St Lucia Turtle Tours

Turtles weighing just shy of 400 kg, and in some cases more than a ton, glide effortlessly through the warm Indian Ocean. They are on their way to a place they know only from a few hours spent there after their birth. They drag their gravity-stricken bodies from the waves and haul themselves towards some of the highest forested dunes in Africa. Leatherback and loggerhead turtles visit the beaches between November and March to lay their eggs, as they have done for 60 000 years. Some swim over 3 500 kilometres to reach their destination.

In the turtle season you have the unique opportunity to view the gigantic Leatherback and smaller Loggerhead Turtles at their ancestral nesting ground - bringing forth a new generation. Our search will take us into The Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park Marine Sanctuary, North of Cape Vidal.

Late at night the mystery unfolds as female turtles make their way up the beach to a chosen location. Once the area has been prepared for nesting, the eggs are deposited into an egg pot (burrow), covered and concealed. Most females nest an average of 10 times in a season, and this, of course, improves our chances of seeing them.

The young turtles hatch approximately two months later, and begin their own battle for survival. Once they are in the sea, predation on the hatchlings during their first few months is intense and it has been estimated that only one or two hatchlings from every thousand will reach maturity.

St Lucia Turtle Tours are during the night and departure times, from Zulani Guest House, are dependant on the tides. The tour takes about 5 hours and you could get back to Zulani Guest House in the early hours of the morning.