Camaronal Turtle Tour
Highlights
- Get up-close to female sea turtles laying eggs
- Learn about turtle conservation efforts
- Visit Playa Camaronal at night
Facts
- Hours : 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. (depending on tide)
- Price : $49 per person
- Note : Transportation to and from wildlife refuge, snacks and water included
Witness a miraculous natural wonder, sea turtles laying their eggs just inches away from you in the soft volcanic-rock sands of the Camaronal Wildlife Refuge.
read more closeEvery evening – especially during their peak nesting season (May-Nov.) – between 7:30 p.m. and 2 a.m., hundreds of female olive ridley, leatherback, black Pacific and hawksbill turtles come ashore in a synchronized manner for 45 to 60 minutes to lay eggs in the sands of the Camaronal National Wildlife Refuge.
The Tour
Just after dusk, shuttle to the Camaronal National Wildlife Refuge information center to start your guided tour. Walk down the beach with a local guide exploring the shoreline with a red flashlight to spot turtles crawling 50 feet away from the Pacific Ocean. Let a mama turtle shimmy up the beach probing for a place to make her nest. Watch while she kicks away sand to dig a 15-inch-deep, light bulb-shaped hole. Approach slowly from behind as she slips into a 10 to 15 minute trance and your guide shines the red flashlight onto her mucus-coated eggs flowing in a punctuated stream.
Stick around as she covers the hole and tampers the silky sands with her belly to camouflage the nest before she wades into the ocean, sure to return to Playa Camaronal in about 20 days with her next 100 eggs.
Scan the beach for any more turtle sightings and help Camaronal's volunteers race against raccoons and poachers to collect, count and relocate the newly laid eggs to a hatchery where they'll incubate safely over the next seven weeks. Baby turtles will be released as they hatch; and volunteers will oversee their first journey across the sand into the ocean.
Walk back to the information center's picnic tables for a snack of cookies and water before returning to your hotel.
Departure & Return
- Departure point : Tour departs from all major hotels in Samara and Playa Carrillo
- Departure time : Hotel pickup is between 20 and 50 minutes before tour start time depending on hotel location.
- Return details : Tour returns to original departure point between three and four hours after tour start time