Las Alamandas in Costalegre, Mexico, which has sponsored a sea turtle protection program for years, now offers guests a chance to participate in the two critical action phases of the program — collecting eggs and protecting newly hatched babies.
The first of the mother turtles start arriving in summer each year and keep coming through the end of the year, at times as late as January. They dig nests in the sand, lay their eggs and then return to the sea. Six to eight weeks later, the tortuguitas hatch.
The best egg collection time is late at night, generally between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Guests may participate once or go out two or three nights, working with the staff to search for and dig up the newly deposited ovum. Las Alamandas keeps the eggs in a container filled with sand to mimic the natural nest, watches over them until they hatch and then releases the babies into the sea.
When the baby sea turtles are born, guests join staff on the beach, get to meet and hold the tortuguitas and protect them from sand crabs and seagulls.
The more baby turtles that are protected by the resort and its guests, the more can be expected to return to Las Alamandas in the years to come. In 2013, Las Alamandas released about 5,000 turtles, and the resort’s sea turtle protection program is on track to surpass that number this year.