Puerto Vallarta was the home of 2,700 turtle nests in 2018, giving birth to 130,000 turtles, so this year the city is preparing its 14 kilometers of coastline to receive and care for them during this breeding season.
Currently, Puerto Vallarta is the only city to have a sea turtle protection plan on the Mexican Pacific, which has led to making Puerto Vallarta the best place in the country to see them in their habitat, the result of years of effort in conservation. The city records an 85% hatching rate.
The effort has also involved some hotels in the area such as the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa, Barceló Puerto Vallarta and Velas Vallarta, which as part of its attractions offer visitors to be part of the experience.
The task is not simple. The possibility of nesting occurs along the 14 kilometers of coastline, where Puerto Vallarta gathers thousands of tourists throughout the year to enjoy its beaches. However, there are some actions that tourists can carry out to contribute to the conservation of the species, such as avoiding throwing cigarette butts or leaving coal from the campfire on the beach, as they are substances that affect the degree of hatching of eggs.
In this part of the Mexican Pacific, four of the eight species of sea turtles are registered worldwide: black, hawksbill, lute and golf, the latter being the most popular.
In 2018 there was a great find, a new species of turtle was discovered, unique in the world and that exists only in Puerto Vallarta, so they registered it as “Casquito de Vallarta”.
Officially, the season is from August to December, however, several of them begin to arrive from mid-July.
