Empty turtles eggs beside a nest on the beach. These turtles have already made the trek to the ocean
Most of the coastline of central Mexico is a nesting ground for sea turtles. In late summer and early fall, female turtles swim ashore, clamber up the beach, and dig a giant hole in the sand as a nest for the eggs they lay. After a month and a half or so, the eggs hatch and the baby sea turtles reverse the process to return to the sea.
Tiny!
The beach outside our marina is one of those nesting grounds. Many Olive Ridley sea turtles return to Banderas Bay to lay their eggs and by October the eggs are hatching, launching hundreds and hundreds of tiny turtle babies to life.
The trek from the nest back to the ocean looks arduous. To a newly hatched turtle, any small divot in the beach is a giant hill to climb. Seabirds wheel and dive overhead, looking for an easy meal. And the tiny shorebreak that the turtles have to swim through must be the equivalent of what a giant Waimea Bay closeout looks like to a surfer.
On their way to the ocean
Arriving at the beach just at sun-up, we’re treated to a steady stream of golf ball-sized baby turtles waddling over the sand to reach the sea. Many of these baby turtles at least make it to the water, where they of course face a whole new set of challenges. But it’s a special sight to watch the first journey across the warm sand with the sun just starting to brighten the tropical sky.
