Visiting The Park
Most people come to Tortuguero to see the turtles laying their eggs, the so-called desove . Few are disappointed, as the majority of tours during laying seasons (March-May & July-Oct) result in sightings of the moving, surreal procession of the reptiles from the sea to make their egg-nests in the sand. Most turtles come ashore during the relative safety of night. Often dozens of turtles emerge from the sea at the same time and march up the sands to their chosen spot. Each turtle lays eighty or more eggs - the collective whirring noise of sand being dug away is extraordinary. Although Tortuguero is by no means the only place in Costa Rica to see marine turtles nesting (they use the Pacific beaches too), three of the largest kinds of endangered sea turtles regularly nest here in large numbers. Along with the green ( verde ) turtle, named for the colour of soup made from its flesh, you might see the hawksbill ( carey ), with its distinctive hooked beak, and the ridged leatherback ( baula ), the largest turtle in the world, which can easily weigh 300kg - some are as heavy as 500kg and reach 5m in length. The green turtles and hawksbills nest most concentratedly from July to October (August is the peak month), while the leatherbacks come ashore from March to May. Turtle tours , led by certified guides, leave at 8pm and 10pm every night from the village. If you're not going with an organized group from one of the lodges, you'll need to buy park entrance tickets (US$6) from the kiosk in the village, which is manned by park rangers from 5pm to 6pm every afternoon. There are over a hundred certified guides in Tortuguero; they charge US$10 for the turtle tour (roughly half the price of a lodge tour) and tend to hang around the ticket kiosk at 5pm in search of custom. Guides are instructed to make as little noise as possible so as not to alarm the turtles, allowing them to get on with their business; everyone must be off the beach by midnight. During the day, you can walk a single, generally well-maintained, self-guided trail (1km), the Sendero Natural , which starts at the entrance and skirts a small swamp. As for that long, wild beach , you can amble for up to 30km south and enjoy crab-spotting, bird-watching, and looking for turtle tracks, which resemble the two thick parallel lines a truck would leave in its wake. Swimming is not a good idea, due to heavy waves, turbulent currents and sharks. Remember that you need to pay park fees (US$6) to walk on the beach or along the trail.
Your Tip for Parque Nacional Tortuguero
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Parque Nacional Tortuguero - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Parque Nacional Tortuguero - visit the main Parque Nacional Tortuguero forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Parque Nacional Tortuguero webguide section below! Thanks.
|
