Wildlife at Arenas Negra
The beach below is a sea turtle nursery.
During a recent stay, Ramon photographed hatchlings and fresh tracks right below the house. Witnessing it from a distance is one of those moments you don't forget.
What you may find in the morning
Fresh tracks in the black sand.
Sea turtles come ashore quietly, usually at night, and sometimes the first sign is the trail they leave behind. This photo was taken in front of Arenas Negra during Ramon's June stay.
If you see tracks, marked nests, hatchlings, or a nesting turtle, give them space and let the beach stay dark. The best way to experience it is to notice it without interrupting it.
What the yellow tape means
There is life inside.
If you walk down to the beach and see sections cordoned off with yellow tape, those are active nests being protected by local conservation volunteers. Each taped-off mound can contain dozens of eggs.
The nests are fragile and the hatchlings' survival depends on people leaving them completely undisturbed. Please give them wide berth, keep the area dark at night, and resist every instinct to peek underneath.
Please protect them
How to be a good neighbor to the nests
Do not cross the yellow tape
Even gentle footsteps near a nest can collapse the egg chamber.
No flashlights or phone lights at night
Artificial light disorients hatchlings navigating to the ocean.
Keep the beach dark
Hatchlings use moonlight reflected off the water to find the sea.
Watch from a distance
If you spot a nesting turtle or hatchlings, stay at least 10 feet back and keep quiet.
No flash photography
Flash light — even a split second — stresses adults and confuses hatchlings.
Silence and patience
A mother turtle will abort nesting if she senses disturbance. Give her space and time.
The rarest kind of lucky
You might witness a release.
Conservation volunteers from Yo Amo El Tinglar sometimes conduct deliberate clutch releases right here on the beach — carefully excavating a hatched nest and helping any stragglers reach the water safely.
These events aren't advertised in advance, but if you follow their Instagram closely, you can sometimes catch a heads-up. It's one of those once-in-a-trip moments that guests talk about for years.
@YoAmoElTinglarThe beach, the turtles, the stars — it's all part of staying here.