Frontier

( 17 Reviews )

Activities: Gap Year Volunteering
Country: Worldwide

A world of possibilities awaited you with Frontier!

You could have spent memorable days scuba diving off the brilliant white sand beaches of Fiji or discovering Madagascar on a conservation project with lemurs and chameleons.

Frontier offered over 300 projects in countries throughout Africa, South America, Europe and Australasia, giving unlimited adventures and excursions in beautiful locations. Fronteir used theit wealth of experience and knowledge in the field of ethical and gap year travel, wildlife conservation and community development to ensure that they found you the perfect project.

With Frontier you could have been sure that you got the best projects at the most competitive prices. You could have learnt a multitude of skills, discovered hidden talents, challenged your preconceptions, gained qualifications and made lifelong friends.

You could have contributed to positive change in the future of marginalised communities with one of Frontier's development projects. Taught a class of neglected children in under-funded village schools, before adventuring through forests spotting bush babies and flying foxes, or scuba diving and taking part in marine conservation in a protected marine eco park.

Work towards your TEFL certificate, making your time with Frontier the perfect combination of learning and gaining valuable practical experience whilst having an amazing experience in fascinating destinations.

Frontier have ceased operating.

Project Info

Program Duration:

1 week - 1 Year+

Program Costs:

50 - 3000+ £ Pound (UK)

Founded / Established:

1989

Org Type:

Conservation

Species:

Amphibians / Bats / Birds / Butterflies / Cats / Cheetahs / Chimapanzees / Dolphins / Elephants / Fish / Frogs / Gorillas / Hippos / Horses / Insects / Jaguar / Lions / Lizards / Mammals / Marine Species / Monkeys / Orang-utans / Otters / Pandas / Primates / Reptiles / Rhinos / Sea Turtles / Snakes / Tigers / Tropical Birds

Habitats:

Antarctic / Beaches / Coastal / Coral reef / Desert / Eco Park / Forest / Grassland / Island / Mangrove Coastal / Marine / Mountains / National Park / Nature Park / Rainforest / Tropical Forest / Wetlands

Contact / Enquiry

Wildlife Veterinary Internship

Had a great time with Frontier's internship in South Africa.
The booking and organising the whole trip was held very professionally. They were also good with following up.
Had the best experience ever!

By: Dilara
Nationality: Turkish
Age: 29

A great experience

I volunteered for 4 weeks in Greece on their turtle conservation experience. I was travelling solo for the first time ever and I had nothing to be concerned over. As soon as I landed there was a Frontier volunteer to pick me up from the airport and they made sure the whole trip went smoothly! All the other volunteers and leaders were amazing and friendly, and I even made some great friends who I am still in contact with years later.
The daily activities we took part it caused me to have a lasting obsession with turtles and their conservation. I learnt a lot and I truely felt what the group out there was doing was having a massive positive impact on the turtle population, and to educate the locals on how turtle conservation is vital to their existance.
However I must say my one dissappointment was the standard of the living conditions. For the amount of money I spent on the trip, I couldn’t really see where my money had went as all the staff including the group leaders were volunteers, and we were sleeping in very basic one man tents. Except for my free frontier t shirt I am not too sure where or who the rest of my money went to.
Overall though, it was an amazing experience which has had a lasting impression on me. Defitnely a trip I will never forget (I just wish for the money they would of included at least a roll mat to sleep on).

By: Natalie
Nationality: British
Age: 23

Costa Rica: Big Cats, Primates and Turtles

I went with Frontier on their big cats, primates and turtles mission to Costa Rica for two weeks, with this being the first time I had ever travelled abroad by myself. I can safely say it was the best trip of my life, where I learned a lot about conservation and got to see some amazing animals around Corcovado National Park. The area is honestly incredible and I am already saving for my next trip there or elsewhere with Frontier. Everyone is so friendly, and it has given me the confidence to keep travelling by myself and do more to help conservation efforts. Truly a trip of a lifetime.

By: Lucy
Nationality: British
Age: 21

Truly amazing experience

I volunteered on the Greece Sea Turtle Conservation Project with Frontier partnered with Wildlife Sense. The work on the project allows you to be part of a conservation scheme that genuinely makes an incredible difference to the Loggerhead Sea Turtle population. I warn you, you will leave the project with a near obsession with Sea Turtles, they are fantastic creatures and working with them was a real privilege. My time on the project was made even more special by the people I met, both the passionate staff and my fellow volunteers, originating from all over the world. I cannot wait to return, what better testament is there than that?

By: Mollie Beresford
Nationality: English
Age: 19

A mind opening experience

I participated on a program in the Canary Islands with Frontier helping conservation. It was an amazing experience which gave me the opportunity to learn new things and see how important it is to protect the ocean and the marine wildlife. I met a lot of new people from all over the world and it was good to spend time getting to know the other volunteers. There were so many positions and also some things which I think could be improved like the community beach cleans covering a much larger area. Overall it was an amazing trip.

By: Jacopo
Nationality: Italy
Age: 17

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Avoid Frontier

I have participated in the South East Asia trail and Fiji marine conservation projects, each for 10 weeks. While I can only speak to thoroughly about these projects, however from what I have experienced with the way this company is run, I would say to avoid frontier. In my opinion, it seems they are more interested in making money than providing meaningful volunteer experiences.

To keep things shorter I'll just touch on a few things. They are very eager to call you everyday and get a deposit payment and after you've paid provide very little support and often feels like the head office has minimal useful knowledge on any of the projects. During the south east Asia trail, I taught English at a school in Cambodia. While I enjoyed my time there and with the children, Frontier does not seem to be of much help. On the first day, the school director made a point to tell us that frontier does not provide any financial support whatsoever. Considering how much I paid and how far a small amount of money would go for them, I found this shameful.

The things that frontier is supposed to provide such as accommodation and meals were often substandard and again did not reflect the cost of the program. One has to wonder were the money goes. When questioned, they state runaround non-answers and administrative costs. That's not what you want in a volunteer program. Similar with the Fiji conservation project, it took me 8 weeks to get advanced open water certified something that even they said would only take 2-3 weeks and was this not able to participate the majority of my time there. Also the equipment is often broken and in bad shape leading to lots of maintenance issues and an overall poor experience. I ended up with only 10 dives (non training dives since I had to pay extra for the training) over 10 weeks, which is pretty terrible.

My experiences will certainly differ from others, maybe it was a case of bad timing but I don't think that's a valid excuse. All in all, I did have good times during the projects but none due to Frontier itself. My recommendations would be to work directly with a local NGO or similar for volunteer experiences, then at least you know where your money is going. If you're also into traveling, find a company that is good at that (Frontier tries to do both travel and volunteer and are not good at either), and do a short tour until you're comfortable traveling on your own. They have a slick website and will tell you anything to get you to put down deposit but my advice is that they set expectations high while what they actually deliver is quite low.

By: Alex
Nationality: USA
Age: 29

Good fun but not worthwhile

I volunteered as an English teacher with Frontier a couple of years ago on Mafia Island in Tanzania. Beautiful area. Paid over £1200 for four weeks living in very basic conditions. Enjoyed doing so but can't really see where the money has gone, as even the lead staff were volunteers, and the locals were paid a pittance. The teaching was very disorganised and it felt as if those in charge had not visited to see what was happening for a while. Better to find a small local organisation that focuses their commitment to one place.

By: Claire
Nationality: British
Age: 22

Best company

I went to work on a marine conservation project in Thailand for two weeks which I arranged through Frontier. On the first week I learned how to scuba dive and during the other week I contributed to conservation work. I loved the experience so much that I ended up staying 2 months more! Frontier are an awesome company, I scheduled the whole trip just 3 weeks before going, and they helped me with everything.

By: Tatiana
Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 23

Great experience

I was travelling solo for the first time ever and I’m very happy I chose Frontier! They were extremely helpful and their booking system was very easy to use. They made sure the whole trip went smoothly!

By: Kerry
Nationality: British
Age: 18

Incredible

Best experience ever in Costa Rica!! Definitely recommend!

By: Charlotte
Nationality: British
Age: 24

Amazing Experience

I joined a sea turtle conservation trip in the Maldives with Frontier which was an amazing experience. The Maldives is beautiful and it was such an eye opening experience. I am hoping to go travelling again soon and would definitely recommend frontier!!

By: Sophie
Nationality: British
Age: 23

Great experience

I used Frontier when I volunteered on the Tenerife Whale & Dolphin Conservation Project in 2015. As there are so many different volunteering companies out there, it can be hard to know who to go with. I would recommend using this company, as from start to finish all the staff were very helpful. The project itself had only just started when I volunteered and it was good then, so I am sure it's even better now!

By: Emma
Nationality: British
Age: 24

Tenerif whales and dolphins research project

I volunteered at the whales and dolphins research project in Tenerif summer 2015. Was one of the very first volunteers in the project and everything was just perfect. Our volunteer leaders really showed us all the work we were supposed to do and the crew on board are just excellent people always helping you in everything needed. From my experience I definately develop new skills on the field of marine biology and was just the perfect first step to develop my career in this discipline. Would totally recommend it.

By: Sandra
Nationality: Spanish
Age: 23

Amazing Experience

I was doing a volunteer project in a safari zoo which is located in Thailand. As an animal lover, this was a good chance to get closer with animals, especially wild animals. In this project, I am not only be able to touch them, but also know more about them. Besides, the staffs were very friendly and helpful, working with other volunteers also made this trip more fun and interesting.

By: Linnie Ooi
Nationality: Malaysian
Age: 24

Costa Rica

I travelled to Costa Rica to do the Wildlife Rescue Project with Frontier back in May of 2016. Going into it, I was unsure of what to expect as I'd never done any volunteering abroad. However, it was a great experience and I almost wished that I could have stayed longer. Even though most of the work is pretty simple (cage cleaning, preparing food, etc.) getting to work so close some really interesting and unique (and adorable) animals was an incredible experience that I'll never forget. In two weeks Iearned so much and made so many great memories. Thank you Frontier for making my first time volunteering abroad a positive one!

By: Bridget
Nationality: Canadian
Age: 22

Madagascar

I love it, best experience I ever had. Thank you so much for letting me be apart of it.

By: Chloe
Nationality: Australian
Age: 30

Amazing company

I had the most amazing time when I went to volunteer Tenerife with Frontier in June. Frontier staff were very friendly and helpful, even as a mature volunteer I was not treated any differently. I would highly recommend this company to anyone - I had an amazing time!

By: Hayley
Nationality: British
Age: 33