Protecting sea turtle nesting activity - Lakonikos

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Greece Youth activities Environment Youth activities Environment +2 Permanent

About the project

📝 Detailed information

🏢 About the local organisation

ARCHELON, a nonprofit conservation organization active since 1983, runs a number of volunteer projects for the protection of sea turtles and their habitats in Greece every year. More than 500 international volunteers per year participate in our projects, including about 30 field leaders. Every year we are entering in internship agreements with 70 Universities and other educational establishments from all over the world.

💼 What the programme involves

From late May to late September every year, volunteers of all ages and backgrounds from all over the world participate in ARCHELON’s sea turtle conservation Lakonikos Bay project. The activities vary depending on the season (i.e. nesting season: late-May through mid-August, and hatching season: mid-July through late September), and include the following:

• ‘Patrolling’ the beaches every day (Morning observation), during which loggerhead reproductive activity is recorded.

• Protecting the nests in situ (with ‘fencing’) from both human activity and/or predation by mammals, and relocation of nests, when necessary.

• Constructing special ‘shading’ structures to guide hatchlings to the sea in areas where artificial light (from roads, shops, etc) may disorient the hatchlings when they emerge from the nest.

• Excavating nests after the hatchlings have emerged, in order to estimate the hatching success.

• Increasing public awareness of both tourists and local residents by operating a seasonal information station in Mavrovouni village, manning information tables, and organizing presentations at tourist facilities.

• “Patrolling” the beaches during the day to raise bathers’ awareness of the importance of the nesting beaches.

• Driving, maintaining equipment and the camp and its facilities (i.e. cleaning, etc.) and various jobs such as painting and carpentry. Artistic skills such as drawing and photography can also be quite useful.

• Following the protocol for dealing with injured or dead sea turtles, if necessary.

🏠 Accommodation on site

Volunteers will live in the campground designated by ARCHELON for the duration of their participation in the project.

Accommodation costs are included in the Participation Fee.

Volunteers must be prepared to take part in a communal life, and to live and work in both populated and secluded areas, often as members of small teams and usually under harsh conditions. Although relevant experience is not necessary, the ability to live and co-operate with people of different cultures and backgrounds is essential.

Camp ground Facilities:

- WC

- Hot water showers

- Kitchen with basic equipment

- Wi-Fi

- a taverna (restaurant)

- café

- swimming pool

- self-service washing machines and dryers (low cost ~ €4)

- a very warm and friendly atmosphere

📍 About the location

Located at the southern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula, Lakonikos Bay is an important nesting area for the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), with an average number of more than 200 nests recorded annually. The program covers almost 25 km of beaches around the town of Gytheio and next to the Evrotas estuaries. Gytheio is a beautiful town, characterized by its picturesque port, neoclassical houses, narrow, uphill alleys, stone-paved streets, and marble stairs. The area is famous for some of the most dramatic and varied scenery in the Peloponnese, much of it still wonderfully underexplored!

🎒 Leisure activities

During your free time, there are several places of both natural and cultural interest that are definitely worth visiting! All the Mani area (i.e. the capital city of Areopoli, Limeni, Oitilo Vathia, Cape Tainaro) with its forbidding tower houses, stone villages and Byzantine chapels, is impressive, and the area has an eventful history. A visit to Mani can be combined with a visit to the famous Diros caves (located less than an hour away from Gytheio), where the magic of the colours and the shapes formed by stalactites and stalagmites create a unique spectacle as you travel along the underground river in a gondola-like boat.

Travelling east for a drive of about two hours, you will reach the well-preserved medieval island-fortress town of Monemvasia. You can wander through the cobbled streets (where you can see the home of the famous Greek poet Yiannis Ritsos) and experience what it was like living within a walled city, or enjoy the light-colored sandy beaches and the blue-green waters of the very popular Elafonisos island. If you travel towards the modern city of Sparta, the emblematic archaeological site of Mystras offers an exceptional example of a well-preserved, fortified late-Byzantine city and a very beautiful landscape.

⚠️ Requirements

1. Applicants must be over 18 years old.

2. They must be able to communicate fluently in English and must be covered by a personal health insurance policy.

3. The minimum period of participation is 5 weeks. Exceptionally, returning volunteers can join their projects for 4 weeks.

4. A combination of participation in more than one projects is possible if the duration of stay in the second/ third of them is 4 weeks or longer.

5. Applicants must be in very good health and in good physical shape due to the projects' physically-demanding tasks and living conditions.

6. Volunteers must bring their own camping gear (e.g. sleeping bag, tent, torch, alarm clock, etc).

ℹ️ Additional information

Sea turtles come into the bay to nest in early May, together with the first tourists visiting these beaches. The first team will be expected to kick off the project and our partner’s Field Station on the 26th of May. Monitoring, nest protection and public awareness activity will get busier every day up to mid-June.

From mid-June to about mid-August, everything escalates: final number of nests is reached, numbers of visitors on the beaches go up fast and reach their peak, and first hatchlings are out. A higher number of volunteers is expected in this busy period.

From mid-August to end of September hundreds of hatchlings reach to the sea with the help of volunteers and this an excellent time for public awareness and conservation work combined. The Field Station and the project are closed around the end of September.

Participation is arranged in full weeks, each to be calculated as 7 days from the date of taking up duties (e.g. if starting on a Tuesday, last day of duties will be Monday). The arrival date to the project site is the day before taking up duties. The departure day from the project site is the day after the last day of duties.

Minimum participation is 4 weeks

Volunteer participation fees cover the cost of accommodation, administration, training and accident insurance coverage (up to a limit) as well as the annual subscription to our partner.

The participation fee is paid once (in a single payment i.e. no partial payments are accepted) and proof of payment needs to be sent to our partner before the volunteer status is confirmed.

Please note

• Greek speakers are welcome and a specific number of them will be accepted with a reduced volunteer participation fee under the same rules & cancelation policy.

• You will need to be in the project one day before your first day of participation and you can stay one day after the last day of participation in the project.

• The time of arrival needs to be sent by e-mail to the Volunteer coordinator at least 5 working days before a volunteer arrives to take up duties.

• Each volunteer gets an exclusive “volunteer” T-shirt upon arrival.

• Our partner is not in a position to offer financial assistance. Volunteers are expected to cover their travel and personal costs along with their food expenses.

• Because of the communal lifestyle, volunteers usually share living expenses, estimated at around €25-€30 per week. Anyone who does not wish to participate in the communal arrangement can estimate their expenses at about €15 per day.

Interested in this project? Create your account and apply online.

📷 Project photos

Protecting sea turtle nesting activity - Lakonikos

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📅 Available sessions

arch2025

25/05/2025 at 00:00 → 25/09/2025 at 00:00

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Archelon-05

25/05/2024 at 00:00 → 25/09/2024 at 00:00

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Archelon-03-2023

25/05/2023 at 00:00 → 30/09/2023 at 00:00

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arch2026

25/05/2026 at 00:00 → 25/09/2026 at 00:00

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The Peloponnese - Lakonikos1

08/05/2021 → 15/06/2021

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Archelon-05

01/05/2022 → 15/10/2022

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The peloponnese - Lakonikos 2

16/06/2021 → 20/08/2021

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The peloponnese - Lakonikos 3

21/08/2021 → 15/10/2021

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ℹ️ Key information

Age required

18–65 years old

Solidarity donation

800.00 EUR

French tax residents may be eligible for a tax reduction of up to 66% of their costs (membership, plane tickets, solidarity donation).

📍 Location

Gytheio 232 00, Greece

Greece

🌍 Location info

Local currency

Euro Member Countries (EUR / €)

Timezone

Eastern European Standard Time

Local time: 21:04 (12/11/2026)

🛡️ Before you leave

Security information

📞 Contact us

[email protected]

+32 2 888 67 13

Contact form

✅ Features

🏠 Accommodation

Collective Other

🗣️ Languages spoken

English Greek