Costa Rica Ecovillage Tour
12 DAYS | Embark on a transformative tour of the intentional communities in Costa Rica
Get exclusive access to eco-communities.
The eco-adventure you’ve dreamed of is waiting for you in the lush lands of Costa Rica. Home to dozens of the world’s leading ecovillage models, we have chosen a selection of the most diverse and inspiring examples for you to experience. Due to decades of relationship building with these communities, you will get access to the founders, residents, and incredible sustainable living homes simply not available to anyone else.
This isn’t just another vacation—it’s an immersion in a whole new way of being on our planet.
Costa Rica Ecovillage Tour
12 DAYS | Starting from: $3399*
June 9-20, 2024
Super early bird sale now!
Super early bird sale now!
Jan 12-23, 2025
*USD. Payment plans available.
Tour Highlights
What you can expect to experience during your time in Costa Rica.
Visit 8 Communities Over 12 Days: Travel to the most inspiring models for sustainable community living, enjoying quality time with their founders and residents.
Build Community within a Small Group: Our group will itself become an intentional community on wheels, deepening relationships and practicing cooperative culture with each other.
Explore Costa Rica’s Beautiful Nature: Dive into stunning landscapes, from rainforests to beaches, experiencing how ecovillages blend sustainability with the nature around them.
Gain Practical Guidance for Your Own Project: Get insights from ecovillage experts to fuel your sustainable living project, turning inspiration into reality.
Enjoy a True Eco-Vacation Adventure: Relish in a meticulously curated experience that combines the thrill of adventure with the comfort of all-inclusive travel.
Featured Communities
Experience the below communities during the January ecovillage tour. Subject to change.
Alegría Village
Location: San Mateo
Land: 70 hectares
Accepting New Members: Yes
Website: alegriavillage.com
Alegría Village is a new ecological neighborhood in the hills of San Mateo, Alajuela, Costa Rica, dedicated to best practices in regenerative living and design. Nestled on 70 hectares (170 acres) of fertile farmland, Alegría includes extensive permaculture food forests with hundreds of fruit trees, edible community gardens, abundant springs and creeks that supply our water, and hiking and biking trails for exploring our natural surroundings.
Each neighbor has their own space - their own private land and home - and we all share a community center, pool & hot tub, yoga & meditation shala, coworking hub, permaculture farm, and sacred spaces tucked throughout the property. We now have over 135 neighbors, from 32 different countries (including many Costa Rican families) calling Alegría Village home.
La Ecovilla Original
Location: San Mateo
Land: 42 acres
Accepting New Members: Yes
Website: laecovilla.com
Our original La Ecovilla welcomes 43 families from 29 different countries. They built their home on this former cattle farmland, first transformed into an edible forest then organized with roads and general services by 2012. Located in the heart of Costa Rica’s fruit growing region. Residents enjoy a peaceful land and purposeful life dedicated to nature and each other's care. Today there are many shared spaces, eco services and activities.
Ecovilla San Mateo
Location: San Mateo
Land: 494 acres
Accepting New Members: Yes
Website: ecovilla-san-mateo
Our first addition to the original La Ecovilla. With the same vision that made La Ecovilla a reality, welcome to Ecovilla San Mateo, a future community of communities! We are located 10 minutes away from La Ecovilla, still in the fruit growing region of Costa Rica with amazing weather, just 45 minutes from San Jose, one hour from the airport, and less than 40 minutes from the beach.
Brave Earth
Location: Arenal
Land: 35 hectares
Accepting New Members: No
Website: braveearth.com
Our prayer is to create an imprint of lived possibility in solidarity with all Life, in dialogue with the living planet, and in service to the collective transition. We are embodied through an experiential center, residential community, regenerative agricultural commons and community resilience network. We have been in operation of the center since January 2021 and over the last few years we have planted nearly 500 trees in our intentional food forest.
Rancho Mastatal
Location: Puriscal
Land: 300 acres
Accepting New Members: Yes
Website: ranchomastatal.com
Rancho Mastatal is an education center, working permaculture farm, ecolodge and community rooted in environmental sustainability, meaningful, place-based livelihoods, and caring relationships. Our campus encompasses more than 300-acres of wildlife refuge with beautiful waterfalls, pristine rivers, idyllic swimming holes, impressive trees, extraordinary wilderness views, and intact habitat for the area's rich flora and fauna. We are located in the rural farming town of Mastatal, situated on the edge of the last remaining virgin rainforest of Costa Rica’s picturesque Puriscal County.
Collectivo Tacotal
Location: San Mateo
Land: 60 acres
Accepting New Members: Yes
Website: fincavidaverde.com
Collectivo Tacotal is a 25 family consensus-based ecovillage founded in 2008. The intentional community is based on the principles of permaculture, non-violence, ecological stewardship and interconnectedness. The land is roughly 60 acres and runs along the majestic Rio Machuca which creates its eastern border. The community is made up of a diverse group of people from the US, Costa Rica, and Mexico with a shared love of music, earth-stewardship and intentional gatherings.
VerdEnergia Pacifica
Location: Puriscal
Land: 178 acres
Accepting New Members: Yes
Website: verdenergia.org
VerdEnergia is a growing ecovillage and regenerative agroforestry project situated within acres of reforested jungle. Part ecovillage, part reforestation project, part farm, Verde is a community of people on a mission to practice and share practical applications of permaculture. We’ve integrated our practice into everyday life, using permaculture principles as a guiding tool as we regenerate and gently cultivate the forest we are honored to call home.
Itinerary
Get a taste for what awaits you on the tour. Itinerary subject to updates.
Overview
Beginning in San Jose, out tour will wind through the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica stopping at ecovillages along the way. Each community will have at least a full day of our attention in order to more deeply immerse ourselves in what it’s like to live there. In addition to the community visits, we’ll take time to explore the local culture and natural beauty of each region we visit —Puriscal, San Mateo, and Arenal.
Day 1: Settle In
Our tour will begin at 2pm local time on the start date at Hotel Brillasol in Alajuela (town next to the airport, max 15 minute taxi ride). Please plan to arrive by 2pm or earlier that day, in order to be present for orientation starting promptly at 3pm.
We will spend the first night of the tour at Hotel Brillasol and have dinner at the hotel. This will be an enjoyable evening to settle in and get to know each other… before taking off on the adventure!
Day 2: Visiting Our First Community
Traveling away from the bustling city early in the morning, we’ll enter the mountainous jungle of the Puriscal region. Our first community to visit is VerdEnergia Pacifica, a thriving permaculture and education center with a unique economic model centered on their regenerative agriculture systems.
Day 3: Deepening at VerdEnergia
Take the day to explore all that VerdEnergia has to offer, including a waterfall hike, tour of the extensive permaculture farm, viewing of their sustainable food production, and a well deserved dunk in the swimming pool! Evening talk with community founders and local residents.
Day 4: Welcome to Rancho Mastatal
Next we’ll travel through winding jungle roads to reach a world-renowned natural building center and thriving community called Rancho Mastatal. Find your lodging at one of the many tiny houses and tree huts, before engaging in a conversation with community founders.
Day 5: Exploring Sustainability
Followed by an optional morning hike to a stunning waterfall, this day is all about deepening into the culture of sustainable living. Participate in a hands-on fermentation workshop, learn all about composting toilets, and discover what makes projects in the local village so unique.
Day 6: Entering San Mateo
San Mateo is a region in Costa Rica with no less than four intentional community projects to explore. We’ll find our base in this area for the next four nights. And our first visit will be to the newest community the region has to offer, Ecovilla San Mateo. Engage in personal conversations with the community founders about their exciting development plans.
Day 7: Visiting Collectivo Tacotal
Our next day in San Mateo will be to visit one of the older and more organic community projects. Surrounded by wild jungle, a community of musicians, activists, and permaculturists have created a unique neighborhood home. Meet with the founder of Collectivo Tacotal and learn about the story of this creative community.
Day 8: Journey to Alegría
Welcome to Alegría, meaning happiness. Meeting this community and its pioneering founder, Stephen Brooks, is sure to bring a smile to your face. Learn all about this growing eco-neighborhood with its stunning gardens, yoga shala, geodesic greenhouse dome, and lessons incorporated after the founding of other communities throughout Costa Rica.
Day 9: La Ecovilla, Where It All Began
Our last full day in the San Mateo region will be spent in the area’s oldest and largest community, La Ecovilla. Learn about the gardens, residents, eco-projects…. and feel into what it’s like to live within an established ecovillage. We’ll celebrate together in the evening with a delicious restaurant dinner.
Day 10: Hot Springs Time!
As our time together draws to a close, we’ll relax and celebrate together at a healing hot spring near the Arenal Volcano National Park. Add-on excursion activities are available to purchase for the more adventurous at heart, including horseback riding and waterfall hikes. Spend the night on location at the hot springs.
Day 11: Final Community Visit
Our last community stop on this tour will be to a special one — Brave Earth. As a self-described living lab for cultural transition, Brave Earth is at the forefront of exploring how to live as responsible humans at this time in history. They are pioneering local resiliency networks, regenerative agriculture commons, and new systems of self-governance all within their beautiful tropical rainforests.
Day 12: Wrap Up!
After spending an enjoyable evening at Brave Earth, we’ll make our way back to Hotel Brillasol in Alajuela for final farewells!
Plan your departure for the evening of the last tour day or the following day. Tour will end at 6pm on the final day back at Hotel Brillasol where the journey began. Lodging is not included for the last day of the tour.
Trip Details
Explore detailed trip information to prepare for your adventure.