contact@seaturtlecamp.com

Las Palmeras No. 13, Colonia Las Fuentes,

Otates, Nayarit C.P. 63708 Mexico

1-800-320-7769 (U.S. & Canada)

044-322-294-1677 (Puerto Vallerta)

045-322-294-1677 (outside Vallerta)

Visit Playa Las Tortugas Main Site

The Platanitos Sea Turtle Camp at Playa Las Tortugas offers visitors a unique opportunity to see first hand our efforts in protecting endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles.

We offer guided walks along the beach, searching for turtles that have come on shore to nest.  You will be able to help gather the eggs, often while the female turtle is laying them.  Then marvel at how she covers and disguises the nest before making her way back to the ocean.

Once the eggs are collected it’s back to the turtle camp, where you can help put them in the nesting boxes for incubation.   We incubate the eggs in a controlled environment, which greatly improves the survival rate of the baby turtles.

Around 45 days after the gathering and incubation of the eggs comes our most popular event, the Turtle Release!  Help our Camp Biologist collect the newly hatched turtles from the nesting boxes during the afternoon.  Then, just before sunset, help carry the baby turtles to the beach where they will begin their journey to the ocean.  It is a site you will always remember, watching the baby Olive Ridley Sea Turtles scurrying across the sand and disappearing into the vast Pacific Ocean.

The nesting season begins around the middle of June and hits it peak during July, August and September.  During these months Camp Technicians and volunteers can collect more than 40 nests a night.  There are still good opportunities to see nesting turtles during October and November- you may have to go out a couple of times before you will see one.   The turtles nest at night, so this is an activity that typically starts after dark around 8 p.m.

Turtle releases begin around the end of July and go well into the following year.  The peak time for release is October and November.  Some evenings we release over 2,500 turtles at one time.

We could not maintain our efforts without the kind donations of our visitors.  All the money collected goes towards improvements to the camp, support personnel for the Camp Technicians, and to help bring educational programs to area schools.