanish Immersion and Adventure Camp (Ages 14 - 18)

This camp combines interactive Spanish lessons each morning with afternoon and weekend adventure tours. 5 days a week, from Monday through Friday, students will attend Spanish classes for 4 hours in small groups. In the afternoons, Monday through Thursday, they will take part in half day adventure tours. Then, each weekend, they will participate in a 2 day adventure excursion. These excursions are designed to display the diversity and beauty of Costa Rica.

This camp is designed for students who are interested in exhilarating and challenging adventure activities. Students will visit local national parks, kayak, river raft, zip line, hike and rappel. When you combine intensive morning Spanish classes, afternoon tours, evening cultural activities with exciting weekend adventures you get an amazing Costa Rican experience.

For summer 2010 we are doing only 2 weeks of the Adventure Camp. One week will be in Playa Dominical and the other in Turrialba. In Playa Dominical, students will stay at a local 3 star eco-resort and in Turrialba they will stay with local host families. Students can do both weeks of the Adventure camp and experience 2 different parts of Costa Rica. Or, students can combine the Adventure Camp with either the Surf or Volunteer camps. Each location is very different from the other, which offers us completely separate afternoon adventure opportunities.

While volunteering is not a part of this camp, we do have opportunities that can be added. Any student needing service hours can add them to the program.

Teen Spanish Immersion and Volunteer Camp (Ages 14 - 17)

Our Teen Spanish and Volunteer Camp is a true Spanish and cultural immersion program. The camp combines four hours of intense Spanish classes in small groups in the morning with volunteer activities four afternoons a week. Students will volunteer at a local orphanage as well as a state run senior home. There will also be projects in the area that will help the environment and sustainable living. Students live with local, specially chosen, Costa Rican host families. They receive two meals a day with their Tico families. There is also time to interact with the families and experience the culture.

This is the perfect program for those students who are very serious about learning Spanish. Along with staying with local families and volunteering, students participate in different afternoon and evening cultural activities. These activities are designed to promote the Costa Rican culture. These activities along with volunteer opportunities help the student to speak the language outside of class and host family. On the weekends there are fun and exciting activities that showcase Costa Rica’s natural beauty.

The town of Turrialba has 35,000 inhabitants and is located in a mountain valley, 1½ hours from the capital city, San Jose. It is a very safe and accessible town with none of the traffic and congestion of the capital. Three rivers crisscross the valley with a large man made lake about 10 minutes outside of town. The temperature in Turrialba is very mild with daytime highs in the mid 80s and nighttime highs in the mid 60s.

Children’s Spanish, Art, Sports & Adventure Camp (Ages 6- 12)

The Children’s Spanish, Art and Sports Camp is for families looking for an educational vacation for their children. This is the only camp of its type in Latin America and is designed to fit in with family vacations and holidays. We combine a number of different activities throughout each day to keep the students motivated and engaged. This is a much less intense language immersion experience than our teen and adult programs. It is an age appropriate atmosphere for younger children to learn Spanish and have fun.

Students can participate in this camp from 1 to 5 weeks. It is open to all families traveling to Costa Rica with children between the ages of 6 and 12. Parents can take part in our adult Spanish language courses or they are free to relax while their children participate in the camp. Playa Tamarindo is a great place for a family vacation. It is a true tropical, dry forest paradise with plenty of things to do for all ages. It has a safe swimming beach, as well as a great surf break.

The program is from 8am to 2pm, Monday through Friday. The weekends in the middle are open for families to travel and do their own thing. Every morning parents will first drop their children off at the ISLS Spanish Immersion Center and then pick them up in the afternoon. During the day there will always be 2 hours of fun and interactive Spanish classes. There will also be at least 1 other featured activity each afternoon. These activities are art lessons, surf lessons, zip lining tour, soccer matches with local Costa Rican children, beach volleyball games, swimming at the beach, visit to a nearby animal rescue park, and boat tour of the estuary.

Playa Tamarindo is a beach on the northwest coast of Costa Rica. It is in the tropical dry forest and is one of the most popular family friendly destinations in Costa Rica. There are a number of reasons for this: Tamarindo and the surrounding area has the best weather in all of Costa Rica with the most days of sunshine. The beach is large with white sand and stretches around a mile in front of the town. There are a lot of different lodging options available. No mater the budget you can choose from inexpensive hostels to ritzy 4 star resorts. The public infrastructure in and around the town are some of the best in the country. The Liberia airport is only 45 minutes from Tamarindo and services most international carriers. Put it all together with the diversity of wildlife, the abundant national parks and the many adventure activities and you have a wonderful destination for the whole family.

2010 Summer Youth Spanish Camps