The Island of Nevis: A Sea Turtle Adventure Awaits

It was 9pm on a Saturday night in July and my 7-year-old son and I were walking along a beach on the Caribbean island of Nevis on the lookout for sea turtles. In our little group were members of The Four Seasons Resort Nevis and the Sea Turtle Conservancy. It was well past my son’s bedtime, but for a once-in-a-lifetime chance of seeing a momma sea turtle lay her eggs, I let him stay up. 

We were only on the beach for five minutes when our guides spotted the turtle. This 300-hundred-pound momma crawled in from the Caribbean Sea and made her way up the sand and into the vegetation. There, she dug a hole with her strong flippers and laid about 100 eggs (we learned it’s called a clutch). When she was completely through nesting and had thoroughly covered up her offspring, she started walking slowly to the beach. That’s when our team of scientists intervened, taking her back to the Four Season for a night of luxury (she had her barnacles removed and she was cleaned up nicely). More importantly she was affixed with a GPS transmitter and released the next morning.  

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Conservation Weekend at the Four Seasons in Nevis

From June to October each year, the beautiful beaches of Nevis are home to one of the most important nesting sites in the Caribbean. Female sea turtles come back to the same place where they were born to carry on the circle of life by laying hundreds of eggs. The Four Seasons Resort Nevis and the Sea Turtle Conservancy partner up each year to create awareness about the protection of these beautiful creatures. My son and I were lucky enough to partake in the 10th anniversary of this annual sea turtle weekend. 

There are three types of sea turtles that nest in Nevis: The Hawksbill, the Leatherback, and the Green turtle. These amazing creatures swim for hundreds of miles each nesting season. Only one in 1,000 to 10,000 baby sea turtles survives to adulthood, so scientists are tracking and recording data on these animals to teach tourists and locals about conservation. 

My son was fascinated by the mother sea turtle laying her eggs. He had the opportunity to ask the scientists from Sea Turtle Conservancy endless questions—both during our night of scouting for the turtles and at the turtle release party the next day.