Oyster Worldwide Reviews 

This program is very organized and helps make it easy to settle into România. It was a very valuable experience with a good blend of cultural immersion, work experience, and tourism.

This as to be the best organised trip I have been on , every thing was so well planned . Staff couldn’t have been any more helpful from the time we booked to the time we got home . I would highly recommend booking with these

Our stay at the libearty bear sanctuary is one of the best things I've ever done. Seeing and spending time with the bears and wolves was such a privilege From start to finish every thing was so well organised. And everyone was so helpful and friendly especially Razvan who made our stay perfect and Ovi our driver who made us laugh every day. I would recommend this experience of a lifetime at the same time helping the bears and spreading the word about the fantastic work they do

I have just finished my 2 weeks volunteering at AMP Libearty Bear Sanctury. I have had the most amazing time. Conversations with Georgie before booking were very helpful and informative- even so I was a little worried about coming here alone. I needn’t have worried- Razvan the local manager is fantastic and nothing is too much trouble for him. After 1 day I felt like I had known him forever. The staff at the sanctuary and the Guides and the Oyster driver were all brilliant. The Bears welfare is top priority and it is a beautiful place for them. I was also very lucky with my fellow volunteers who shared my love of bears made my trip very memorable (Julie, Adam, Tina & Teresa).x I would not hesitate in recommending this trip with Oyster. Special thanks go to Razvan and the Sanctuary staff. I will definitely be back again.

We are currently in our second week of volunteering at the bear sanctuary in Romania. I am a returning volunteer but everything is just as fantastic as I remembered it. Georgie at Oyster was brilliant at helping us book the weeks that worked best for us and was very accommodating of our needs. The whole experience from the beginning was top notch. Răzvan has been as incredible as he was when I came here before and is a credit to Oyster. Nothing is too much trouble and he is always there to help us. The experience of working at the sanctuary and seeing the bears live happy lives is something that we feel everyone should do at least once. Thank you for making this possible.

A great experience with Oyster from start to finish! Georgie was very communicative from the point at which I first booked and was very helpful and quick to answer any questions. In Romania, the local manager Razvan couldn’t have been more helpful and lovely, it really felt like he went above and beyond to make sure everything went smoothly and that we really enjoyed the time in Braşov. Volunteering with the bears was a wonderful experience - we were mostly preparing their food or painting fences but we were never far from the bears and got to see a lot of them every single day. I visited for one week and am hoping to return again for two or more!

This experience with Oyster was amazing. I felt really safe because I was taking care of.
If you have any questions, you can ask the staff and they will help you within a minute.
I can't wait to do another trip with this company.

I had the best time ever during my two week stay in yanacocha animal sanctuary in Ecuador. The oyster world team were also very accommodating to me, as I was planning on changing my trip due to currents news of Ecuador and they helped me every step of the way, i eventually went with my original dates and am very glad that I did. The experience itself is one I will never forget and I did not expect to be able to work in such close proximity to the animals without feeling micromanaged, and I felt I was doing meaningful work. I had no previous experience with animals but this was not an issue as everything was explained very well. It was one of the highlights of my life. The kit list on the oyster world website was not 100pc accurate as a lot of things, like rain boots, were provided or, like gloves, were not needed. I also felt that accommodation and transport to the airport after the two weeks should have been included seeing as the experience was very expensive comparing to the people who booked directly through the sanctuary, so that is my only complaint. The experience overall was a 10/10, it was very tough work especially as we had less volunteers than usual, but it is a time I will never stop talking about.

Oyster was very helpful and super responsive. I was paired with a really cool program in Thailand and I’m so happy I decided to do it! Highly recommend.

oh where to begin: Oyster Worldwide were brilliant in organising the trip to the Bear Project in Romania and there was great support from both the UK and Romania. I went for 2 weeks. I was given a really useful orientation in Brasov and the Bear Sanctuary prior to helping out there. The flat is situated in the old Town. The flat is fully equipped for cooking and cleaning and really modern and comfortable. It's easy to find your way around the Old Town and there are many many fantastic restaurants providing both European and local dishes. I thought the prices were very reasonable too. You must try the ice cream (and cakes and stews, pasta dishes and chocolates). I did revisit a couple of restaurants where the food was excellent.
Volunteering at the Bear Sanctuary is an absolute joy, there are SO many bears to enjoy. The work involved painting fences, the weather was hot and dry, so ideal for that. I also made Bear ice cream and sorted out the different types of food for the bears. Take old clothes and gloves as you can get a bit messy, part of the fun. The staff at the sanctuary were all very friendly and helpful. Brasov is wonderful, so many beautiful buildings and the Countryside is great. So many trees and open spaces. Bliss. The local people were very friendly and I got to try out my very limited Romanian. It was definitely one of the best things I've ever done. I can whole heartedly recommend it.

This was an amazing and very memorable trip. Getting involved with actual conservation work (night patrols, hatchery work, hatchling releases etc.) was a great learning experience and so much fun. San Miguel beach was absolutely stunning. So tranquil and we definitely enjoyed the simple life of doing long walks by the beach every day and every night haha. Pura vida!! The moonlight and the stars were so beautiful. The local food was so delicious and nutritious. Loved every aspect of this trip. It really is a trip of a lifetime.

Just finished a two week Sea Turtle conservation trip in Costa Rica!! Oyster were amazing helping make this dream come true and made this life changing trip fall into place. Kate my Oyster Rep helped me every step of the way and ensured it was a smoothly organised trip. As for the Costa Rica 🐢🇨🇷 trip that was completely and adventure of a lifetime! To come into close contact with the Sea Turtles nesting and the hatchlings being released into the Pacific Ocean that was the best experience ever! The Crema and Turtle Trax Research team, the local community and beyond were truly hospitable. Forever grateful for everyone who made this dream come true! Especially in memory of my friend Becky who sadly passed away this year and never got to make it with me. A truly emotional and life changing experience! Will alway treasure the memories made and friends made along the way! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! ❤️🇨🇷🐢

Kept in touch throughout, even whilst on the programme. The information on line is comprehensive and the staff at Oyster were very friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend the company

Overall, the experience I have had has been pretty good.

HOWEVER

Don’t use Oyster when booking the city work Australia programme. Book through the actual company providing the experience. I paid £995 for this experience and was disheartened to know that the other people in my group only paid around ~£500 for the same experience. When I contacted Oyster demanding to know what the other ~£400 contributed to, I was sent a patronising email explaining that they use it to pay their workers wages along with other useless, already provided services. But don’t worry!! They plant a tree for you!! The extra payments that I made went towards a SIM card (provided free by the actual company so this was useless), a my oyster account (what a privilege, would have been fine without it), breakfasts and other meals that were never available, and ‘help’ in other areas.

At no point during the booking process was it made obvious that they were an agency, so I feel very mislead.

I would request a refund however they like to brush off negative feedback and will most likely only respond to the first sentence of the review stating that the overall experience was pretty good; this had nothing to do with Oyster and everything to do with Ultimate Oz who were AMAZING.

I recently booked a fairly last minute trip with Oyster Worldwide to Costa Rica and I can confidently say I will be using them for my future travels!!

The support beforehand was great, and any queries I had about the project or the country in general were answered very efficiently. There were lots of tips on the MyOyster portal beforehand which was very useful!

The trip itself went very smoothly, all the transfers were bang on time and drivers were friendly.
Volunteering with sea turtles had been a dream of mine for many years and I’m so glad I chose OW for this trip of a lifetime!! Great people, great trip, great memories!🐢

It was a great experience - really well organised. Kate answered every query so promptly before the trip. Friendly people at Casa Crema and the night patrols were fun and interesting - I learnt a lot. Brilliant trip all round!

I had a wonderful week volunteering at the Libearty Bear Sanctuary this summer (2023). The accommodation was great, the local agent, Razvan, very helpful & friendly, the bears and sanctuary rewarding to help and Brasov itself a delightful town.

The trip out was not perfect. Direct flights from Gatwick, just up the road from me, didn't start until the day after I got back(!) and a rail strike meant I had to leave very early and drive to Stansted. Meet and Greet parking was good, the 3+hr flight OK but no-one to meet me at Bucharest airport. After waiting 20 minutes I called Rasvan who apologised and got back to me a few minutes later to say driver had got held up but would be there in 10, which he was. From then on things went more smoothly though there were lots of detours to avoid traffic jams due to its being peak holiday season. After another 3+hours, we arrived at the flat in Brasov, where Razvan greeted me, and gave me an hour to get settled before taking me out for dinner. On the way back to the flat he showed me the nearby mini-market & greengrocers.

On Sunday morning at 7am we left for the familiarisation tour of the sanctuary. It started to rain as we left the car park on the 4 hour tour. It was fascinating seeing lots of the bears for the first time and hearing some of their horrific back stories, which was why I wanted to come and help rather than lie on a beach in the sun. The rain finally let up as we walked back to the car and by the time we got back to Brasov we were nearly dry! After shopping in the big supermarket for breakfast, packed lunch and liquid supplies we went over the formalities of the contract and daily routine for the following week. It was a little daunting realising that I would be on my own most of the time but Razvan promised to introduce me to the driver and give me any specific instructions from the head of sanctuary in the morning. There were, of course, several workers around and about food prep but none spoke English and despite a few weeks of Duolingo my Romanian was not up to much of a conservation.

The actual food prep is quite therapeutic and, provided you set up your work station carefully, not too demanding. You soon get into a rhythm - pick up product, stab/slash to open (Watch out for spray back!), mt into tray, bin packaging and repeat again and again. Then you look up for a moment and see a bear, in the enclosure just opposite, emerging from the scrub with 2 cubs :) Making bear ice-cream is specially fun as once you’ve half filled the tray with dairy and sufficient bread/cake you have to spend at least 5 mins kneading it slowly with your gloved hands – they like it smooth! The most difficult task is getting your gloves off quick enough to answer your phone as you don’t want to touch anything until you have!

There was an extreme heat warning (35+) for the week I was there but as you will see it was broken by storms so take waterproofs. I was very glad I had a comfy, well worn pair of washable (hiking) boots for working in the food prep area even in the summer – you will be on your feet for hours and it can get messy. The other thing you must have is gloves - always have at least two pairs with you and preferably the thicker black sort. I was there at the end of July and wasps/bees were not yet a problem, but the flies… I had also worried that mossies or gnats might be a problem in the mountains, like in Scotland, but didn’t see any of either. One last tip - take a black sac to keep your belongings in as there is nowhere in the shed you will want to put anything down.

I must also say that Oyster and Libearty were very happy to rearrange things for me. I couldn’t do Friday to Friday, I could only arrive on Saturday but wanted to visit Bran and leave on the Monday so I worked an extra day and was able to stay in the accommodation for the second weekend when I overlapped with the next guy and we went round Dracula’s lair together.

Will I volunteer again? I’m certainly thinking about it for next year and would heartily recommend the experience to anyone who loves animals, wants to do something useful and is happy with their own company though I believe at times there may be other volunteers around.

Clear communication, realistic expectation for what to expect, available for questions. Working in the school was amazing to do something helpful and meet the children, meeting the elephants up close was magical and learning all about EHRAs work

This was an unforgettable experience and I would highly reccomend travelling with Oyster. It was completely stress-free as everyone was helpful and events were explained clearly.
Knowing that my work was helping the bears gave me a great sense of accomplishment and opened my eyes to how these animals were mistreated in the past, and still are being mistreated in other countries. The bears at the sanctuary are happy, healthy, and well fed-- the feeding tour was incredible and gives plenty of opportunties to take some fantastic photographs. My main portion of time working at the sanctuary was spent making the bear ice cream: mixing up dairy products and bread. I found this fun, but prepare to get messy!
The town of Brasov has some wonderful views, plenty of nice walking routes, and many restaurants to try. I would highly reccomend walking up the hill/mountain near the apartment towards the Brasov sign as the views over the town make for some great photos.
In terms of money, I would say that it is absolutely worth it. You seem to be able to get the most in-depth tour of the sanctuary available, the work is very rewarding, and the accommodation was of a very high standard. As a disclaimer, I recommend not paying extra for the Time Tunnel if you do the Bran Castle excursion at the weekend, as it was disappointing (it was just a lift that went down to a corridor with some illuminated portraits), but I do suggest paying extra for the Medieval Torture exhibition (if it's still there) as this was fascinating to learn about.
I was only in Romania for one week and wish I had done longer. I will definitely consider doing this again, as it was an overwhelming positive experience.