Turtles
TurtlesGreen turtles graze the lagoon year-round, and over summer the beaches north of town become a nesting rookery.
Turtles are part of everyday snorkelling at Coral Bay — green turtles in particular graze the seagrass and reef in the lagoon all year, and are almost a given on a Bill’s Bay snorkel or a glass-bottom-boat trip, with loggerheads and the odd hawksbill about too.
Over the warm months the experience turns to nesting. On the beaches north of town, especially around Maud’s Landing, females haul ashore after dark to lay, and from around January the hatchlings emerge and dash for the sea. It is wild and self-directed, so the turtle-watching code is everything — get it wrong and a nesting female simply turns around.
When to go
In the water year-round; nesting roughly November–March, with hatchlings into autumn (to about April).
See the full when-to-visit calendar →Experiences
How it works
- In-water: free from shore (Bill’s Bay) or on any reef/glass-bottom tour — year-round.
- Nesting/hatchlings: self-guided on the beach after dusk; read the code of conduct first.
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