Some
Do’s and Don’t’s for Responsible Tourism
on Turtle Nesting Beaches!
• Do not hire or drive fast speedboats where you know
there are turtles in the water. Drive boats slowly and always
keep a lookout for turtles in the water.
•
If you are lucky enough to see a turtle, keep your distance
and never try to grab them!
•
Do not walk on a nesting beach at night during the turtle
breeding season.
•
Do not drive on turtle nesting beaches during the turtle
breeding season, avoid walking along the back of the beach
and keep all beach furniture within about 5 metres of the
waterline.
•
Always dispose of your litter sensibly, never throw litter
in the sea, never leave it on the beach and never flush
any kind of litter down the toilet.
•
Before you leave the beach, level off any sandcastles and
fill in any holes that you or your kids have dug.
•
Make sure there are absolutely no lights shining on the
beach at night during the turtle breeding season, and if
necessary, ask the hotel owner or manager to switch any
problem lights off.
•
Do not go to any bars or restaurants that have been illegally
built on the back of nesting beaches, or to those that refuse
to turn off their lights.
It is essential that stringent management measures are
implemented in nesting beaches which coincide with tourist
hot spots. The continued survival of sea turtles is determinant
on ensuring that the 1 in 1000 hatchlings that do reach
adulthood actually make it there!
