Turtles

These adorable and strange animals spend almost or all of their time in the sea. We always find the males in the sea where they live their entire lives. Only the females come ashore and only to lay eggs. Normally only 1 in 1000 of these tiny hatchlings survive to adulthood. As it is, each female can lay hundreds of eggs per season.

The low number of survivors is due to the fact that they are exposed to many dangers on the road. Even before they are hatched, they are valued delicacies by various predators such as birds, lizards and crabs. When the newly hatched turtles have to quickly get down to the sea to start their new life in search of food and shelter, they are always a welcome target food The road to an adult life is lined with both natural and human threats. But those who survive and succeed in reproducing complete the circle. When the new females return back to the same beach where they were born to lay new eggs, the circle is closed.

How can you approach a turtle without disturbing it?

Although you might not think so, the turtle is very sensitive. It is important that you never touch a turtle. Be careful not to be in their way when they swim and never hold on to the shell. It is an animal that must be able to swim to the surface to breathe air, for example. If you are lucky and privileged to see them on land when the female is on the beach laying eggs or has just laid eggs, do not disturb or touch her. Especially not when she's on her way up to dig her hole for the eggs but also don't stand in her way back down to the water.

It is best if you observe her from a distance in silence. If she is disturbed, especially before she starts but also while she is laying eggs, she can stop and walk away. If you are going to photograph them, don't use a strong flash and if you have a weaker flash, don't point it at their eyes. With today's modern cameras, as a rule, flash is not needed, but instead choose a higher ISO number.

Many different species of sea turtles

There are six different species of sea turtles as well as the leatherback turtle. It counts as a separate family on earth. These six species are the loggerhead turtle, the loggerhead turtle or green sea turtle, the loggerhead turtle, the Atlantic loggerhead turtle, the southern loggerhead turtle, and the Australian flat-shelled turtle. The leatherback sea turtle is the only one in its family and the world's largest sea turtle. They can weigh over 500 kg and be over 2,5 meters long. The species is unique in that it is the only reptile that is actually warm-blooded.

A characteristic of sea turtles is that they cannot retract their heads into their shells in comparison to their land-living relatives. All sea turtles are today highly endangered and this is mainly due to human impact.

If you want to read more about the other animals on our BIG 5 list, you can continue here: manta ray,  whale shark,  dolphins,  beat

Dive and swim with turtles in the Galapagos

Galapagos. This fabled and remote place consists of 19 islands as well as a dozen smaller islets and volcanic formations. In total, it forms a land mass of approx. 8000 square kilometers which is spread over more than 50 square kilometers of sea surface. The Galapagos are located almost 000 km west of the coast of Ecuador. Because of its remote location, the Galapagos was completely isolated from the outside world for several thousand years. Turtles abound on and around these fantastic islands. The most famous are probably the terrestrial species but in the sea these friendly animals thrive and are common and often cross your path below the surface.

Best time to see turtles: year round

Dive and swim with turtles at Maratua Atoll/Borneo

Maratua Atoll and Nunukan Island are very remote between Borneo and Sulawesi. Here in the world's most species-rich waters, you experience a tropical paradise far from everything else. Fantastic reefs with lots of fish and lots of invertebrates. In addition, manta rays and sharks are often seen and nowadays it is quite common to see the fantastically beautiful thresher shark in one of the places you have recently discovered. The waters here are teeming with turtles, the most famous is perhaps the Malaysian island of Sipadan, but as it is generally advised not to go there, Indonesia and Maratua Atoll are pretty much as good. Come along to this exotic little gem in the middle of nowhere in the Indonesian archipelago. In addition to diving, you also get the chance to meet orangutans in Borneo.

Best time to see turtles: year round

Dive and swim with turtles in Bunaken, North Sulawesi

Diving in Bunaken Marine Park outside the city of Manado in North Sulawesi is an amazing experience! North Sulawesi has been a well-known and appreciated travel destination for many years, home to thousands of colorful, rare marine creatures and there are also some wrecks here. Here you can explore the magnificent coral reefs around Manado that offer spectacular wall diving where turtles, shoals of tuna and barracuda are often seen, but there is also good muck diving and regular reefs and wrecks. You and the other group participants will have fantastic days of diving and relaxation and as all accommodation is adjacent to the fantastic and large swimming pool with a dive bar as a natural place to gather after the day's dives or you stay at a bungalow facing the sea which is not far away. If you're lucky, turtles may actually come onto the beach and lay eggs.

Best time to see turtles: year round

Dive and swim with turtles in Marsa Alam –
Dive camps

Marsa Alam is right on the coast and is a peaceful place. Both for those who already dive and also for those who may not have started diving yet, it is an excellent place to be. It is also a very good destination for those who dive and travel with the family where other family members do not dive. Around Marsa Alam, the chance of seeing larger animals is high compared to diving further north in the Red Sea. If you're lucky, you may see dolphins, dugong (manatees) and large sea turtles. If you go to Elphinstone there is also the possibility of seeing a shark. Turtles are common and they come all the way to the beach to find food on the shallow reefs or on the seaweed-covered sandy bottoms.

Best time to see turtles: year round

Dive and swim with turtles on a liveaboard in Egypt

If you take a southern route in Egypt with a liveaboard towards the areas around Abu Galawa Soraya there is an exciting dive site belonging to the Wadi Lahami system - here there is an incredible coral garden and a wreck of a private sailboat filled with glass fish. Soraya is ranked as one of the best dive sites in the Red Sea for wall diving with its many overhangs and cracks. Here you often see turtles out on the reefs or swimming freely in the clear blue water in search of food or a mate. Even out on the sandy bottoms, they like to stay where they graze on seaweed or look for other edibles. Another magnificent reef located near Soraya is Galawa Kebir which is known for its many tunnels and for its southern plateau where jacks and barracudas swim with the occasional manta. The tunnels are a perfect diving spot for those who have just started cave diving.

Best time to see turtles: year round

Dive and swim with turtles in the Philippines, Dauin Apo Island –
Atlantis Dumaguete, Atmosphere Resorts or Sea Explorers

What is characteristic of the diving around Dauin is the muck diving. A unique type of diving that is often done on black lava sand or sandy bottoms in general. The diving offers fantastic encounters with strange animals that reside on these sands. Everything from frogfish and pygmy seahorses to mandarin fish and strange octopuses, but also turtles are often seen on the shallow reefs or in the seagrass beds where they graze leisurely. But it is not only this diving that is offered in Dauin, but also a visit to Apo Island is highly recommended. This dive site offers chalky white sand with hard corals teeming with turtles, perfect for snorkelers too. On the outside you can also meet large shoals of trevally.

Best time to see turtles: year round