Baby Turtles at La Ropa

I posted this last week but immediately deleted it because I got paranoid that I’d somehow cause harm. It made sense to me then

We were recently tromping north on La Ropa around 8pm when a local family stopped us in our tracks. Tortugas! There were tons of baby turtles making their way to the ocean, using only the moonlight to guide their way. It was mesmerizing. Fortunately, the kind family was keeping guard and making sure no damage was caused by wandering beach walkers. My husband and I stopped to watch for a few minutes then continued on.

The next morning we went back to that spot and there was zero sign of the magic we encountered just hours earlier. No nest, no tracks, nothing. Nature, man! So cool. I also encountered a tiger snake eel that day when swimming near La Perla that gave me a little scare until I googled it.

I hope next year we can bring our small kids to experience the beauty of Zihua. This was our fifth year coming here and it gets better each time.

The sea turtles hatch approximately 2 months after their momma deposits her eggs in a nest on the beach, usually emerging at first twilight before dawn and finding the light on the horizon that means GO THIS WAY. Unfortunately careless lighting by the municipal government as well as beachfront businesses and lodgings often throws a monkey-wrench into the works. I saw a fresh nest this morning on Playa Principal. Things have slowed down a bit as far as nesting, but they can lay their eggs year round.