Cook by the Ocean!
Seasonal
- summer
Job Starts:May 24, 2024
Our mission is to cultivate a love and respect for the ocean by building confidence and developing character while inspiring coastal conservation through safety, fun, and learning!
Sea Turtle Camp was founded to offer youth the opportunity to learn about marine biology through immersive, hands-on, feet-wet experiential education. One of our goals is to share our passion for life and teach young adults how to mold that passion into a selfless, hard-working team of individuals that can recognize problems and work towards solving them.
Ocean-view housing in North Topsail Beach, NC, about 40 minutes north of Wilmington, NC
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About Sea Turtle Camp
Sea Turtle Camp was founded to offer youth the opportunity to learn about marine biology through immersive, hands-on, feet-wet experiential education. Our mission is to cultivate a love and respect for the ocean by building confidence and developing character while inspiring coastal conservation through safety, fun, and learning!
Sea turtles are one of the oldest living creatures in the world, but their numbers are being depleted faster than they can reproduce. While we can’t solve all the world’s problems, we know that one person can make a difference, and a camp full of eager knowledge-hungry young people can make a huge difference.
One of our goals is to share our passion for life and teach young adults how to mold that passion into a selfless, hard-working team of individuals who can recognize problems and work towards solving them. Through our grassroots approach, we strive to show campers a wide variety of possibilities at a time in their life when they have many potential roads to follow. In doing so they will learn the rewards of selflessly giving their time and energy to their communities, encouraging volunteer service, and potentially impacting their career paths.
Ultimately, we want to raise compassionate awareness and pour our support into our life-sustaining oceans. The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center is a place where many volunteers share their love and give their time to care for just one aspect of our oceans that many people take for granted.
The Employee Experience
Our ability to attract the finest, most qualified team results from our experience, professional reputation, industry-leading training, and compensation level. We have an incredible team of hardworking, energetic summer camp staff and an administrative support team. What binds us is our shared love for the ocean. Whatever your passion, we believe that it can be applied to making the community a better place to be. Yes, we need camp counselors, but we also need cooks, photographers, behind-the-scenes magic makers, organizers, scientists, educators, mentors, surfers, turtle whisperers, DJs, coaches, and all-around positive-minded people.
Summer camp life is about community. You'll make connections that last a lifetime. You'll inspire and lead young people to pursue their goals. You'll hone your professional"soft skills" like decision-making, time management, organization, planning, professional communication, conflict resolution, critical thinking, and stress management by working and living in a group environment.
Our residential camp is located on Topsail Island in a modern retreat center, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the beautiful marshes of the intercoastal waterway to the west. We guarantee the best sunset views on the island!
Ideal Candidate
Our summers are extremely fun, rewarding, and very busy so we look to hire self-directed, extroverted, and highly energetic team players. The most important quality that we search for In a team member is solid character coupled with a high degree of integrity. Applicants should hold our mission statement of environmental conservation as a high personal value and want to make a positive impact.
No matter what your position is at camp, you will get to make a difference in the lives of our campers. Staff should:
- Keep safety in mind, first and foremost
- Enjoy working and living as part of a team
- Joyfully share their passion and knowledge
- Have or be able to obtain Lifeguarding certification and CPR/First Aid
- Take pride in being an ocean steward
- Be patient and caring with others
- Put campers first, while maintaining self-care
- Be able to commit to a full summer season (Late May- Early August)
- Make Sea Turtle Camp fun!
Room and Board
We offer ocean-view room and board in our amazing retreat facility, including meals and accommodations on your days off. Room types vary depending on position and include shared, dorm, and private accommodations. All rooms are air-conditioned and have a modern restroom attached (flush plumbing, hot water shower, all the comforts of home.)
The commercial-grade kitchen serves delicious made-from-scratch meals, served buffet style in the dining hall. The staff has access to camp-provided coffee and tea in the dining hall, as well as a separate staff-only kitchen in the staff lounge for storing snacks and drinks for time off. There are no fees or charges for housing, food, internet access, or an initial set of uniforms. Staff must take personal laundry to a laundry mat during their time off, so an additional weekly cash stipend is included for laundry money.
Employee Perks
- Ocean-view summertime room/board for our overnight teams
- Industry-leading pay
- Training
- Uniforms
- Free Rainbow sandals
- ProDeals on clothing, gear, and equipment
- A dedicated administrative team to support your in-field efforts
- Steps from the beach all summer long!
Getting Here and Getting Around
We can pick you up from the local airport (Wilmington International) and shuttle you to your ocean-view accommodations for the summer. You are also able to drive your own vehicle and park at camp, however, parking is on a sandy lot that may not be suitable for all vehicles. We will work with you on whatever form of transportation you take to get to and from camp. You will not be required to use your own personal vehicles for work purposes. There is no public transportation on the island, however, Uber and Lyft are available. Most staff carpool together when leaving campus.
If you are over 21 and have a US driver's license, we will train you to drive a 15-passenger van to transport campers on field trips.
For Fun
Bonfires, stargazing, cook-outs, fishing, biking, standup paddleboarding, surfing! Your summer on the beautiful coast of southeastern North Carolina awaits you! Visit downtown Wilmington, North Carolina or just hang out at the beach. Local restaurants, shops, and scenic nature areas are just short drives away!
How to Apply
All applicants must apply through our website. You can expect the interview process to take 1-3 weeks and to include a minimum of two interviews with members of our administrative team.
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