Riviera Nayarit Turtle Release Programs

Turtle Release at Riviera Nayarit

Nuevo Vallarta and Guayabitos, two privileged locations to experience the yearly sea turtle arrival

What a moving experience it is to hold a sea turtle hatchling in our hands! At Nuevo Vallarta and Guayabitos you can live the experience and feel a turtle’s tiny flippers striving to make their way forward before you place it next to the surf.

Being part of a turtle release in Riviera Nayarit is one of the most endearing activities one can do in our destination. It’s also possible to witness a turtle coming out of the water to lay its eggs in the sand, and experience the miracle of life.

The best part is that you don’t have to get away from the comfort and fun to marvel at one of nature’s great events, as even some of the most developed beaches in the region are registering a large number of sea turtle arrivals.

Every year between June and December, hundreds of sea turtles arrive at Riviera Nayarit’s beaches – from Boca de Teacapan to Nuevo Vallarta, spanning from the most remote beaches to the beaches in front of the most luxurious hotels.

Eight sea turtle species inhabit the world’s oceans, and the Olive Ridely is the most common species to arrive at our beaches. However, with a little luck it is possible to find a leatherback turtle. Regardless of which one you find, volunteering to patrol the region’s beaches in one of the camps supervised by professionals will change your life forever.

The experience simply cannot be missed, and in many cases all you have to do is stay up one whole night, sometimes just a few feet away from your room, to be able to experience how these turtles lay their eggs. Actually, Nuevo Vallarta, and more specifically the camp at its hotel zone have been documented as the locations with the largest number of turtle arrivals within the 190 miles of coast that constitute Riviera Nayarit.

The beaches at the hotel zones constitute excellent arrival areas for sea turtles, and the only thing you have to do is stay up the whole night a few feet away from your hotel room to see turtles laying their eggs.

Biologist Adrian Maldonado, who coordinates the Research Subcommittee of the Technological Institute of Banderas Bay (Instituto Tecnológico de Bahía de Banderas or ITBB), stated that the results of a study show that Nuevo Vallarta holds a higher number of arrivals than less developed areas like El Naranjo Beach, which is close to la Peñita de Jaltemba.

The historical data analysis for the past 10 years indicates that sea turtles set an average of 403 nests per mile in Nuevo Vallarta’s 8.7 miles of beaches. In 2007 only, about 6,000 Olive Ridely turtles arrived at this location.

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