Yes, You Can Work Remotely in Organos
Sometimes you need to plug back in when you’re at the beach. One thing that surprised me the most about Organos was how great the WiFi was.
Even my bare-bones beachfront hotel had great internet speed with only minimal cuts- far less than my own Spectrum plan in New York! But I wanted to get out of my hotel room for a work day, and I knew the local cafes weren’t going to cut it. Then a coworking spot caught my eye on Google Maps, just up the hill from my hotel: Biosfera.
How to Book
I made a reservation at Biosfera Coworking & CoLiving, a hostel and bed-and-breakfast that boasts its own coworking space with high-speed Wi-Fi and a pool. I found Biosfera after extensive Googling and anxious thoughts of failing Zoom calls during my morning stand-up meetings. I had two workdays in Organos to plan. Then, after I got taken out by some huarique ceviche, it was just one work day, but still important.
Their website wasn’t working when I was looking; however, their Instagram is active. You can just show up, or you can reserve your spot ahead of time via WhatsApp. I reserved mine in advance with the owner, Aldo. I did it mostly to practice my Spanish, but Aldo speaks English as well.
How to Get to Biosfera
While you can walk up the hill via the PanAmerican Highway, it is very busy, with lots of trucks going both ways, and it's not the clearest pedestrian route. Peruvian drivers aren’t exactly known for being cautious, either.
I took a tuk-tuk from my hotel, using the number that the front desk manager gave me for a trusted driver. He also gave me his WhatsApp number so I could text him if I needed a ride around town. It costs 5 soles (~$1.50) to go from the beach to the coworking space, and the trip takes about 5-10 minutes.
You can flag down the motos around town pretty easily if you don’t want to wait for your hotel to call one for you, but be sure to decide on a price before you get in and start the ride. I think going with your hotel’s trusted contacts means you will get the best price.
Price and Other Details
Aldo had a busy workday in his workroom inside the hostel, but he was very warm and easy to talk to when I needed something.
It’s $10 USD for a full day of coworking plus two drinks (coffee or lemonade). After I arrived, I asked for lemonade, and Aldo said, of course, I could have lemonade, but would I rather have a mango-watermelon smoothie he was making? Always pick the smoothie made with fresh fruits!
The workspace
The workspace is in the hostel's backyard, and it is completely outdoors. The weather was perfect (76 degrees and slightly cloudy), but there was plenty of cover from the sun when it got strong in the late afternoon. There are two networks available: one with 5G internet that remained stable, with only two or three cuts lasting less than ten minutes throughout the day.
I was the only one working there from about 10 am until 4:30 pm, so I can’t complain about the work etiquette. There is constant background noise of cars coming down the road, fruit sellers marketing their products, and a construction worker with his radio on, which could be annoying if you have a lot of calls. I lucked out, and with zero calls, the background noise was more a point of amusement (can I understand all the fruit names I hear in Spanish, or just piña?) than a nuisance.
The bathroom is inside the hostel, and you are expected to turn off the water between uses. I almost had a heart attack when I went in the second time after two delicious watermelon smoothies, and the toilet wouldn’t flush. Then the taps at the sink ran dry. Uh oh.
Aldo saw me come out of the bathroom with wide, panicked eyes and told me they had turned off the water because Northern Peru frequently experiences droughts. He showed me how to turn on the water at a wall switch, and all was well!
The coworking space includes full access to the amenities, including the swimming pool and the hammocks, but it stayed cloudy for most of the day, and I was so productive working there that I didn’t end up using them.
Around 5 pm, I paid in cash (in dollars rather than soles), but you can also pay with Touch Pay or a credit card, and I was on my way to dinner at El Piramide Titi by tuk-tuk/moto.