WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE SEA TURTLES IN TORTUGUERO?
Get to know the Turtle Scout Program
What should you know?
To do a sea turtle tour, you should contract an accredited guide and
buy a sticker prior to going onto the beach.
Click here to see the brochure that contains the sticker.
In Tortuguero the greeb turtle nesting season takes place from July 1 to October 31.
During these dates, the Turtle Scouts take care of the turtles and the tourists who come to see them.
Turtle Scout Program, Tortuguero
This program was created in 2004 in order to reduce the negative impact of tourism on the sea turtles.
In the past, all tourists walked down the beach with their guides looking for tutles. This scared many turtles, who then returned to the ocean without laying their eggs. With this new Turtle Scout program a trail was cut parallel to the beach in the jungle behind the costal foliage, with entrances every 100 meters. The beach is divided into 5 sectors, each one of which has a waiting post where the visitors can await, with their guide, the indication from the turtle scouts that they can enter the beach. The scouts (trained local people) are the people who look for turtles in the appropriate stage of nesting and communicate with the guides the beach entrance they should use with their group. This results in fewer scared turtles (because the groups walk on the trail and not directly on the beach). Since the beginning of the Turtle Scout program, more turtles have laid their eggs on the Tortuguero beach where tourism is permitted. In addition, it has helped to achieve a system where the tours themselves are more tourist-friendly, organized, and enjoyable.
JOIN THE TURTLE SCOUTS!
DON'T FORGET TO GET YOUR TURTLE SCOUT STICKER!!!
With your sticker purchase, you are directly benefitting the turtle conservation effort in Tortuguero, the Turtle Scout
program, Tortuguero National Park, the local community, and our planet.
Why protect the sea turtles?
The complexity of the themes of marine conservation and the loss of biodiversity is hard for many people to understand. However, the 200 millions of years sea turtles have on our planet --one of the most fascinating marine creatures, charismatic and popular-- is also an indicator of the health of the world's oceans. While there are many marine topics that are very important, sea turtles are there--from the open ocean through which they travel during their long migrations, to the beaches where they nest; from the corral reefs to the sea plants; from the currents and floating vegetation where they feed and mature; to the depths of the seat at 1,000 meters--sea turtles are there. When we protect the sea turtles, we are also protecting these important ecosystems of our planet.
TORTUGUERO NATIONAL PARK RULES TO
ENTER THE BEACH TO SEE THE TURTLES
You should:
Please do NOT:
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A turtle scout speaking with a group of tourists and their guide
