Epic Baja California Road Trip: Releasing Endangered Sea Turtles in Todos Santos!
Welcome to the first leg of our Baja California adventure! We started our journey with an inspiring experience: releasing endangered olive ridley sea turtles into the ocean at Todos Santos.
Tomas cleans a turtle nest inside a greenhouse in Todos Santos.
Escaping the Cold: From Colorado to Baja California Sur
It was 8° F when we left Colorado, and we couldn’t have been more excited to head south to sunny and warm Baja California Sur. Our adventure began with a side trip that was unexpected, but set the tone for the rest of the trip. We had read about an organization working to save sea turtles in Todos Santos, and made it our mission to find them and help out with a release if possible! Releasing baby sea turtles into the wild had been on our bucket lists for a while and this experience did not disappoint.
Releasing Sea Turtles in Todos Santos
When we arrived in Baja, we picked up our rental car and headed straight for Todos Santos - a small town along the Pacific coast. After checking out the town and grabbing some tacos, we headed to the beach to join Tortugueros Las Playitas for their nightly sea turtle release.
Before the release, we learned about the turtles and the mission of Tortugueros Las Playitas. They are a local organization dedicated to protecting the many species of sea turtles that call the local beaches home. Tomas, the son of one of the creators of this local nonfprofit, spent time before the sun went down explaining and answering questions about the turtles and the process of helping them. We learned that the turtle populations in this area had been declining for many years. The conservationists help combat this by moving sea turtle nests into a greenhouse, which keeps the nests at exactly the right temperature for hatching baby sea turtles.
These remarkable creatures face numerous threats, so helping them on their journey to the sea felt incredibly rewarding. Watching the tiny turtles make their way to the ocean was awe-inspiring and a poignant reminder of the importance of wildlife conservation.
You can see the full video of the first leg of our Baja Road Trip below!
How Can You Help?
Tortugueros Las Playitas relies entirely on donations to do their important work. You can adopt a sea turtle nest, give a one time donation, and check out the dates and times of sea turtle releases on their website. If you are in the area from December to May, you might be able to participate in a release, which we highly recommend. You can use Google maps to find the beach and organization’s headquarters. We arrived just before sunset and that was perfect timing to learn about the turtles, the conservation efforts, and then participate in the release after it was dark.
More Mexico Adventures
Mexico is one of our favorite places to travel! You can see more about our adventures in Mexico in this post.
