Tamarindo

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Night Turtle Nesting Tour from Tamarindo

Badge of ExcellenceTamarindo, Costa Rica

4 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Head out into the Cosa Rican night in search of Green Pacific and Olive Ridley sea turtles laying their eggs on Playa Grande. During this evening tour from Tamarindo, you may even see baby turtles hatching, depending on the conditions. National park fees included.

Evening tour to Playa Grande turtle nesting ground
Watch turtles nest or baby turtles hatch
Red light provided help you see the action without disturbing turtles
Hotel pickup and drop-off included

What's Included

Local taxes
Bottled water
Driver/guide
Pickup and drop-off from Native's Way office

Gratuities
Hotel pickup

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting points

Select a meeting point

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Start time

05:30 PM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Meet your guide and group at the Native's Way tour office, located in front of La Oveja Negra Hostel, just west of the Banco Nacional in downtown Tamarindo. Meeting time is just after sunset. Turtles can be seen year around, but October to April is the peak season for turtle nesting.

Travel to a protected beach, Playa Grande. Once there, climb out and spend time watching nature take its course: Green Pacific and Olive Ridley turtles laying their eggs. You may even see Leatherback turtles (very rare) or turtle eggs hatching and babies making their way to the sea.

Flash photography and flashlights are prohibited, but your guide will use a special red light that does not disturb the turtles.

At the conclusion of your tour, get dropped off back at your hotel.

Native's Way

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Playa Mina

3 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Children under 5 years old are not permitted to attend this tour. We need to remain very quiet and often there are extended periods of simply waiting and observing

There is not a long hike, however there are times where we move from one beach or viewing point to another. Standing around patiently is normal for this tour.
Please reconsider booking if you have mobility issues, difficulty seeing in the night, recently undergone surgery, or have current physical injury
The turtle season generally extends from Mid-November to Mid-April, however since this is a natural phenomenon, the season can start, slow or end without specific reason.
A minimum of 6 people are required to operate. If we have not reached the minimum we will contact you 1 or 2 days before your tour to offer other options.
Not permitted for children under 5 years old
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Mateja_J

We were fortunate to see both the nesting and the hatching. Our guide was patient and the tour even lasted a bit longer than expected in order for us to experience this amazing process. Also, everybody was respectful to the turtles and the nature

Reviews

4.0

166 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 166 reviews

Great trip

Agata_Z, Mar 2024

Amazing experience!!! Me and my kids loved it. We saw baby turtles, mom nesting and lying eggs. Recommend to everyone!

Don’t do this tour if you actually care about the turtles!

Joanna_F, Mar 2024

Of all the tours we did in Costa Rica this tour was by far the worst. Every other wildlife tour we went on clearly put the animals first but this tour was more about making money and not about the wellbeing of the turtles. We were told not to use our phones or flashes on our cameras because it confuses the turtles but the first thing they did was give all the children flash lights, this meant there was constant lights being turned on. Additionally we were told at the beginning that turtles can feel vibrations on the ground and to sit down and be still because it can put them off nesting. However with the huge size of the tour group and the guide wondering off to find turtle nest, people were lining the waters edge and kids were running around in the dark where tiny babies were being born. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some trodden on. We saw multiple female turtles come to the shallow waters and then turn back. Finally when a turtle did eventually come in to nest the tour guide not only kept telling everyone to get closer and closer around the turtle but used a stick to hold the turtles flipper out of the way whilst she was laying her eggs. It felt so invasive and we felt completely uncomfortable with the whole experience. I’m surprised and so sad that this beach isn’t protected as a national park like other wildlife habitats in Costa Rica.

A great experience for adults and kids

Mateja_J, Feb 2024

A truly unforgettable experience

Catherine_C, Feb 2024

This excursion was one of our highlights in Costa Rica. Ivan took the group to three different beaches, and we witnessed baby sea turtles emerging from the sand and making their way down to the water. We also watched female turtles come out of the sea to try and find a suitable beach to lay eggs. It was truly a magical experience to witness these incredible creatures in their natural habitat. Ivan's knowledge and ability to spot baby sea turtle tracks made the excursion even more fascinating. Seeing the baby turtles take their first steps towards the ocean, gave us with memories that will last a lifetime.

Amazing experience

Catherine_P, Feb 2024

The tour itself was amazing. We got to see baby turtles rhat had just hatched make their way down to the water. We saw mother turtles nesting and saw one laying her eggs. The guide was rude.

Seeing the turtles was...

Cynthia_A, Feb 2024

Seeing the turtles was amazing!! We got to see several Mama turtles building nests and lots of baby turtles hatching. The guide, Ivan, with Native Way in Tamarindo did everything he told us not to do from handling the baby turtles with bare hands to digging sand out from a mother turtles nest, inches from the turtle. This was very upsetting and made me and my husband walk away feeling awful for even being there. The tour it’s self is great but tour guides should set an example not endanger the animals.

Our tour guide Ivan was...

Lori_C, Feb 2024

Our tour guide Ivan was fantastic at spotting a green sea turtle in the dark! The starry sky was beautiful as we waited for the turtle to start laying her eggs! It was a great night!

Amazing!!

MELISSA_V, Feb 2024

Seeing the babies racing off towards the ocean, was an experience I can’t even explain. We also got to experience a few mamas digging their holes, and laying their eggs. A process that takes over 3 hours for these amazing creatures.

Worth the wait

Christina_A, Jan 2024

Ivan was a great guide. Very knowledgeable and passionate about the turtles. I felt a bit bad for the turtles because I didn’t want to bother their process. You can only use red light and only the guide has one while on the beach. Be ready to be patient and wait for the process, but it is worth the wait.

Exciting experience

Mark, Jan 2024

We had a great guide who found 3 nesting leather back turtles, one of which was laying eggs. Very exciting and something my wife and I will never forget.

Went home with a bad feeling by disturbing an sensitive ecosystem and scaring the turtles

Tomma_L, Jan 2024

Honestly I wouldn’t do it again. We saw two turtle laying her eggs on the beach but there were so many people around, that I just had the feeling to stress the poor animals. Also three other turtles wanted to come to the beach but got scared by the people - so they turned around and got back to the ocean. Maybe it’s a unique experience to are allowed to see turtles laying eggs at the beach (for sure it is) but for me it was more the feeling to disturb an sensitive ecosystem. Went home with a not very nice feeling. Also there where people who turned on their mobile phone / flashlight and also tried to touch the animals during the nesting process, nevertheless our guide told us before not do this. At least our guide was good, but nevertheless wouldn’t do it again and also don’t recommend it.

Turtles on a moonlit beach. Amazing!

Heather_M, Jan 2024

Utterly amazing evening. The moon was slim, the stars were bright, the water was shimmering and the turtles were on the beach. We watched a couple flinging sand to make their nests. One chose the wrong spot with too many tree roots and had to abandon the project even though the guides tried to help remove some roots. The actions of the guides throughout demonstrated care and knowledge about these incredible species. Tender and loving. We had a close up and personal experience of one laying eggs but the best part was the ambiance and setting. Wear good shoes and bring patience. You’ll have a once in a lifetime experience.

FunTime!

Lanny_H, Jan 2024

Ivan was the best tour guide. He definitely knows his stuff! We saw 2 hatchings and 1 turtle dropping eggs.. It was little tough for us to take the hike down to the beach and back. But the remote beach was worth the trip

Turtle birth

Jo_A, Jan 2024

It was excellent. We saw a turtle dropping her eggs and the babies running out to sea. The weather was great.

Turtles were great and should be disturbed as little as possible

Inkeri_T, Jan 2024

I would have given rating of 5, if we only had observed the turtles from a respectful distance when they return to the sea. It was a magical experience to see them on the quiet beach under the stars and hearing the waves. I did not like us going near the turtle, when it was laying eggs.

Girls night turtle watching

Justyns_C, Jan 2024

It was the most extraordinary experience I had for years. It doesn’t mean it was nice for four hours, not at all. After two hours I thought I made a mistake. It was very boring. We were waiting for turtles to show up. I also wasn’t sure if this is fully ethical to stick my nose into intimate details of life of those creatures. But then, when turtle mom was struggling to find the right place for her nest, and how long it took her, and finally how our Guide supported her in it, and how she made a nest and stored eggs, that was incredible to see and I felt connected to the nature, and suddenly all my effort and the time I was bored, didn’t matter. I was there with my adult daughter, and it was like girl thing for us.

Total Waste of Time

Samantha_B, Jan 2024

This was perhaps one of the worst tours we have taken. The guide was grumpy and hard to understand. We ended up meeting in Tamarindo and were not told in advance that it was an hour bus ride to the beach, a 20 minute hike in the dark and then walking on the beach in the pitch dark with no flashlights. Some on the tour couldn't make the hike and had to sit in the bus for an hour. Then we had to hike back in the dark for another 20 minutes to take another 1 hour bus ride back. The worst part was that the turtle sanctuary was about 20 minutes from our house and we could have easily met the tour nearby instead of driving an hour out of our way. The tour guide was not communicative, not friendly, not good at interacting and was just plain mean. The only highlight was seeing a turtle lay eggs. But we would not recommend this tour.

Nature doing its magic.

Michael_P, Dec 2023

Great experience! There is AC in the van. Just look up and turn the knob counterclock on the air vent. We saw 5 turtles! And we got extremely close to them. Our guide really was excellent!

Once in a lifetime experience

Amrita_H, Dec 2023

Excellent opportunity to see mother nature at work. The tour guide was patient and knowledgeable. We saw a couple turtles come to shore to nest and the guide made sure each one in the group could see the egg laying in action .

Cool Experience :)

Esther_P, Dec 2023

Neat experience that we wouldn't have known how to do on our own. We did have to hustle a bit between turtles to get to view the full laying cycle, so keep that in mind if you're bringing differently abled individuals or elderly. Also, this is not baby turtles hatching, it's the big mommas coming up from the ocean, snooping around for a good nest, digging, laying, covering, and heading back out to the ocean. You're not allowed to take photos with a flash, so plan accordingly. The bus driver was very accommodating and was able to drop us off even closer to home since we saw our AirBnb was directly on the route.

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