Hola! En Abril la temporada de anidación en el Parque ya habrá finalizado, ésta va de Octubre a Marzo. En el Caribe inicia la temporada de anidación de baulas a alrededor de ese periodo.

Leatherbacks are rarely seen in playa grande anymore though so you will have to go elsewhere to find them. There are regular green seaturtles however.

De playa grande se puede caminar hacia Tamarindo por la playa, son como 50min, sin embargo tiene que pasar la desembocadura de un río preferiblemente en bote o lancha (hay gente del lugar normalmente para hacer el paso) pues la desembocadura del río en mar son de cuidado (este tiene algunos cocodrilos). Después de tamarindo esta playa langosta. En fin, a nivel de aventura si se puede y creo que demoraría unas 2,5hrs por la playa (quizá menos), y si le recomiendo cruzar la desembocadura entre Playa grande y tamarindo mediante una lancha.

The turtles at Playa Grande will come ashore in the evening to lay their eggs and then return to the sea by morning. Playa Grande is a protected beach so there is not snorkeling there. There are some beaches farther south where the Ridley turtles come to shore, these beaches are more tourist friendly "so to speak".

Here's what I wrote about the turtle tours in November of this year. Playa Grande is one of the world's best beaches. When we were first here 20 years ago, 4 of us went out with a park ranger to see a leatherback turtle lay eggs. It was a magical experience. Then there were hundreds of turtles that nested every year. In 2015, there was one. Tourism was almost non-existent in Costa Rica 20 years ago. The turtle tour we took in November 2016 was the most exploitative (of the animals) experience I have ever had. There were 30 noisy tourists snapping photos with bright iPads and phones and trampling on the turtle's path (one black turtle). It was a really unsettling experience. The guides not only made no effort to control their clients' behavior but contributed to it. Don't be misled by the folks on the beach hawking the tours when they say there are only 6 people on the tour -- that's 6 people per guide and, in our case, there were 5 or 6 guides.

People will patrol the beach for the turtles' safety, but you can walk the beach as long as you are not interfering or causing a disturbance. You should not take cell phones, iPads, or cameras because the turtles are very sensitive to the light and even a small amount will deter them. Patrol guards will ask you to put them away or leave the beach if you have them out. I hope this helps!

You can call the ranger station or set it up with any of the many tours available around the area. There is one that crosses the small inlet from Tamarindo beach. Be aware though that seeing the turtles is not a given and they seem to becoming a rarer sight. You'll have to be ready to go around midnight but it's worth a try.

Hi, There is a tour agent in Tamarinda that can arrange tours for the turtles, however you will discover that they are not recommending the tour to see the leatherbacks as the chance of seeing them is difficult. If your heart is not set on seeing the leatherbacks there are tours that go to see the black turtles nesting and you have a much better chance of seeing them instead. These tours go out of both Tamarinda and Playa Grande. If you want to do it out of Playa Grande you can drive to Las Tortugas Hotel and ask for Jonathan.