Safety and Security

Trained local teams

The vast majority of our team members are from the countries and communities where we operate. This means the people developing, organizing, and leading our trips have firsthand knowledge of the places where we host our travelers — the kind of knowledge that only comes from living and working in a place year-round. Sometimes a program requires a skill set outside our local network, and we bring in seasonal international staff to complement our teams.

Our guides are trained in CPR and first aid, and many hold additional certifications in wilderness first response, wilderness medicine, and lifeguard training. All staff undergo a comprehensive set of interviews, reference checks, and rigorous background checks.

Every guide completes a mandatory week-long training each year covering safety protocols, emergency response, and medical skills verification, along with activity standards, service standards, responsible travel, and cultural competency. Guides also receive additional onsite training before each experience to review the specific itinerary, locations, partners, conditions, and any updates to protocols. Many of our guides have worked with us for multiple seasons.

Risk management and preparation

We build comprehensive risk management plans for every itinerary and every region we operate in. These plans include local hospital locations, emergency service contacts, evacuation routes, incident response procedures, and embassy information. Plans are reviewed and updated regularly and whenever conditions on the ground change.

We stay in touch with local, national, and international authorities to constantly assess the changing environment, and give risk a wide berth — we will change plans or itineraries if we foresee unnecessary risk. We trust local knowledge and keep an ear to the ground at all times.

Vendor and partner standards

Every hotel, transportation provider, activity operator, and community partner we work with is vetted and documented against our safety standards, with formal assessments every two years and site visits on an ongoing basis. We assess facilities, equipment, personnel, training, and emergency preparedness. We proactively work with vendors to improve their safety standards. If a vendor doesn't meet our standards and isn't willing to improve, we don't work with them.

We maintain close, ongoing relationships with our vendors — many of whom we've worked with for years. These people aren't just our partners; they are part of our extended family. We work and play alongside them and watch our families grow together. That closeness means we know when something changes and can respond quickly.

Emergency response

When the unexpected happens, our preparation kicks in. For minor incidents, our guides are trained and equipped to respond on the spot and communicate with our operations team as appropriate.

For more serious situations, we activate our crisis response protocols. Our operations teams in Santo Domingo and San José coordinate with local emergency services, medical facilities, and embassies, and communicate directly with emergency contacts, families, institutional partners, and other stakeholders. Through our partnership with Cornerstone Safety Group, our team has 24/7 access to expert medical and mental health consultation to support decision-making during critical incidents.

We don't wait for situations to escalate. If conditions change, we adjust plans proactively.

Our partnership with Cornerstone Safety Group

We partner with Cornerstone Safety Group, a travel safety and risk management consultancy that works with leading student travel and adventure travel organizations worldwide. Cornerstone provides our team with expert consultation, crisis response support, emergency action plans, participant screening procedures, and protocol templates, among other critical resources.

Cornerstone's team includes a medical director, mental health advisors, and safety and risk management consultants who advise our staff on medical and psychological situations that may arise during travel. Cornerstone also provides regular trainings on topics such as suicidal ideation response, stress management, and other critical areas of traveler wellbeing.

Through this partnership, our team has 24/7 on-call access to Cornerstone's expert team for emergency consultation, medical guidance, and incident support.

Industry memberships and certifications

We are active members of leading travel industry organizations including SYTA (Student & Youth Travel Association), the Forum on Education Abroad, ATTA (Adventure Travel Trade Association), and Tourism Cares. We are registered with the Costa Rica Tourism Board and the Dominican Republic Tourism Board. These memberships keep us connected to evolving industry standards for safety, risk management, and program quality — and hold us accountable to them.

Learn more about our industry partnerships.

Insurance coverage

Offbeat Travel carries general liability and professional liability insurance. We know institutional partners and educators often need to verify insurance details as part of their approval process. We're happy to share documentation and discuss the specifics of our coverage with any prospective partner, institution, or client.