Costa Rica: Turtle Watching Night Tour with Naturalist Guide

4.68

(165 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t expect to feel nervous just walking onto the sand, but something about arriving at that empty stretch north of Tamarindo after sunset — you know, when everything smells like salt and wet earth — made me quiet. Our guide, Carlos, handed out little red flashlights (no white light allowed) and grinned as he told us we might see leatherbacks or maybe Olive Ridleys. He said it depends on the mood of the sea. I liked that.

The drive from Tamarindo was about 40 minutes, long enough for Carlos to tell us about turtle nesting habits and why some beaches get chosen over others. There was this moment when he stopped mid-sentence to point out a tiny movement in the sand — not a turtle yet, just a crab scuttling sideways, but it made us all laugh. It’s strange how you start noticing every sound: waves thumping softly, distant frogs, someone’s shoes crunching shells.

We waited in near darkness while Carlos scanned the beach. When he finally motioned us over (quietly — he kept whispering “despacio”), I saw the curve of a shell in the moonlight. I’d never seen a leatherback up close before; her back looked almost prehistoric. No touching, obviously — Carlos was strict about that — but being so close felt weirdly intimate anyway. I tried to take a photo without flash and ended up with a blurry shadow, but honestly I don’t mind. Sometimes you just have to remember things instead of collecting proof.

I still think about that silent walk back to the van, everyone whispering like we’d just left a church or something. The air smelled like warm grass and salt again. I guess what surprised me most was how small I felt next to those old creatures doing their thing under the stars — and how much I wanted them to keep coming back.