GVI Avis 

My experience with GVI has been amazing! The process of getting into a program was a little confusing, but I think it's because I did it through a third party. All with all the experience has been amazing and I felt supported the whole time.

Five months ago, my son and I had a trip of a lifetime! We volunteered with GVI in Tenerife. What a wonderful experience. We learned so much and had hands-on experience working on whale and dolphin conservation strategies. So grateful for GVI hosts who looked after us so well. The venue and the people and the numerous whale and dolphin sightings made it so special.

Slow in reply. Terrible

Honestly, a lot went wrong with my stay that GVI acknowledged that I will not go into deeper detail in this review because I think it will take away from my main point. This company asks a rediculous amount of money that the programs are truely not worth. These experiences generally go for 1/3 of the price and you should definately not book with this company that profits insanely much of our naivity. Please believe me when I say that it is so worth the effort of doing a little more research into other providers or companies that will save you so much money and most of the time provide an even better program.

I travelled to Kefalonia (Greece) for a wildlife and environmental conservation volunteering programme. I stayed two weeks and it was an incredible experience. I met some amazing people and they were all very welcoming and kind. GVI offered great support before leaving for Kefalonia. I learned a lot and this opportunity opened my eyes to other career possibilities. I’m very glad I decided to pursue this path with GVI and will consider their company for future travel plans. I had thought I would’ve arrived in Kefalonia and be met by members of the GVI team. Instead we were met by an entirely different team who work for GVI. I think if this is the case, it’s helpful for GVI to make it clear they won’t be met by members of GVI. Also, add mosquito nets to the kit list as a priority! A very enjoyable experience!

Volunteering with GVI in Siem Reap was truly an amazing experience that I’ll never forget! I feel so lucky to have had such supportive and inspiring field staff throughout my trip. Helena, Theary, Lon, and Yothea were the heart of the program with their guidance, kindness, and dedication which made every day so meaningful. They were excellent role models who created a supportive and positive environment that made me feel confident and comfortable from start to finish.

The program itself is extremely well organized, offering plenty of opportunities to explore different teaching styles and develop new skills. I loved how each day was so dynamic and diverse — one hour I could be teaching monks, and the next I’d be helping in a sewing class. This variety made every day exciting and allowed everyone to find something they were passionate about.

I can’t recommend volunteering in Siem Reap with GVI enough. It’s the perfect blend of meaningful work, cultural immersion, and personal growth, all while being supported by an incredible team.

Nosy Be is a gem of Africa and GVI conservation program is the best way to help preserve and appreciate the true fauna and flora of this unique island. The program manager Mr Rojo is fantastic, he always finds the best solution for any problem. The team on the base is very supportive, they made the program unforgettable. I loved it.

When I saw GVI's ad in between my Instagram stories, I got hooked onto them mentioning that they help recent graduates land careers in conservation and going to different countries. I was all ready to do an in-person internship until the loves of my life both got sick. I was so scared to leave them, but my value was still dropping. Then, I remembered there was the option to work from home. I did a remote internship so that I could get some net worth and obtain new skills, while still being with the loves of my life in their final moments.
The remote internship came with classes from Richmond University. The classes that were assigned to me were Wildlife Conservation and Careers in Sustainable Development. The material was easy to follow along with and the lecture speakers were really engaging. In Wildlife Conservation, there were more conservation success stories shared than what I read in my classes at college. Those success stories provided in this course gave me hope that human-nature cooperation is possible and that fueled me further in that direction. I got a certificate of competition from them. In Sustainable Careers, I learned many valuable skills like recognizing my values and writing monthly blogs on my LinkedIn page. Even though I finished that course, I didn't get receive my competition certification from them.
My projects were engaging and my internship manager was extremely helpful with teaching me how to do what I needed to do for each project. Each project lasted 8 weeks and there were 2 meetings with each awesome project manager. Even though I was unsuccessful with landing a job with any of them, I took each opportunity with them to network myself and share my availability. One of those project managers wrote a very positive performance review.
While I was in my remote internship, it didn't compromise my current job in any way, I was able to go to my best friend's wedding, I was able to hang out with other friends, and I got to make the most of the rest of my time with the loves of my life before I got to hold them when they passed on.
I would recommend going on a GVI experience at whatever point someone is at in their life. They have programs for everyone. I learned there is no career guarantee and that I don't get all my certifications, but the chance to learn valuable skills and meet like-minded people is worth it.

The team in Mexico were welcoming, informative and couldn't have been more helpful and understanding.

The team in the UK lack the information which is helpful, are not informed about what kit is truly necessary and gave a wrong impression about the size of the team. Some examples: Apart from my partner and myself, there was only one other person on the turtle conservation project during our two week stay. She was there for 6 weeks. The compulsory 200m swim test was not compulsory and we needed a lot more than 2 long sleeved t shirts.
Nevertheless, we had a fantastic experience and the team on the ground were amazing.

My sister and I booked a volunteering programme which got cancelled due to Covid. I wasn’t given a refund but instead offered the opportunity to rebook at a later date. They even offered to scrap the deadline that was in place to book (end of 2021) which was appreciated as we both had circumstances that meant we wouldn’t be able to commit to a programme for a while. I kept the GVI team updated throughout this time to make it clear that my sister and I were still intending on booking using the money (credits) we had in our account from the original booking.

More recently in September 2025 my sister’s circumstances changed completely meaning she was unable to join a GVI programme at all, so I communicated with the team that my mum would be going in her place.

When I asked about transferring my sister’s credits into my mum’s newly created account, I was told that this wouldn’t be an issue. I asked for a simple confirmation when this had been done but I received an out of office from the person I was speaking to, Jamie Willemse. When I didn’t hear anything from Jamie even after the weekend, I then contacted the general GVI contact number to see if someone else could help in Jamie’s absence as mum and I were keen to get booked on. I spoke to a person called Tauriq Hendricks who asked me to give him a few days to review my account but scheduled a zoom call for a few days later to discuss further. The zoom call never happened as Tauriq never logged on to the call, so I called the GVI helpline to see what was going on and the lady who answered said he’d gone home an hour previously and she didn’t seem remotely interested or sorry that Tauriq had messed us about. When I asked if she could help in his place, she fobbed us off and said the situation sounded complicated. After I followed up with Tauriq, he called me the following day to say that he didn’t think we needed the call as I was already speaking with Jamie. Communication about this ahead of this scheduled call would have been nice.

While this was all happening, my mum managed to get in contact with someone else called Justin Alexander, who was managed to speak to over the phone and who was really helpful and understanding of the situation we were in. He said it would be fine to transfer my sister’s credits into my mum’s new account and asked us to give him a few days to sort this. We left the call feeling really positive and hopeful. A few days later after we hadn’t heard anything from Justin, I followed up in an email to get an update. Several days passed again with no response so I contacted the general info email and then received an email from Justin who apologised for his non-response and told me I would have to contact someone else to sort this as he didn’t realise our account was created in Covid and that the credits were dealt with differently. I was frustrated at this because he knew from the get-go that our account was created during covid as I told him on the phone. Yet again we were being passed on to someone else and it felt like no one from GVI actually wanted to deal with our case which isn’t a nice feeling and rubbish customer service.

I then got in contact with the feedback/complaints team as advised by Justin who came back to tell us that actually we didn’t have any credits in our account at all because they expired at the end of 2024! In all of the communication I have had with various GVI team members in the last few years, not one person has told me that these credits would expire in December 2024. There is also nothing in the terms and conditions that states this.

I am frustrated as this is a lot of money that I have now lost and nobody from GVI bothered to communicate the expiry date on funds. I think this is hugely unfair, especially as this is money I have paid for a service which GVI are now denying me for no reason. I lodged a formal complaint two weeks ago using a form on their website which I am still waiting to hear back about but I’m not getting my hopes up.

Seriously would NOT recommend GVI as they don’t care about their customers, they only care about the money and scamming as many people out of it as they can.

UPDATE: 7th November 2025
GVI have responded below but they are not sorry. It is clearly an automated reply otherwise they wouldn’t have said someone would look into my case and get back to me as I did get a response to my formal complaint last week….essentially telling me it is what it is and my credits aren’t being reinstated despite it being GVI’s mistake in the first place…

Haven’t even made it to choosing and applying for a program and already had to deal with the lack of communication and blatant disrespect that GVI has towards customers. After finding out about GVI and one of the internships, I made a booking to have a meeting with one of their workers to find out more about the project.

Due to the time differences the earliest I could book in for the chat was 10:30pm. Which is a very late night as I had work that day and the following day. After sitting on the meeting for the full half hour, no one showed up. During this time I sent emails to find out if someone was going to jump on. Once the meeting time was done, I jumped off and went to bed, waking up to find an automatic reply to my email wanting me to book in a time for a chat. This time with time slots past mid night. No apology, no explanation, only the exact same email that I received the first time to book in originally.

Really disheartened with lack of communication, lack of effort to write a response to my email, and complete disregard for the fact they have wasted my time.

Really lovely team, interesting work and the diving is gorgeous. Would definitely recommend to anyone who is interested in diving/marine bio.

Terrible communication throughout the whole program, base was inoperable and that was not told to my group of intakes even when we arrived. Did not do the promised amount of dives and survey work. When we brought up issues we had with the project manager he did not give us clear answers or information on the matters. I will not be doing any other GVI program.

I volunteered on the Education programme in Dawasamu Fiji. I absolutely loved this experience, as it opened up the opportunity to experience culture, community and support through it all! It really is a once in a lifetime experience and would recommend it to anyone planning to go. The education programme allowed me to make a positive difference in children’s lives, supporting and helping them through learning. I also built close friendships with my fellow volunteers that’ll last forever. amazing!

There was a lack of communication.
But overall it was a good experience.

Doing the Internship with Naomi in Costa Rica has exceded all my expectations. The variety of students young and adult that we have been teaching has really opened my eyes to what it means to be an EFL teacher. My co-worker Nicki has been a pleasure to work with, and Naomi has opened my eyes to so much opportunity.

I'm about to end my two-month teaching English internship volunteering program with GVI in Siem Reap, Cambodian, and it's been a valuable and meaningful experience so far. I got the chance to teach a variety of students – children, adults, women, men, and Buddhist monks – and learn more about the local culture.

The GVI staff are always present, supportive and friendly, which makes everything easier. The accommodation is beautiful and quite, and the food Is delicious! The hotel staff – young students studying hospitality – are welcoming and very kind. I've also had the opportunity to teach them English, which has helped us connect on a more personal level.
Overall, it really feels like a friendly and comfortable environment!

Great experience with them teaching English in Cambodia.

We had a fantastic experience at GVI Puerto Morelos. The staff and volunteers we met were wonderfully kind people and dedicated to their mission. We were on the Sea-Turtle programme, so we found ourselves on the beach at 4:30 most mornings, helping the local team gather data on turtle hatchings. A gratifying experience was finding and helping lots of baby turtles along the way. The entire programme was well-organised, and the GVI Mexico team ensured we were well looked after.

Travelling with GVI was a life changing experience.
I experience so many new things through my volunteering, which I would never have done if I had just gone backpacking. I made so many friendships with my fellow volunteers and the staff. they made me feel so safe and welcome. Everyday was a new fun experience and you truly did meaningful work. working at a primary school in Thailand felt so rewarding and you could see the effect it was having. and having the opportunity to help turtles in an animal hospital at the local university was amazing. but the best part of the experience was the local culture and how friendly everyone was. by having local guides it made it all so much more authentic and special. I will never forget my trip.
100% recommend for people travelling solo for the first time (that's what I was)