Deep Dive Journeys
built to engage curious travelers
Take a Deeper Dive When You Travel
When crafted with intention, travel can transform us and local communities. Tourism can advance local communities economically, support social causes, boost conservation efforts, sustain local heritage and artistic traditions, and influence positive change for future generations.
For your next trip, we invite you to take a deeper dive learning journey that supports local communities while broadening your experiences. You will be inspired by the amazing people you meet and hopefully, you will inspire others to dig a little deeper the next time they travel!
Built to engage curious travelers, Elevate’s Deep Dive Trips are perfect for adventurous, knowledge-seeking college students, friends, and couples and can be customized to suit the whole family.
Explore journeys to Rwanda, Guatemala, Colombia, Hawaii, and Costa Rica.
The most amazing trip! We will never forget and never be the same. And we will be back! Elevate Destinations was the perfect partner for our adventure and will be planning our future travels.
Leslie Hsu Besner
Belize
Custom-Designed Trips
- Private and personalized trips
- Flexible dates
- We specialize in working with families.
- Customized to your interests.
- Authentic experiences.
Personal Attention
- We take care of you before, during, and after your trip.
- No family too complicated.
- Experts at handling special requests and dietary restrictions.
- 24/7 support while you travel.
Social Responsibility
- Every trip supports conservation and local communities.
- We select the most sustainable lodges and properties available.
- Gold Winner: 2016 Responsible Tourism Awards.
- Pioneer in sustainable travel.
ELEVATE RWANDA
Deep Dive into women’s and children’s development through education, arts, and agriculture
Deep Dive Rwanda will take you on a journey to experience the amazing work being done by local non-profit organizations to elevate women and children. Your thoughtfully paced custom itinerary will take you through a mosaic of organizations and experiences. Explore some of the experiences you may include on a deeper dive through Rwanda.
Nyamirambo Women’s Center
Visit the inspiring Nyamirambo Women’s Center where you’ll take a guided walking tour of the colorful lower-class suburb of Nyamirambo and share lunch in the home of local women from the center. Spend time with the Akihila Institute, uplifting women through education and advancing their role in the tourism and hospitality sector, where you’ll lunch with some of the institute’s students for a Q&A session.
Genocide Museum
No visit would be complete without paying respects at Rwanda’s Genocide Museum. Here you will have the time to reflect on the pain and resiliency of Rwanda’s people.
Mountain Gorillas
An awaited highlight of the trip will take you to the incredible Volcanoes National Park where you will trek to see the critically endangered Mountain Gorillas.
ELEVATE GUATEMALA
Deep Dive into Mayan heritage and nature experience
Through this Deep Dive itinerary in Guatamala you’ll have the chance to meet some incredible people doing important work to sustain their heritage and traditions and also advance their communities. A colorful, nature-infused custom itinerary will take you from the highlands of Lake Atitlan to the jungles of Tikal.
Your support of Maya artisans, indigenous guides, and conservation connects you to the Guatemala that exists below the surface to better understand a country that is rebuilding itself after years of civil war.
Antigua
Start in Antigua with its stunning volcano views, Mayan chocolate shops, and coffee cooperatives where direct sales from farmer to consumer are lifting rural families out of poverty. While experiencing the peaceful shores of Lake Atitlan, delve into a few days with the local cooperatives where you will learn from talented artisans. Take art classes with traditional Naif painters, mask makers, traditional back-strap weavers, and Mayan medicinal plant healers.
Local Markets
Highlights will also include a visit to Central America’s largest market in Chichicastenango, a private cooking class, and a ceremonial experience inviting you into centuries-old tradition.
Wildlife Rescue Center
Once in the lowland jungles, take a private tour of the wildlife rescue center near Tikal where many brightly colored parrots, monkeys, and other animals find sanctuary. Learn about how the organization is battling wildlife trafficking and habitat loss.
Biking Adventure
To better understand the construction and purpose of prominent archeological sites, take a biking adventure to catch an exclusive sunset viewing from Uaxactun’s Celestial Observatory. And for those adventurous at heart, hike active volcanoes, explore waterfalls, and swim in crystal clear turquoise pools deep in the jungle.
Plan Your Deep Dive in Guatemala
ELEVATE COLOMBIA
Exclusive Deep Dive for coffee enthusiasts
One of the world’s best coffee producers, Colombia has something for the most discerning coffee enthusiasts. Elevate will take you on a deep exploration to experience the aromatic world of high-quality, shade-grown coffee. Meet the country’s most influential coffee producers, which are Rainforest Alliance and UTZ Fair Trade certified.
Medellin
Fly into Medellin, located in the department of Antioquia where exhilarating views, quaint, colorful pueblos, and exclusive access to some of the finest coffee experiences await you. Take a curated, private tour of one of Colombia’s oldest coffee farms, overlooking the Cauca River with stunning views of the Andes. The farm’s chief roaster will take you from seed to final product, and coffee tastings will be followed by a luxurious, traditional lunch and a refreshing swim in a private waterfall.
Cafe Roldan and Organic Farms
As part of your journey, you’ll meet the award-winning coffee producers and researchers at Cafe Roldan working on cutting-edge methods to elevate Colombia’s coffee quality through environmentally friendly practices. Another day takes you to an organic coffee farm that will dazzle you with its diversity of flowers and animals.
Islas de Baru
Round out the trip with some coffee tasting with Medellin’s best baristas before flying out to the remote, turquoise Caribbean waters of Islas de Baru. Finish the trip with a couple of days tasting your way around Cartagena’s eating establishments, and visit the village of Palanque — the first “free town” established by Africans that escaped enslavement during colonial times — where you’ll get an in-depth tour with a local organization dedicated to uplifting their communities and sharing their stories.
Plan Your Deep Dive in Colombia
ELEVATE HAWAII
Deep Dive with native Hawaiian teachers and naturalists
A favorite domestic destination, Elevate’s deep-dive into Hawaii will provide a sincere journey into the native Hawaiian experience.
Home to eleven of the world’s thirteen microclimates, the Hawaiian archipelago comprises a wide array of coastal, rainforest, volcanic and mountain terrain. These habitats account for at least a third of all endangered species in the US.
Join Elevate for exciting and educational curated experiences that support local communities, respect cultural heritage and protect the environment. From pristine rainforests, to the marine world, and out into the open for unobstructed star gazing, specialist guides, teachers, and naturalists will introduce you to a version of Hawaii many visitors miss. These in-depth trips will have you immersed in authentic Hawaiian culture, history and the spirituality and wisdom of the elders, and their deep connection with the aina (land).
All experiences are led by certified naturalists, Native Hawaiian kumu (teachers), and adventure guides who know the islands intimately and are passionate about sharing these gifts, and sense of place with all of Elevate’s honored travelers.
Swim, Trek, and Paddle
Highlights include a night swim with manta rays and trek to the summit to view the sunrise atop the world’s largest dormant volcano. Paddle a traditional Hawaiian outrigger canoe while learning about the ancient art of Wayfinding and Celestial Navigation used by early Polynesian voyagers. Enjoy a mellow (or spirited!) paddle along the scenic coastal waters with your expert guide.
Ho’oponopono Workshop
Through a life-changing workshop with a respected Kumu (teacher,) you will have the opportunity to learn the healing art of Ho’oponopono, an ancient practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. Learn of Hawaii’s rich culture through traditional oli (chant), hula (dance) and mele (song) with Hawaii’s preeminent cultural practitioners.
Marine Research
Marine enthusiasts can travel with biologists in a RAIV raft to explore hidden coves. Swim with endangered Hawaiian green sea turtles, and learn what you can do to battle rising sea levels that threaten earth’s creatures. If the timing is right, join a team of whale experts aboard a research vessel to observe the Pacific humpback whale. In November, humpback whales return to breed, birth and nurse calves. 8,000 protected marine mammals migrate from Alaska to Hawaii’s warm, shallow waters through April.
ELEVATE COSTA RICA
Deep Dive Costa Rica Experience
Costa Rica is one of the world’s top eco-destinations, and while the beaches and jungles are often the highlights, this trip takes you to all walks of all Costa Rican life, from the capital city’s historians, to the heart of the countryside and out to the wild coast’s far flung beaches.
Turrialba Valley
A commonly overlooked destination, but one incredibly worthy of your time is Turrialba Valley, one of the most fertile and beautiful valleys in the country. It rests under the shadow of the stunning and active Turrialba Volcano. Meet an association of female entrepreneurs focused on rural tourism and training local women in customer service and marketing. They offer guided hikes to Guayabo National Monument, tortilla making, traditional cooking classes, pottery making workshops, eco-agricultural tours, and guided visits to local waterfalls.
Culinary and Active Adventures
En route to Arenal, stop for a delicious chocolate tour or a visit to Doña Maria’s “heart of palm” plantation, you will be introduced you to this delicious ingredient and enjoy lunch at their restaurant. Once in Arenal, enjoy hikes to gorgeous waterfalls, ziplining through the jungle, spend a day whitewater rafting, canyoning, or admiring plants and animals from the forest canopy while navigating a series of hanging bridges. At the end of the day, soak in a relaxing hot spring pool fed by the geothermal activity of the Arenal Volcano.
Marine Conservation
End your trip on the beautiful Pacific Coast. Get a bit deeper into marine conservation by spending a day with Misión Tiburón—a local non-profit organization that conducts research and conservation efforts to better understand and protect sharks and other keystone marine species. They recently teamed up with the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica and developed the Blue Scholarship, which supports marine science research and is paving the way for female scientists with their scholarship program. Join scientists on a research boat trip to assist with counting and identifying different marine species while snorkeling. This contributes to their ongoing marine-life census work which is important to better understand trends and changes in the ocean.
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