Turtles - how can I make sure I don´t miss them????

[Florian Baldauf]

Hi to all Tobago maniacs!
I´m off to visit Tobago for the first time on May 19th and will stay at the Toucan Inn for two weeks.
The one thing I absolutely don´t want to miss is viewing the turtles (both the big ones, laying the eggs, and, if possible, the little ones crawling into life).
Browsing through all the information, I read that guests at the Rex Turtle Beach will be informed by the hotel´s management.
So, who could I contact, staying at another hotel? (Please don´t tell anyone, but I think I´d pay a fortune to just see these wonderful creatures).
I´m thankful for any advice - and willing to "pay back" by photos after my return.
Thanx!

[James Blackshaw]

Hi Florian,

I would go straight to Patrick Dankou at Yes Tourism for help. Although your English seems perfect, Patrick is German, very island and eco knowledgeable He is very helpful, friendly and I am sure can point you in the right direction

Gruesse aus England

James

[Florian Baldauf]

Hi James.
Wow, that was quicker than quick! I mean, you replied upon my question only a couple of minutes after I posted it! Thank you!Your advice sounds reasonable - as I booked my car via Yes Tourism anyway, talking to the Patrick you mentioned seems to be a good choice.

[Donna Mason]

Hi to all Tobago maniacs!
I´m off to visit Tobago for the first time on May 19th and will stay at the Toucan Inn for two weeks.
The one thing I absolutely don´t want to miss is viewing the turtles (both the big ones, laying the eggs, and, if possible, the little ones crawling into life).
Browsing through all the information, I read that guests at the Rex Turtle Beach will be informed by the hotel´s management.
So, who could I contact, staying at another hotel? (Please don´t tell anyone, but I think I´d pay a fortune to just see these wonderful creatures).
I´m thankful for any advice - and willing to "pay back" by photos after my return.
Thanx!

[Dave Guest]

Hi florian

Now seems like a good time to go Turtle Spotting. We've just spent 10 days at the RTB and turtles made an appearance almost every night. One night a turtle came and nested right outside the restaurant at about 8.30pm which meant there were many plates of uneaten food that night!

I'm not sure where your hotel is but I'd suggest getting yourself to the vicinity of the Rex Turtle Beach hotel at about 9pm then just hang around until the word on the street reaches you.

Be prepared... the older female giant leatherbacks are enormous! When they flap their flippers to cover the eggs with sand the floor vibrates!

Good luck,
Dave and Diane

[Steve Wooler]

You luck sod, Dave. Do you know, I've been visiting Tobago for over 45 years and NEVER seen a giant leatherback there. I always go at the wrong time of year. I would truly LOVE to experience this.

[Dave Guest]

You know Steve, for the first sighting I had to "tip" one of the locals TT$30 to take us to the turtle and he told us that many Tobagans have never witnessed it. After the 10 days we seriously thought he must have been having a joke with us... the one night alone there were 3 turtles on the beach within a 100 yards of each other.

Looks like we were very very lucky and it certainly made our honeymoon. The reason we chose the RTB over any of the more luxurious hotels was because it was my wife's lifetime ambition to see those turtles. Her dream came true and it made it the holiday of a lifetime for both of us.

Dave

[Florian Baldauf]

Hello Dave.
Your post couldn´t have come at a better time - we´re off for Tobago this Wednesday, so I hope we can catch a small part of your luck. Thanks a lot

[Dave Guest]

I'm sure you'll see at least one turtle while you're there. It's just a case of being in the right place at the right time. In our case we were at the right place all the time so it was inevitable that we'd see one eventually

Here's a scaled down picture of my wife with the 1st turtle we saw:

[Editor: broken link removed]

good luck,
Dave

[Marc Jones]

Staying at the Rex. 3rd day here, saw a Turtle lay eggs on our first night virtually in front of our room.

Surprised at the photo above, was was asked to stand behind the turtle and not to take flash pics.

[Dave Guest]

We were asked not to take pics while she was laying the eggs and covering them but after she'd finished and was on her way back to the sea they said it was OK to take photos.

To be honest we were very annoyed with the security guards at RTB on our second turtle sighting. While the vast majority of people stayed back and waited in silence one of the guards kept leading groups of people right up to the turtle to stroke it while she was laying eggs!

[Joe King]

We saw a turtle when we wer in Tobago last week. The poor thing had just started laying when an American Wa**ker came up right beside her and took a photo quite like the one above. The turtle became very disturbed only took a couple of minutes to lay what Harris McDonald reckoned was only about one third of her eggs and then wandered around blindly (because of the flash) for 15 minutes trying to find her way back into the water!! Anyone who is even thinking about bringing a camera with you to the beach DO NOT!! The American in question above got the head chewed off him by the lady who was checking the tags on the turtles, and left the beach with a rather large flea in his ear.

Dave I am amazed you got away with taking the above picture. Do you realise that it would have taken that Turtle almost 3 hours to regain her normal vision??? She would have been swimming blind for that time. How would you like to swim blind around the reefs of tobago for 3 hours?

Joe

[Dave Guest]

The problem with nature experts Joe is that they never agree with each other and it's hardly surprising since we can never actually KNOW how various things affect animals.

One expert will claim that a camera flash will blind an animal for several hours while another will say it will do no harm. Someone once pointed out to me that creatures living in the tropics experience lightning storms on an almost daily basis. I'm sure there are times when the turtles in Tobago lay their eggs during such storms. A blast of lightning is many thousands times stronger than the flash from a compact camera but you don't hear of turtles being blinded for hours by lightning flashes.

Sticking a camera in a turtle's face while she's laying eggs is a definite no-no but I personally don't think taking a pic like mine from the very end of the camera flash's range will do any harm. If I thought it was harmful I wouldn't have taken the picture.

For the record I checked, double checked and triple checked all of the information on the turtle notice board at the hotel and nowhere did it say not to take pictures using the flash. In fact there are several pictures like mine at the RTB that were clearly taken using a very strong flash and from much closer to the turtle than I was standing (which was about 10 feet away in my case btw). Before taking the picture I asked the "guide" if it was OK to use the flash and he said it wasn't a problem as long as I (and all of the other people there) didn't get too close. If he'd have said "no" I wouldn't have taken the picture.

[Joe King]

Fair enough Dave, thats a good point about the lightning, I never thought of that!! Well if you asked and you were told it wasn't a problem then what could you do, in your position I probably would have taken a snap too! The american in question the night we were on the beach was quite close to the turtle so thats maybe why she was disturbed.

[Steve Pitts]

What's that old eco-tourism saying?
''Take only photo's and leave only footprints'' (or something like that).

I agree with Steve that meeting one of these old ladies of the sea would be the highlight of anyone's holiday and the urge to capture the moment on film must be very strong indeed. I would have to restrain myself, but would hopefully respect the animal's 'right to privacy'.

At night, the use of a flash is unavoidable, especially with a fully-auto, compact camera and there is no doubt that lights do dis-orientate egg-laying turtles (see previous comments on this site). We can't do anything to prevent lightning, but we can refrain from flashing at female turtles.

I'm surprised that, given the obvious attraction that these animals have for tourists, the Tobago house of Assembly hasn't encouraged the setting up of protected areas for nesting turtles, with trained wardens, who can ensure that the inter-action between tourist and turtle is a pleasant and unobrusive experience for both parties.
I know that the beach at RTB hotel is right on the main egg-laying beach, but it would be nice to think that these once-in-a-lifetime and truly humbling experiences, could be managed by the hotel, local guides etc, to ensure the well-being and safety of the turtles. That should be the priority.

A previous post refered to a forecast that leatherbacks are possibly facing extinction within a decade or two. How tragic this would be, if we only had photo's like Dave's to show our kids.

Maybe, sometimes, just the footprints should be the only sign that we were ever there?

Cheers
Steve

[Joe King]

Here here Steve!!

Well said

Joe

[Tony J Taylor]

I was in Tobago in 1998 staying at the Grafton Beach. ( WIll be returning there on 14th June for two weeks). The staff at the Grafton Beach would wake you if you, had asked to be, when a turtle came up on the beach. But it was very strictly controlled and they would not allow you on the beach until the eggs were being covered by the mother.

We were woken one night and taken onto the beach by the security guards and told not to take photos until the turtle had actually touched the water on its way back into the sea. The reason we were given is that the turtle finds its way onto the beach by the moon and finds its way back to the sea by not seeing the moon. This seemed to be the case as somebody took a picture with a flash just before the turtle could touch the water. The turtle proceeded to turn itself back up the beach. On facing the moon again it proceeded to turn again to face the water. The security guards made sure that no further photos were taken until the water was touching the turtle.

One event I would not have missed for the world and very well policed.

Hopefully Tobago has not changed too much since 1998. Can't wait. Only 10 days to go.

Tony

[David Bloomfield]

Hello all, (my first post!)

Does anyone know if there will still be turtles on the beaches in the first 2 weeks of August? I bet i'll be too late!

[Joanne]

Hi David

Having witnessed many turtles laying eggs (only a few weeks ago!); I was told by one of the SOS 'Turtle Watch' people that eggs are laid up until mid-end of July. You may be lucky though, the turtles are female and you know how us females have trouble being on time!!!

More exciting though - you will see lots of little hatchlings scurrying off to sea.

Have a great time!

Joanne

[Florian Baldauf]

Having started this thread, I think I should tell you that I was lucky enough to see two turtles on the beach.
Being quite uncertain before our holiday, we found a brochure in our hotel room offering tours with a guy called Harris McDonald ("notorious" in Tobago - everybody seems to know him; very good reputation). So we went turtle watching with him one night. At one beach between Buccoo and Stone Haven we were successful - we saw a turtle which quickly returned to the sea. Harris McD suspected that she had chosen the wrong beach as she didn´t lay any eggs.
We tried some other beaches without success, which left Harris McD quite unsatisfied so he offered to take us to another tour the next night for free.
He did as he had offered, and, after some empty beaches, he got a call on his mobile (his contacts seemed to be on every beach!) which took us back to the beach of the first night. Again we saw a turtle - the whole procedure from crawling onto the shore, laying the eggs and returning to the sea.
We were a group of about 15 people, and we were clearly instructed by our guide not to use flashlights or make any noise. This is the reason why (although promised) I can´t present any photos!
With Harris, we felt in good hands, especially as he seemed careful enough not to disturb the turtles by any means.
I´m very happy that I was able to witness this incredible happening!