Where to see the most sea turtles?

[ktripp]

Hello! My husband and I are planning a last minute dive trip November 22 to 26. We live in NC, USA and are trying to find the best trip for that short amount of time. Any suggestions or considerations would be appreciated. We were looking at Huracan or Itza Resort in Belize, maybe back to Cozumel. Sea turtles are my absolute favorite so any guidance on where there are a higher concentration would be awesome. Thank you!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Hawaii.

 

[Damselfish]

I was also going to say Hawaii, but not for a 4 night trip from the east coast.

 

[Rob9876]

I was also going to say Hawaii, but not for a 4 night trip from the east coast.

Good point. Have not been to Belize yet, so hopefully someone else can comment on that.

We see turtles pretty frequently in Cozumel, though it is not necessarily a lot on any one dive -- can go several dives without seeing them also. Also in the Yucatan, Akumal (south of Playa del Carmen) used to be known as a great spot to snorkel with turtles (went their before I started scuba, but they do/did have a nice scuba shop there also), but I hear they've had a lot of changes in their bay, so that may not be the case any longer.

My wife and I did a long weekend in Curacao about a year ago, and in addition to seeing some on dives, we did a snorkel tour where there are always multiple turtles, which was pretty cool. There was also a similar spot in Barbados where we snorkeled with a bunch of turtles years ago (again, before scuba for me).

I'll also add that I've seen some huge turtles off of Palm Beach/Riviera Beach, Florida -- though again, not necessarily every dive.

 

[tarponchik]

Akumal in Mexico or Playa Grandi in Curacao. Akumal is a snorkeling destination, though.

 

[tarponchik]

Hawaii.

Turtlewise, we were very disappointed this June. The only turtles we've seen were at the Honokohau Beach area. I used to see up to five per dive at Puako but not a single one this time. None at 2-Step or Hookena, where I used to see a couple per dive. The only one I saw underwater was at Alula Beach. At Hilo, turtles used to pile up basking on lava in Richardson Ocean Park, for example, but none this year. Same with the former Outrigger site at Kahalu'u Beach Park, not a single turtle there.

 

[TheScubaDirectory]

Grand Cayman!
Diving in the Cayman Islands | The Scuba Directory

 

[Twiny]

Try Bunaken Marine Park in Indonesia. Colourful Wall diving with plenty of turtles, on some dives : over 20

 

[tursiops]

East Coast of Bonaire, at Turtle City. Seeing 60+ sea turtles on a single dive is not uncommon.

 

[Rob9876]

East Coast of Bonaire, at Turtle City. Seeing 60+ sea turtles on a single dive is not uncommon.

Wow, would that site also be accessible for snorkelers? My wife can snorkel, but can't dive for health reasons -- she loves seeing turtles while snorkeling.