The arrival of our special summer visitors, the sea turtles

It’s that time of year again. May is the start of sea turtle nesting season in the Mexican Caribbean and at Grand Residences we are gearing up to welcome these ancient creatures as they emerge from the waves to lay their eggs.

Our security guards will be patrolling the beach during the summer nights on the look out for the female green and loggerhead turtles that come ashore to dig their nests.

Forty-five to 60 days later, the tiny baby turtles will chip their way out of the nests. They’ll face many dangers on their journey to adulthood, many falling prey to birds, fish, plastic pollution or becoming entrapped in industrial fishing nets. However, some will make it and in 12 to 15 years time they will return to the beaches they were born on to lay their own eggs.

Follow the Turtle Season Rules

If you are due to visit Grand Residences or Royal Resorts during the summer, join us in protecting these beautiful creatures.

• Alert the security staff
• Be very quiet and keep still
• Watch the turtles from a distance of ten meters
• Do not attempt to touch the turtle or crowd her
• Do not shine a torch or use the light on your mobile phone
• Please, no flash photography
• No smoking
• Follow the instructions given by security staff at all times
• Help us to keep our beaches and sea clean. Discarded straws, plastic bags, beer packaging, fishing lines and other garbage floating in the water are lethal to turtles and other marine life
• When snorkeling or diving watch turtles from a distance, do not swim towards them and do not attempt to touch them
• Wear a t-shirt when snorkeling as protection from the sun instead of applying sun block. Sun products pollute the water and are harmful to marine life
• Turtles are protected by Mexican law and it is illegal to disturb, persecute and hunt them and consume their meat or eggs.

Mexican environmental agency regulations keep human contact with the turtle hatchlings to a minimum and the participation of hotel guests in turtle releases is no longer permitted.