Oyster Worldwide Arvostelua 

Such nice people at my Kuanto private reserve they met me straight at the airport and always made sure I was ok throughout my whole stay with them.

I had an amazing time in South Africa, made lots of friends from all over the world, and saw some incredible animals on game drives, as well as helping with tasks such as tree chopping, going to a local school, and planting trees. Kate was super helpful, and this made the trip go really smoothly, I would definitely recommend!

Our son, Billy is having an incredible time in Costa Rica, working with a team involved in turtle conservation.
Oyster were extremely helpful in managing the expectation and anxieties of both Billy and ourselves. His safety, welfare and overall care was never in doubt, despite his last minute, lackadaisical teenage admin.
Oyster kept us informed throughout the process.
Our other son will be going to Namibia with Oyster next year.

Both guides were fantastic. They were bright, and passionate and able to help us to understand the complexities and factors to consider when understanding challenges in relation to reforestation in Borneo.

The whole family (kids aged 11, 14, 17) really enjoyed the volunteering aspect and felt that it was incredibly rewarding. It was hard work in the humidity but completely manageable and breaks and snacks were always strongly encouraged. It was very inspiring to hear of animals being seen in areas that have been reforested, and a sense of hope for similar with the trees we've planted. Maintenance of trees planted by previous volunteers was lovely, knowing that future volunteers would look after ours.

We felt very well looked after throughout the project .The river trips were fantastic and we all loved the night trip as well. Our guide went out of his way to ensure we could see as diverse a range of wildlife as possible. It was very special to have a guide who was still in touch with his family's indigenous roots and beliefs and to give us a deeper insight into understanding the rainforest on a much deeper level.

The food was good, and even our relatively fussy children enjoyed it and ate well. Meals in villagers houses were a real highlight.

Out of a three week trip to Borneo, I'd say that this was everyone's favourite week.

My trip to Romania was such an incredible experience. It was my first time travelling solo but the Oyster staff were lovely and I felt well looked out for. The sanctuary is such a peaceful place to spend time in, it has beautiful views and over 100 bears to watch and learn all about. If you love bears and exploring new places I would definitely recommend!

I will never forget this special experience, especially the first time I collected the eggs from a mother turtle. The area is absolutely gorgeous, I could live there forever. The volunteers and locals were so generous, and communicated clearly months leading up to the trip. I felt very welcomed and proud of the difference I made for the turtles. From building a hatchery to surfing, painting and improving Spanish, there was so much I learned! Thanks to Kate, Anna, Josue, Melissa, Camilla and everyone else :)

I just wanted to thank you Kate, and the organisation for, what by all accounts, has been such an amazing experience. It seems my son has made some great friendships, loved the staff and is thinking about next year already. Thank you for all of your support over these last few months, you made every step of the process seamless, were so responsive and professional and again I so appreciate everything.

Oyster and Sami have been great in helping me through the processes of going to Canada for a gap year. I would definitely recommend for people trying to go to Canada for a gap year that they take a look at Oyster. They offer a very fair price for this experience and there has been constant assistance and instruction from Sami every step of the way. The interview preparation and CV help definitely boosted my application and secured me a spot. I can't wait and hope this helps convince others to go through Oyster for this experience.

The entire process of applying for a visa and job via Oyster Worldwide has been fantastic. The constant updates, personalised coaching for the interview and support with the CV writing has made the whole process seamless

It was great to gain new experiences, get different insights and immerse myself in a different world with new people.

My son found this company as he wanted to do a ski season. We had exhausted options trying to look for opportunities in Europe. He needed something that worked for his skills, none of which include cooking or standard hospitality.

Oyster have been excellent at finding the right job for him. He would never have been able to work out the logistics of applying for work abroad without the help of Sami. She has been there at every step.

As a parent, I also needed to have confidence that this was a legitimate company. Every time I had a question it has been quickly answered. The amount of background work needed to work with contacts in Canada to even get to the stage of shortlisting for interviews was immense.

I fully recommend the whole experience. My son is due to go out to Canada this November as part of the Ski support team with Whistler Kids and I have every confidence that he will be in safe hands.

Sami has been great. I really wanted to find work doing a ski season and couldn’t find any way of achieving this dream until I found Oyster.
They have helped organise everything. It would have been far too complicated to find the job and even get an interview with the Whistler team on my own. Sami’s help with my c.v and interview were great as well as all the non stop emails I sent for help with my visa.
There has been so much work by Oyster and I still can’t believe im actually going!
I think they have been brilliant.

Super support from initial enquiry right up to departure. Kate was attentive and patient with my enquiries. Super friendly amd great customer service. I would recommend Oyster

I LOVED my time in South Africa doing the conservation experience! I was unsure what to expect but this exceeded everything I was anticipating! The accommodation was good (but cold, bring warm clothes if weather doesn’t look good!), the other volunteers were really nice, staff were friendly and approachable, food was decent and activities were good as well, however not as hands on as I was expecting - generally wildlife monitoring in the park however I only went for one week and the activities vary week on week so my experience may not be a good representation of all the activities . I fed the big cats, did game drives, collected litter around the park/on the edges of the fence, went on a walking safari, and did quad-biking (however I had to pay for this last activity myself, would recommend!). I also advise to go for two weeks + as 1 week went by very quickly, especially as I went to Port Elizabeth on Friday. Accommodation in PE deffo needs some work but it is still sleepable and the hot showers were nice! Overall an amazing time!!! Best holiday of my life so far!!!

Having just finished a few months of work on a thoroughbred pre-training yard in Australia, I would definitely recommend Oyster. Georgie was very helpful from the get-go with answering all my questions, giving me lots of information and putting me in touch with the owners - she made all the admin and sorting the job out very easy. Lots of info was provided on what to expect at the job, and a week’s orientation in Sydney was included too - which was great to settle in and see some sights before I started working. Overall it was a great experience and very hassle-free, thank you Georgie & Oyster!

As parents of a 17 year old, encouraging our son to go on a volunteering trip to Ecuador was a big decision, however, thanks to the professionalism and support of Oyster Worldwide it was a positive experience from start to finish.
Kate was fantastic- always responsive, informative and reassuring, her support made the whole experience as stress free as it could be for us as parents.
The project was everything we could have asked for and was a springboard for our son to go off alone to do some solo travelling.
We can’t recommend Oystwr worldwide highly enough - especially for parents who might feel wary about sending a teenager abroad.

LOVED my time in Braşov and at the sanctuary.
The fact that it’s a different set up to previous volunteer work that I’ve done took a quick minute for my brain to adjust - but this small scale, utterly unique experience was really special. I’m totally happy working on my own, especially with a view out to the adolescent bear’s enclosure. Brilliant.
Razvan is obviously the key factor in why it works so well despite the language barriers on site. I’ve never met an on-location rep with such attention to detail and proficiency…….especially seeing as he is completing these duties alongside a full time job!
I made zero effort top learn any Romanian and to be honest I think even if I’d invested hours of time my capabilities would have been poor. Google translate, bad miming and Razvan at the end of the phone from the 1990s is enough to get by.
Some of the sanctuary workers are more keen to interact than others but that’s all fine - just an observation.

Personally I would have liked more to do.
The vagueness of the arrival time for the afternoon delivery was a tiny bit frustrating but that’s just the way it is. Not the end of the world……I’m just not good with feeling that I’m not being 100% productive ALL OF THE TIME. More my own OCD totally neurotic character trait. I could definitely do with being a bit more Romanian Laid Back!!
My suggestion would be to have a back up list of extra/optional jobs that could be done around the food prep area………perhaps cleaning based - scrubbing down the walls, hosing out the food crates, organising stuff inside the fridge.

The flat was great, everything I needed, warm and comfortable. Loads to do around the town, culture, restaurants, people watching, hiking. I was never bored and it was easy to fill any time off.
Bolt transfer was efficient and I really liked the driver Ovi, we discussed every topic under the sun. Very amusing, great company - I learnt a lot about family life in Romania with 2.4 children.

Went on the 31 day SE Asia trip. All planned out really well and had a great time, helped me through the steps and was easy to get in touch when I had any questions. Thank you.

I booked this trip because I love bears but I had no idea just how great it the experience was going to be. The communication and organisation of Oyster both before and during my trip was excellent.

Beforehand, Georgie was in regular contact and also answered any questions I had in record time. The MyOyster feature was also a great tool with lots of information about the trip. While I was in Brasov, Razvan kept up the great communication and was available any time if we had any questions. He also brought us on a tour of Brasov which was very informative and fun.

There was one day of orientation at the sanctuary on the Saturday before work began on Monday. Here, you get to go behind the scenes a little and visit the teddy bear museum and the bear viewing area and learn a bit more about the work the sanctuary does. Every morning before we left for work, Razvan would meet with us to let us know what jobs we were to do each day. He also checked up during the day and then again in the evenings to make sure everything was okay and everyone was happy. The work was mainly food prep for the bears and farm animals (there are also horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens, a cow, a turkey and other small animals in the small farm area).

The work hours are 9 to 3 and there is transport arranged. Our driver, Ovi, was great fun. His English was perfect and we learned lots of Romanian history as well as talking about anything and everything.

I can’t recommend this trip highly enough. It is obviously sad that so many bears need to be rescued but seeing them living their lives happily in the sanctuary was so good. It is also such an amazing experience watching the bears wandering around being bears. I don’t think there is any other trip available that lets you get to see so many bears so close (behind electrified fences of course!) and to witness their natural behaviour.

It was also nice to know I was helping out in a small way in the sanctuary because they do amazing work. 🙂🐻

Oyster Worldwide, particularly Georgie, really made my experience coming to Australia easy. I decided to do the farm work experience in Australia very last minute and I was able to easily get a spot in a group and I am now very happy working on a farm in NSW. I highly recommend Oyster for anyone trying to plan a gap year abroad.