This turtle nesting tour at Playa Camaronal (Camaronal Beach) is a fun and interesting evening activity for nature lovers of all kinds including kids! Every year, thousands of sea turtles come to the Playa Camaronal area to lay their eggs in the sand. These giant turtles are slow-moving but are efficient with their mission: they come to shore, dig a deep hole where they lay their eggs, bury the eggs and then go back into the sea. This occurs all year round, but is most likely to be seen during the high season from August to October.
Your guide will pick you up from your hotel in Samara, Nosara or Punta Islita along with other travelers that will be participating in the tour. You’ll drive up to 2 hours depending on which beach has had the most sea turtles nesting that day. When you reach the beach you will wait to see the turtles arrive on shore. Your guide will provide juice and snacks while telling you a history of the turtles and the conservation laws that are in place to protect these endangered species. The turtles that come to this beach are mostly Olive Ridley but there are also Loggerheads and Leatherback turtles that come to dig a nest in this area too.
As a country that values ecology and wildlife, communities within Costa Rica have put into place excellent programs to promote the conservation of these endangered species while still allowing the community to benefit. Every evening the beaches are scattered with uniformed guards and everyone who enters the beach must be accompanied by a tour guide. Turtle tours actually have helped protect these vulnerable creatures by regulating the amount of turtle observers and providing a guarded presence that keeps poachers and predators away.
Each turtle lays approximately 100 ping-pong sized eggs per night and buries them in the sand. When they hatch each egg is re-populating the ecosystem with sea turtles and strengthening the life lineage of turtle species in Costa Rica and worldwide.
Included in this tour are a bilingual guide, fruit snack, drink and transportation. Transportation to the Playa Camaronal area is available from hotels in Samara and Punta Islita and can take up to 1.5 hours each way depending on which beach will be visited that evening. The approximate total time for this tour including transportation from your hotel can take up to 5 hours, depending on which roads are open at different times of the year.
The Sea Turtle Observation at Camaronal Beach is available from Nosara, Punta Islita, and Samara and Carrillo
All Ages
Latitude: N 9° 51' 44.05"
Longitude: W 85° 26' 38.62"
10/17/2022
Guide Christopher, again, amazing. We had to leave early because of rain. The roads were challenging
10/15/2022
The guide - Christopher was excellent
08/14/2022
Pure magic!
08/10/2022
Leonardo was punctual and explained all about turtle nesting on our journey. Luckily, We were finally able to see one turtle digging for a nest just as we were about to leave after more than an hour on the beach. Unfortunately weren’t able to see it lay it’s eggs because it was quite late and perhaps because it felt insecure in its first spot. Still it was great to watch how nature behaves in the wild.
07/31/2022
This was an amazing experience! We were able to view the whole egg laying process for an Olive Ridley turtle. Amazing to see her dig a precise, deep hole, lay her eggs, then return to the sea. The sad part was that there were so many racoons around and by the time we returned from watching her re-enter the sea, they had already opened the nest and were eating the eggs. Heartbreaking and may be difficult for sensitive children. Regardless, a really great experience, just our family of 5 with the guide.
12/23/2020
Unfortunately did not see turtles laying eggs, however, saw many baby turtles heading toward the water. Best experience of the tour.
08/07/2019
Another excellent tour!!!
08/06/2019
We did not see turtles on the first night but were able to redo our tour the next night for free. Tour was great and saw hatchlings release as well.
08/05/2019
Again, Romel was the guide and also the driver. The drive was much longer, about 2 hours each way. However, the period we spent with Romel watching the Sea Turtle lay her eggs at Camaronal Beach was exceptional. What an experience. Romel and the other guides present were so protective of the mother turtle. While we were only two, we kinda joined another larger group there and listened to that guide as well as Romel explain what was happening. I took many pictures, including video of the actual egg laying. On the way back to Nosara I was so tired from the full day that I actually fell happily asleep and missed feeling the potholes.
07/30/2019
Amazing experience. Saw turtles laying eggs. It is quite a long drive from Samara but well worth it.
07/27/2019
This was excellent. Just two of us and saw three separate turtles.
06/06/2019
Bernie the tour guide was great and very knowledgeable. We learned a lot from him. We were very early on in the season and didn't get to see any turtles coming up from the ocean to lay eggs, but we did get to witness the facility releasing newly hatched babies onto the beach. That was very cool. This tour requires a lot of walking on the beach in the dark - and I do mean a lot! Also, the trip out to the refuge is through the deep jungle in the pitch dark. A little summary at the beginning on what the drive is like would have been helpful as well. Overall, fun trip.
08/25/2018
This was very special. It was a warm and windy night - but no rain. The moon was out, so it wasn't all that dark and there was an almost mystical atmosphere to the beach. First, we walked up and down for quite a while without spotting a turtle and I was already starting to try and manage my disappointment. However, there is a conservation centre on the beach and they told us that they would be releasing baby turtles that night and that we could watch them make their way into the sea. This really was really quite something! After that it was getting late and the kids were really tired, but we decided to give the beach one more patrol - but without much hope of seeing a big turtle. But lucky us: there it was - two in fact! It was an amazing sight to see these wonderful animals dig their holes and lay their eggs. Very, very special. Regarding the guide, we did several guided nature tours in Costa Rica and I have to say that this guide wasn't quite up to the standard all the other ones had. He would answer questions but not really say too much when not asked and I also felt that there was a bit of a language barrier. It was ok though.
07/27/2017
It was a wonderful experience.
07/26/2017
Once in a lifetime. Absolutely amazing.
06/04/2017
A highlight for me.
08/03/2016
The only reason I rate our overall experience as a bit lower is simply because we didn't see turtles and that can't be helped by anyone. Otherwise, everything else about the tour was great. The workers and volunteers at Camaronal Beach are doing such great conservation work - it was worth paying for the tour even if we didn't see turtles in order support this important cause.
07/12/2016
Didn't know it was so late at night...kids were tired and a bit unprepared for 3 hours, so late in the evening. But, we were lucky to see a turtle, so this was great.
06/23/2016
For reference I would let people know that you can only use a red light on the beach when looking for a viewing the turtles. The tour only had 2 red light flashlights available for the whole group.
08/11/2015
Berny and Gilbert were great. Berny educated us on much of Costa Rica and the turtles. He was very knowledgeable. We waited a couple of hours until we saw the turtles. What an experience it was to see her lay her eggs! It was well worth the wait. The only problem was the road was a little crazy. We drove through a river that felt a little scary and I got car sick on the way back. No fault of anyone's. For those seeking an adventure, they would love the crazy road! I would do it again and just take medicine next time. It was great!
05/14/2015
Didn't see any turtles due to being off season and walking the beach in the dark was a little disorienting but guides were very knowledgeable (and a little apologetic but the lack of turtles were out of their control) and thoroughly explained every bit of the process the turtles go through.