Help at our small hostel in San Andres Island, Colombia

  • Favourited 1036 times
  • Last activity: 18 Mar 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    We are a small hostel located in San Andres Island, Colombia. We cater mostly for extreme sport enthusiast. We offer a very laid back environment for people to chill out, we are definitely not a party hostel, but are not opposed to the occasional party.

    We are currently looking for the laid back, easy going yet responsible volunteer(s) to help with general maintenance tasks an cleaning to help us keep our cost low. If you have an special skill set make sure you write it on your profile.

    Volunteering activities would include, but not limited to things like cleaning, painting, fixing and chatting with guests.

    You must speak A little bit of Spanish. you must be willing to interact with the public in English or your own language. No shy people. no lazy people. we need proactive/positive people who are extroverts and have high energy. We love logical people and problem solvers, we don't like clock punchers.

    Also we value people who can cook as we generally do cookouts.

    Keep in mind that this would be an unpaid volunteering position as it is illegal even for Colombian to work in the islands unless they are legally entitled to do so, however free room, some uncooked food, the occasional beer and full access to the hostel will be provided. Big plus if you are a diver, skateboarder, surfer or kitesurfer.

    We urge you to read the reviews left by people that have volunteer at the hostel, most of them give a very clear perspective on what the volunteering position is about.

    Also keep in mind that we do not answer to people outside the Workaway system, Don't bother contacting us directly as your emails will be ignored.

    Update 2023
    We now have 2 children, so we now have a volunteering position (2 weeks min) for an english speaker with a bachelor's degree or certification in early childhood education or the like.
    This position doesn't involve any hostel duties, however accomodation will be provided in the hostel, this is not a baby sitting/nanny aupair type of thing, however some light help will be needed in that regard. This is ideal for a preschool teacher or childcare worker.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Teaching
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    Hospitality/Tourism
    General Maintenance
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    If you are interested in opening a hostel, we will teach you all the little and big things to get started.

  • Help

    Help

    In case we take you you are expected to socialize with guest and offer general help to help them plan their activities also if something is out of place or dirty we expect you to clean/fix it even if you are not on duty.
    We value self initiative and we expect you to love the hostel the same way we do.

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent
    Spanish: Fluent

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    Bed in dorm room.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    San Andres is one of the most expensive places to fly/live within Colombia, make sure you can afford it before you contact us, we've had several people back out on us after extensive emails due to high flight prices. although we understand money constrains are a legitimate reason not to come, We also value our time, so please make sure you check flight prices and that they are in your price range before contacting us.
    so here's what most people who contact us always ask us.

    HOW CAN I GET TO SAN ANDRES?
    Your options to come to San Andres are:
    -COPA (direct flight from Panama)
    -Wingo ( flights from Bogota )
    -Avianca (4 daily direct flights from Bogota)
    -LATAM (direct flight from Bogota, Cali and Medellin)

    I HEARD FROM A FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF A FRIEND THAT THERE'S A BOAT FROM CARTAGENA
    They don't take tourist.

    DO I NEED A RETURN TICKET?
    You do, but there's a loophole that we tell only to the volunteers we take.

    HOW LONG CAN WE STAY IN SAN ANDRES?
    Legally up to 4 months per solar year, however in Colombia foreigners can only stay 3 months before having to do a visa run unless you go to immigration and get an extension which cost $80.000.

    CAN I DO LAUNDRY AT THE HOSTEL
    We outsource our laundry and it costs 10.000 pesos per kilo.

    HOW LONG CAN WE STAY VOLUNTEERING AT YOUR HOSTEL?
    If we like your work you can stay with us for as long as legally possible, but for starters we will only commit for 2 weeks max in order to avoid drama.

    DO YOU OFFER MEALS FOR VOLUNTEERS?
    We don't.

    I'M A KITESURF/SURF/YOGA/SCUBA INSTRUCTOR, CAN I TEACH AT YOUR HOSTEL?
    If you are willing to do this for very cheap or for free for hostel's guest, we can talk.


    HOW MANY HOURS DO I HAVE TO VOLUNTEER?
    We are a small hostel and don't have a set amount of hours per day. All depends on how busy we are. Being a small hostel we are always on shift,

    WHAT TYPE OF SKILLS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
    We want a little bit of everything, since we are a small hostel we have no use for people with one limited skill, we look for people who are flexible and know a little bit of everything and are willing to learn.

    WILL I HAVE TO DO CLEANING?
    Yes.

    HOW'S THE INTERNET IN SAN ANDRES?
    Not bad, but not great

    HOW'S THE WEATHER IN SAN ANDRES?
    Hot, 30+ degrees Celsius. We have AC units in the hostel, but unfortunately we cannot turn them on all day as electricity is very expensive.

    IS THERE AN AGE MINIMUM OR LIMIT?
    No


    MY PROFILE DOESN'T HAVE MUCH INFO, BUT I SENT YOU AN EMAIL EXPLAINING HOW AWESOME I AM, WHY DON'T YOU ANSWER?
    profiles with less than 3 lines get automatically discarded.

    WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A PROFILE?
    Previous Hostel certifiable work/volunteering experience, what type of studies you have and what sort of skills you possess, what type of work you are willing or not willing to do.

    CAN I HAVE INTIMATE INTERCOURSE WITH GUEST?
    Yes and no. As long as sexy times are done outside the hostel we are cool with it. Sexy times with guest inside the hostel can lead to legal troubles specially if alcohol is involved.

    HOW MANY VOLUNTEERS CAN YOU TAKE?
    We prefer to have only one volunteer at the time, we rarely take 2 volunteers at a time, as of NOV/16 we do not take couples or friends traveling together.

    WHY DON'T YOU ACCEPT COUPLES/FRIENDS?
    Traveling couples/friends understandably want to do stuff together and we want them to work on different opposite shifts and that generally doesn't sit well,


    DO I GET A PRIVATE ROOM?
    As I mentioned before, we are a business that makes money out of selling beds, so it is understood that you are okay with us switching you around to whatever bed is available as many times as needed, let it be a dorm bed or a private or in my house, we unfortunately cannot guarantee what type room we will be able to give you in advance.

    WHAT'S THE COST OF LIVING IN SAN ANDRES IN 2023?
    -Diving cost $220.000 COP for a double dive.
    -Open Water certification $1.200.000 to $1.400.000 COP
    -A cheap meal out $20.000 COP
    -Fancy restaurant meal $60.000 COP
    -Average price of dorm rooms $50.000, privates $100.000+
    -A can of Coca Cola $3.000 COP
    -A beer at a club $15.000, in a bar $8.000, on the store $3.000 COP.
    -Taxi $18.000, bus $4.000 and mototaxi $4.000
    -Kitesurf lesson $150.000/hour negotiable
    -Bike rental $35.000/day
    -Scooter or golf cart rental on low season $180.000, in high season $220.000+ for 9 hours.

    WHY IS YOUR PROFILE EXTREMELY SIMILAR TO ANOTHER HOST IN SAN ANDRES?
    This B&B and dive center is owned by my uncle, out of laziness he just copied and pasted everything from our profile, we are two separate entities yet we do business together.
    Please DO NOT contact us with questions about them and vice versa.

    I READ YOUR PROFILE ON WORKAWAY, BUT I CONTACTED YOU DIRECTLY, WHY DON'T YOU ANSWER?
    Don't be a cheap smart ass, Workaway provides a service and as every service there are cost associated with it. We ignore all volunteer request emails sent directly to us either through our website, Facebook or email address.

    YOU HAVE A HOSTEL IN PROVIDENCIA ISLAND, CAN I VOLUNTEER THERE?
    We closed this hostel in June 2019.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    Two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Flexible split hours depending on what's needed. maximum 25 hours a week. Generally 5 days of work and two days off.

Host ref number: 475566452577

Feedback (22)



Feedback

These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.

Accuracy of profile: (5.0)

Cultural exchange: (4.8)

Communication: (4.8)






























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