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Turtle Nesting Tour: An Unforgettable Experience on Hidden Beaches
4.4
67 Ratings
Tamarindo
Spend a truly unforgettable evening observing turtles nesting!
- Venture off the beaten track to beautiful, hidden beaches
- Look for turtle tracks in the sand that will lead you to their nesting sites
- Observe sea turtles making their nests on the beach above the high tide mark and laying their eggs, before returning to the ocean
Spend a truly unforgettable evening observing turtles nesting!
- Venture off the beaten track to beautiful, hidden beaches
- Look for turtle tracks in the sand that will lead you to their nesting sites
- Observe sea turtles making their nests on the beach above the high tide mark and laying their eggs, before returning to the ocean
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Playa Mina - We’ll pick you up from your location in Tamarindo before driving approximately 17 miles / 25km or 40 minutes through scenic tracks to a hidden beach, close to the beautiful Playa Minas. Once parked, the turtle nesting beach is only accessible via a 10-15 minute walk. As the beach is inaccessible by car it remains dark and undisturbed…
- Playa Mina - We’ll pick you up from your location in Tamarindo before driving approximately 17 miles / 25km or 40 minutes through scenic tracks to a hidden beach, close to the beautiful Playa Minas. Once parked, the turtle nesting beach is only accessible via a 10-15 minute walk. As the beach is inaccessible by car it remains dark and undisturbed for nesting sea turtles. This is why they choose to nest on this beach.
On reaching the beach we’ll walk looking for turtle tracks, which will lead us to where the turtles are making their nests. We’ll then sit facing the back of the turtle. observe them deposit their eggs and return to the water; a truly unforgettable experience!
It is possible to see more than one kind of turtle; including the green, black, olive ridley and if we’re lucky the leatherbacks too.
We respect the turtles at all times by closely following rules laid out by the government conservation authorities so as not to be noticed by the turtles while observing them very closely.
We’ll spend approximately an hour on the beach before returning to drop you off at your location in Tamarindo.
Minimum 2 bookings are needed for the tour to operate.
What's Included
- Bottled water
- Flash Light
- Snacks
- Bottled water
- Flash Light
- Snacks
What's Not Included
- Gratuity
- Long sleeve top and trousers, must be dark clothing as not to distract the turtles
- Comfortable shoes for walking
- Mosquito Repellent
- Gratuity
- Long sleeve top and trousers, must be dark clothing as not to distract the turtles
- Comfortable shoes for walking
- Mosquito Repellent
Location
Pangas Beach Club
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.4
(67 Ratings)
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Louv480
Jan 1, 2025
Luis is da bomb dot com - Luis provided us with a once in a lifetime experience! Truly unbelievable seeing the turtles build their nests and lay eggs.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Inspire260946
Dec 31, 2024
Luis made the evening unforgettable! Nesting Turtle seen! - For us, this was one of the best experiences in Costa Rica! We met up with Luis in Metapalo and drove to a beautiful beach. Everyone drove their own car, there were four cars in total. At first it was very quiet on the beach, but gradually more and more people arrived. Nevertheless, we had the opportunity to get very close to a turtle and marvel at it laying its eggs. While we waited (there were observation posts set up everywhere on a total of five beaches, which had radio contact), Luis happily explained everything about the turtles that nest on these beaches. We also marveled at the bioluminescence of the plankton.
When the sighting of a turtle was reported, we drove a short distance by car and had to walk for about 20 minutes (sturdy shoes recommended, flashlights provided) to see the turtle move around on the beach and then see how it builds its nest. There were smaller children in our group, so people wanted to leave earlier. We told Luis that we wanted to stay and he organized a guide to look after us. The crowning glory was also seeing the egg laying! We thank Luis from the bottom of our hearts for the unforgettable night and can wholeheartedly recommend this tour. Thank you Luis
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Richard
Dec 27, 2024
Operation Turtle View - Ask for Luis as your guide. Luis’s sole goal is to get you the chance to see magnificent turtles nesting. They’re unpredictable and very shy, which makes this hard. Luis approaches his task more as a military operation than a family day out. Stragglers are left behind, instructions are to the point and expected to be followed straight away and without question. And you’re going to have to share his patience - nesting turtles don’t follow a schedule, so if that means waiting in silence and darkness for an hour, that’s what you’ll do.
Why would you pay for this when there are much gentler tour guides out there? Because you will get to see them well before everyone else, with a better view, and a better explanation of what’s happening. And when it’s all done, he’ll refresh you with iced water and Oreos, then expertly guide you around the queue of tourist busses.
You’ll need decent running shoes, a 4x4 fully CDW’d and ready to do what is what built for, no whinging children, obedience, and a bit of luck.
But my God it’s worth it. It is SO worth it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hannah
Dec 27, 2024
A once in a lifetime moment! - We had a real adventure with our excellent guide Luis on the search to see turtles lay their eggs on the beach and we were not disappointed! This was the perfect adventure for our family with older kids (15,19 and 21) and included off road driving, jungle walking, spider spotting and scrambling over rocks all in the dark. It was well worth the wait on a secluded beach accompanied by the rough seas and intermittent lightning and then rush to a second beach to see a mother Turtle lay their eggs and then a different larger Turtle return to the seas! Luis was the perfect guide and was very knowledgeable, looked after us well helping us over the rocks and providing cool drinks at the end of the trip and also had a great sense of humour which helped keep us going! Would highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elizabethhn8647bo
Jun 1, 2024
Luis the Turtle Man! - Fantastic evening tour provided by Luis! We went on the tour 5/20/2024 which was stated to be the “last” evening tour within true turtle season. While we only saw one turtle after patiently waiting, that’s all we needed! We were able to observe a green sea turtle dig its nest and deposit its eggs up close! What an experience!! Everyone in our small group of 9 got great pictures and videos. Luis picked up some from the hotel in Playa Conchal, we followed and another car joined in along the route. Flashlights were provided (where allowed) and instructions were given as to not disturb the turtles. Luis provided education on what to expect, turtle behavior, stages of nest building and other interesting information. He was always very respectful of the wildlife and ensured his guests were as well, ensuring no one disturbed them with noise or lights. Snacks were provided at the end of the tour. Well worth the money, especially for such a show!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ben_b
May 10, 2024
Fun but disappointing - Luis our guide was very knowledgeable and nice. We didn’t get to see any turtles but he showed us a nest and egg remnant. We also saw old tracks which was pretty cool. The hike to the first beach was hot and long so be prepared. Luis brought us snacks and water.
Review provided by Viator
I8963vuvanessas
Apr 14, 2024
Great tour with turtle view and persistent guide - Our tour guide Luis contacted us immediately after booking and wrote us important details about the tour. He organized a meeting point near our accommodation and picked us up there. There were only two of us and so Luis was able to tell us a lot during the trip.
He only answered questions briefly, but his experience with the turtles was clearly noticeable.
When we arrived at the beach after about a 40-minute drive, he gave us time to take photos of the sunset.
When it got dark, Luis walked up and down the beach either with us or alone to look for a nest.
As we were not the only ones on the beach and the tour guides are all connected by radio, a nest was quickly located. We were able to watch the turtles hatch with the other large group, which was a bit annoying. A unique experience.
Then it was all about finding a mother turtle looking for a nest. At first there was no chance of that. But Luis was super persistent and didn't give up until we found one.
All in all, a successful tour. Luis is a bit strange, but very nice and experienced. He knows the animals and respects nature, which was very important to us. That wasn't the case with the other tour group, for example.
We were satisfied and the price of the tour was definitely worth it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Yesaswi
Dec 31, 2024
Pretty cool seeing a turtle nesting! - It was really neat to see the turtle go through its entire nesting process. Luis met us in matalpo and asked us to follow him along with 4 other cars. The experience itself was great to see the title but Luis was not very patient or informative about the ongoing nesting process.
We also weren’t well prepared for a 4+ hour trip with a child. Us and couple of other families did not eat dinner so we just had to leave around 9pm and missed the actually eggs being laid by 10 mins. Luis told us it would take another 4-5 hours.
Overall it was great as an experience but not as much with Luis.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Babus1955
Jun 25, 2024
Disappointed - As the date of our turtle tour approached, I texted Luis to ask if there was any turtle activity visible. He offered alternative activities but I let him know it was the end of our holiday and I was only interested in seeing turtles. My research told me we were a bit early ( June) for the turtle season in the Tamarindo area. The day before, I asked if I needed to cancel. We went ahead with a visit to Playa Junquillal. Unfortunately we saw nothing but hermit crabs. Luis was very knowledgeable about turtles and we enjoyed listening to him on the drive. I appreciate that he rode a bike up and down the beach so we didn't have to walk and search with him. But I feel the guide must know whether we are too early in the season or not. Although he will say we can't control nature, we wasted a lot of $ and time. He offered a free tour if we return in the future.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Beth_l
Jul 4, 2024
Sad… No Turtles :( - We were so excited to see the turtle nesting. My daughter had been looking forward to it since we came to Costa Rica, and we were extremely disappointed in our experience. To start off, the tour was scheduled for 5pm and he pushed it back to 730pm (changing our plans for the day). We were not all together in a bus or a van, half of the group had to follow the guide in their own car while the other half sat in the back of his truck for 40 minutes. Upon arriving to the beach, there were only 3 flashlights among the 11 people in our group. There were crabs all over the beach and without light it was nearly impossible to see where you are walking. We walked for over an hour up and down the beach in complete silence and there were no turtles at all. We didn’t see anything remotely worth the time and money it took for us to get there. After we didn’t see any turtles he went out alone while we sat by the car for 40 more minutes and waited for him to come back. He came back reporting there were still no turtles. If he knew there weren’t going to be any turtles because of season, there shouldn’t be a tour in the first place. Overall, he was a very kind guide but this tour was unacceptable.
Review provided by Viator
