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Turtle Nesting Tour: An Unforgettable Experience on Hidden Beaches
4.4
91 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
(91 Ratings)
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Kristen_c
Jul 30, 2025
Luis all the way! - We feel so fortunate to have had Luis as our guide. He shared so much sea turtle knowledge with us as well as other useful and interesting information about Costa Rica. If you can nab him for a private tour, I highly recommended! If you can’t, you won’t be disappointed in his group outings either! Our 8-yr-old son ranked Luis as his favorite thing about Costa Rica and man, was he up against some stiff competition: beaches, pool, horses, monkeys, lizards. Thank you, Luis! We will be back!
Review provided by Viator
Escape41347188886
Jul 17, 2025
Stunning Sunset - Wonderful guide. Very knowledgeable and good sense of humor. Beautiful drive and gorgeous beach! Absolutely stunning sunset. Would like to go again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nathan_a
Jun 16, 2025
Amazing Turtle Hatching Tour - This was such a great tour! Recommend going with Luis.
We got private transportation from our hotel, Luis showed us a green background filled with nature, and then showed us a private beach where turtles nest. Luis shared so much knowledge about the turtle and we saw so much wildlife in addition. We then saw a just hatched baby turtle wake up and crawl into the ocean! What a beautiful experience, well worth it
Review provided by Viator
Barbara_b
Jun 10, 2025
Amazing!!! - Amazing time!! Got to see baby turtles make their way to the ocean. Once in a lifetime experience. Our guide was knowledgeable, and taught us so much..
Review provided by Viator
Nik
May 29, 2025
Don’t Hesitate! Take This Tour! - I cannot recommend this tour enough! Luis is knowledgeable and experienced, and did a phenomenal job of educating us on the turtles we were looking for. This taught us a lot, and got us genuinely excited to see the turtles during the journey to the beach. It was a gorgeous night and location, and the time passed quickly. Amongst a lot of other wildlife, we were lucky in that we got to see a turtle relatively quickly. This was very late in the season, but Luis was ready to go and made it happen. Honestly, I would have been happy with the tour even if we hadn’t seen a turtle because Luis was amazing and it was an adventure just searching on a beautiful night. Of course, getting to actually witness a turtle made it truly unforgettable. Luis genuinely cares about providing a great experience for his guests, and was good company as well. I’ll also note that Luis was very easy to work with, responsive, and flexible to make things work with weather, location, etc. Do yourself a favor and book with Luis!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gregmy8730cw
Apr 23, 2025
Turtle Excursion, 22 Apr 2025 - Although at the end of the season, Luis went above and beyond to ensure that we saw both an adult turtle and baby turtles hatching, when the other tour guides/groups left. We went to two different beaches to see the adult turtle. He's very devoted to ensuring his guests see turtles; highly recommemded!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
265jessid
Apr 11, 2025
Turtle nesting and sunset - Luis was amazing. He was a wealth of knowledge. He also got us there early to capture the most amazing sunset of a lifetime. We say baby turtles hatch and make their way to the ocean and momma turtles come to shore to try to lay eggs. Luis taught us so much along the way about the wildlife and the area. Also amazing driving skills for a bonus.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christopher_t
May 28, 2025
It was raining and our... - It was raining and our guide waited patiently for it stop . We walked to the beach at night and our guide showed us turtle nesting areas and some eggs that were empty .,we waited for a bit to see if the turtles would beach but unfortunately they didn’t come . We traveled to another beach but no luck . That is nature for you it’s on their time ! Our guide was informative.
Review provided by Viator
Tammy_m
Jul 6, 2025
MIssed the turtles... - We really liked our guide Luis. He had a lot information to share about turtles. Unfortunately, we did not see any turtles but we understand that nature is not guaranteed to happen.
Review provided by Viator
Mascha
Mar 23, 2025
Don't book a turtle tour if you care about the animals! No matter what tour it's about! - This tour has been absolutely terrible. I relied on the previous reviews and regretted that a lot in retrospect. My group was quite small and initially only we were on a beach, but as soon as the sun had set several more groups came, so in the end around 40 people surrounded the poor turtles. Although reference was made not to use flash, almost everyone present was unable to implement this. The guides were beyond measure. Unfortunately, we saw some turtles hatching. People were so insensitive and walked around so confused that I'm sure a few of the animals died because of the humans. I was really ashamed to be there.
If you like turtles DO NOT BOOK THIS OR ANY OTHER TOUR!!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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