Welcome! Learn and adventure in joyous connection with community and nature in Lake Chapala, Mx
Mexico
Stay with us in a growing food forest near Lake Chapala, wake up to the sound of birds and the town, enjoy the sunrise over the lake, disconnect from the city hustle, become immersed in the garden, feel a slower pace of life in nature and hike the multiple trails near the property and throughout the Chapala ribera.
We are looking for self-sufficient and collaborative individuals or pairs to join our team as a volunteer dedicated to maintaining and improving the garden and the builds of common spaces within the property.
If you value independence, love being surrounded by nature and community and embrace a self-directed way of living, this could be a good fit for you!
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Hello, my name is Santiago, along with my partner Saku and family, we have created a small co-housing compound in Lake Chapala, Mexico. Specifically in a lively town San Juan Cosalá. We are currently developing a system of food production working with vegetables and fruits that grow well in the area. I share the land with my family, a couple of neighbors and our adventurous rescued labrador Werita, and other occasional visitors and volunteers.
We value diversity in housing and here we have a main house, guest studio, 2 rental apartments, volunteer camping area and a future apartment and cabin build in progress. We be on a journey to create abundance in this paradise. We have common areas for doing yoga, communal cooking, relaxing, gathering around the fire pit and to just rest and share a lovely lake and mountain view.
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The property is located in San Juan Cosala, one of the oldest towns in Lake Chapala. The inhabitants of San Juan Cosalá, are hardworking, friendly and active day and night. It is quite common to see locals set up food stands outside their homes in the evenings and to see children, families and youth out in the street. This vibrant town is not just a place to visit but a cultural experience in itself.
There are other neighbouring towns that can be visited by bus. These include Jocotepec, Ajijic, San Antonio Tlayacapan and Chapala. Once there, you can immerse yourself in the local culture by visiting the plazas, markets, clothing and fresh produce.
You can also withdraw money, enjoy a meal or a coffee at one of these town’s restaurants, or buy a SIM card to stay connected. From Chapala, you can catch a boat ride to Isla de los Alacranes which hosts various restaurants and Isla de Mezcala which has an old military prison.
In terms of cultural exchange on the property, you’ll have the chance to interact with myself and Saku, my family, friends and neighbours.
While you're here at the project, your free time can be as active or as relaxing as you like. We encourage creativity and personal projects, offering tools for those who want to build, carve, or craft something unique. The lake is unfortunately quite polluted and not apt for swimming or fishing. You might also find joy in painting, reading, lounging in a hammock with the sounds of nature all around you, or going on hikes.
For those eager to explore further, we can suggest different hikes that offer a variety of duration and difficulty. These include:
-Cruz de la Fatima (1 hr)
-Chupinaya (3-4 hrs)
-Sendero del Caracol (6 hrs)
For more leisurely pursuits or to dive into the rich culture of the region, there are several tourism and relaxation options available. You can immerse yourself in local traditions, visit art studios, join a cacao ceremony, participate in Sunday temazcal ceremony, or visit the natural hot springs. There are also many single classes of all sorts in town like dancing, pottery, painting, muralism, and more.
We share this beautiful land with a diverse array of wildlife, including some potentially dangerous creatures like snakes, black widows and scorpions. Fortunately, these animals are rarely active during the day, so maintaining a daytime routine is a good precaution. While we've never needed it, the nearest hospital is just a 10-minute drive away, giving us peace of mind.
Our location is close to town yet peaceful and remote. Due to our altitude, temperatures here are generally 15-35°C throughout the year. The dry season (Apr-June) usually brings little to no rain and is quite hot and arid, but still pleasurable to the eyes.
The rain season (late June- Sept) sees afternoon showers daily and everything flourishes, unfortunately we are currently not hosting volunteers during the rain season due to shelter and the natural forces of the rain.
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We are currently working on the following tasks:
JANUARY 2026
what is going on now?
-Transforming harvest into jams, ferments, tea, and floral salad arrangements to sell/exchange at the local farmers market (seasonal)
-Building a worm compost system
-Building an outdoor shower, bathroom and composting toilet *IN PROCESS*
-Hosting workshop, yoga and body movement sessions, seasonal meals, movie nights, potlucks....we love community and a crowd :)
-Landscaping the new apartment area
-Building bamboo wall panels for the outdoor compost toilet and shower area, followed by greywater landscapings *IN PROCESS*
-We're in the designing phase to self-build a wooden and eco cabin *IN PROCESS*
WORKING SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTED (with room to improve!):
-Nursery: we’ve created a dedicated plant nursery space where we care for over small seedlings. This nursery is our effort to ensure a continuous supply of nutritious, medicinal and decorative plants. We have a vision to propagate for trading/selling plantlings.
-Irrigation system: we use a simple method of hoses to water the property. This method ensures constant observation and care of the different plants and serves as a form of meditative exercise.
We would love to experiment with samples of irrigation systems for designated beds to help with the watering task.
-Tree forest: half of our land is being reforested with a diverse mix of trees—native trees, jacaranda, avocado, papaya, grapefruit, mango, guayaba, lemon, chaya and other decorative, and fruit trees.
-Composting: all of the food scraps are processed in our composting area where we mix leaves, green clippings, earth and other organic scraps to produce compost.
We’d love experienced volonteers to implement a worm compost in the future.
Our typical activities include managing the compost area, watering the crops, trimming and shaping, caring for plantlings, harvesting, reshaping and making new growing beds, transplanting. Whats done in the garden/soil we make an effort to align with the lunar cycle. All together we organize the two meals a day within the working days; cooking and cleaning are activities we share.
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ACCOMMODATION
-Sheltered camp site: a tent for one or two people is provided and all necessary gear (floormats, sheets, pillows). It's central in the garden, safe and cozy. The max capacity at a time is two tents, each in a separate area, both roofed.
We have electrical outlets in each camping space, heated water in the outdoor shower and WiFi accessible within the garden.
The kitchen is a fully equipped outdoor space with firewood, electric pan or portable gas stoves and enough utensils for a crowd. (it's naturally a lovely gathering spot as well)
Cooking, cleaning and tidying up the common areas are shared responsibilities and while these tasks are not included in work hours, we expect everyone in our community to pitch in equally. It's very important to keep the kitchen sink and counters tidy so to not bring in critters.
Working early in the morning is crucial to avoid the heat of the sun (and is very pleasant to see the sunrise every morning around 6:30-7 AM) so we start our day getting together for oats, fruit, coffee, tea together around 8 AM, and the work in the garden starts around 8:30-9 AM. Time flies and around 12 the tummy rumbles so a pair is usually designated to prepare communal lunch. Here we stick by the rule whoever doesn't cook, cleans up after lunch is done.
Dinner is on your own, BUT we now and then go out for local delicacies and delights and love for everyone to join in.
Saku and I have independent projects outside of the garden which calls for us to be absent at times. We will communicate this so as the meals or the activities are not affected. We try to work along side our volunteers as much possible but there will be independent moments.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Forestry
Flower farming
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Beer, cider, wine, or juice making
Traditional crafts
Green Building
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
No-till farming
Permaculture
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
Former WWOOFer
0.2
Hectares
|
0.5
Acres
Santiago
Member since 2024
Languages spoken:
English, French, Spanish
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 100%
Response time: typically within 3 days
Mexico
Aeropuerto Internacional de Guadalajara/Direct bus to Chapala/Taxi availability
Reviews
Hanna
Estonia
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January 2026
Located next to the beautiful Lake Chapala, San Juan offers a peaceful environment for those looking to experience non-touristy Mexico — the place where Santiago and Saku have built their home. Just outside the town center, it offers the perfect balance between tranquility and the lively streets of San Juan Cosalá.
Communication with the hosts was 10/10 — they were always responsive and provided all the information one could need before arriving.
During our time there, we felt incredibly welcomed and appreciated. They truly care about the well-being of their volunteers. The space is quite small; however, there is enough room to enjoy some privacy or spend time with the community. Santiago and Saku shared so much knowledge about the surroundings and life in the area, making it easy to explore on your own and experience authentic small-town Mexican life.
Daily tasks mainly involved gardening — watering, planting, and some minor construction work. They are very open-minded and genuinely welcome ideas and input, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with them.
We just want to thank Santiago and Saku for this incredible experience — and cheers to new friendships. Hopefully, we’ll see you again soon!
P.S. Give all your love to Güera (the dog and the true soul of the community).
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Adrien
France
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October 2025
Mil gracias, Santiago y Saku, por su increíble hospitalidad y por toda su buena vibra durante mi primer woofing. De verdad me hicieron sentir como en casa. Aprendí muchísimo con ustedes, no solo sobre el trabajo, sino también sobre la vida, la comunidad y la importancia de vivir de acuerdo con lo que uno cree.
Son personas maravillosas, auténticas, llenas de curiosidad, alegría y ganas de aprender. Admiro mucho cómo ponen en práctica sus ideales y cómo están tan abiertos al mundo y tan integrados en su comunidad local.
Gracias por todo lo que compartimos! Fue una experiencia inolvidable
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Wah Kang
Singapore
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June 2025
Spent a good 3 weeks here. Together with Santiago, we worked in the garden a lot and there were a lot of seeds sprouting and also saw all the small plants grown 3-4 times bigger by the time I left. Santiago is a very caring and tentative person, making sure I was comfortable throughout the stay. Appreciate the my first woofing experience in Mexico at Santiago's. Thanks Santiago 😘.
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Arjun
United Kingdom
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May 2025
Santiago, Saku, and the extended family at San Juan Cosala are wonderful hosts who ensured that our time volunteering with them was purposeful and rewarding. The work mainly consisted of gardening, landscaping and construction projects and had a clear and coherent vision behind it which made it satisfying to complete. Santiago’s community driven ethos is apparent in the welcoming and nurturing environment that he has created and throughout my time there, we felt a genuine sense of kinship with everyone we met. We hope to return in the future and contribute more to this important project and to see it grow and flourish, much like the saplings we planted!
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Kathleen
Canada
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April 2025
I had a wonderful two week experience with the farm fam. They were welcoming of my limited knowledge and encouraging throughout. Instructions were clear and it was really fun to see the progress and growth of the gardens day over day. I'd highly recommend this volunteer experience as a wonderfully collaborative opportunity and relaxing place to spend quality time with yourself.
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Souzan
Canada
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March 2025
Lovely gentle family setting with a garden. I stayed one month with Santiago and his family and enjoyed my stay. I worked on taking care of the garden and building vegetable beds. It’s good to have some knowledge of garden work already as you might be working alone most days. Living conditions are very comfortable. The town is calm and small. Mountain and lake views make it a tranquil area. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have met this kind, generous, and grounded family.
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