The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA, February 19, 2006
“Playa Las Tortugas has become an example of what can be accomplished when the government, environmentalists, and private developers look beyond a quick fix and the quick buck that plague developing areas around the world ...”

Environmental Study

Commencing in 1997 the developer of Playa Las Tortugas sponsored an environmental study, performed by the Scientific Investigations Department of the University of Nayarit, which was used to draft a document published in March 1998 called the “Ordenamiento Ecologico Semidetallado de la Cuenca Baja del Rio Otates, Nayarit”.

The study is a tool now used to forward environmental conservation and protection, currently helping us to promote protection of the adjacent mangrove estuary and turtle nesting habitat at a federal level.

Urban Development Plan

The environmental study mentioned above also served as the base document of an urban development plan for our zone, sponsored by the developer of Playa Las Tortugas. By sponsoring an urban plan we were able to encourage lower density development of the surrounding area. The plan was signed into law, and later published in the state legal periodical during April 2005. The urban plan regulates development for over 5 kilometers (3 miles) of coastline and the adjacent 1783 hectares (4582 acres) of habitats.

Demographics

Included as part of the urban plan study were demographics of the area including the two rural, primarily agricultural towns of “El Espino” and “Otates y Cantarranas” which form our community.

According to the results of the study the population had been in decline over the previous 15 years, by a total of some 17%, due to migration in search of jobs. At that time only about 29% of the total population was economically active, primarily in agriculture, livestock, and fishing.

In 2007 an agricultural or ranching field hand makes approximately $150 pesos per day, or less than $14 USD, making alternatives such as seeking work outside of Mexico more attractive. According to the 1990 census only 62% of persons above the age of 15 years were educated to the primary level, and even today it is not unusual that adults in our community remain without basic reading and writing skills. One of the means of raising standards of living is via education, another by creation of jobs, and the two go hand-in-hand.

Standard of Living and Educational Opportunities

In addition to responsible growth, Playa Las Tortugas looks forward to seeing a raised standard of living by providing employment and education opportunities to inhabitants of our rural area.

Your personal information will be used only as necessary for us to provide you with the highest level of service, such as to complete your rental reservation request or process your order for an item purchased in support of the Sea Turtle Conservation Camp, to address a problem you might bring to our attention, or to process a refund.

You will be charged only the amount agreed to, and receive exactly what you have ordered, with no extra “fine print” charges.

If you experience a problem with a service or product we will respond to you personally and in a timely manner.

We are committed to safeguarding your privacy while visiting our website http://www.playalastortugas.com (the “Site”) or visiting the Playa LasTortugas property. Our goal is to provide you with an experience that delivers the information, resources and services that are most relevant to you. To achieve this goal, part of the operation of the Site includes the gathering of certain types of information about Site users. Because we understand that your privacy is important, we wish to explain the types of information we gather and the way in which we use it. This Privacy Policy applies to the Site.

This Privacy Policy covers two types of information gathered at the Site, personal and aggregated. The term “personal information” refers to data you voluntarily provide in connection with use of the Site that identifies you and/or the company on whose behalf you are accessing and using the Site. Personal information includes, e.g., data submitted in connection with our services, such as your name, e-mail address, phone number, company affiliation, physical address and/or certain other personal information. The term “aggregated data” refers to general information regarding visitors and users of the Site that relates to use of the Site, e.g., traffic patterns, number of visits to certain pages, visits from other web sites or to third-party web sites linked to the Site, use of particular services and interest in services, information or features of the Site or other parties made available through or found at the Site.

What information is collected about you? How do we use it?

We will take the utmost care to ensure that the personal information we obtain from you is not used in a way that you may be unaware of or not agreeable to. You may wish to submit an information request about us, participate in one of our promotions or subscribe to our e-mail or postal mail lists. In response, we may ask for information such as your name, email or postal address. In the event you opt to provide us with this information, we will only use it for the purpose specified by you on the information gathering form.

Information collected on the Site may be used to:

Register you as a member of one of the services you request
Plan and purchase accommodations
Enter your email in our promotions or sweepstakes if you desire
Send marketing communications or surveys to you if you desire
Respond to your questions or suggestions
Improve the quality of your visit to the site

In deciding whether or not to ask for such services, please note that we do not sell, rent or share any of your personal information with any other party including any third-party joint promoters, nor use it for unapproved commercial purposes. You may request to be removed from our lists at any time. All emails distributed to our lists will contain easy, online access to unsubscribe.

Permission for Use
We may collect and use personal information that you submit at the Site in any manner that is consistent with uses stated in this Privacy Policy or disclosed elsewhere at the Site at the point you submit such personal information. At the time you submit personal information or make a request, the intended use of the information you submit will be apparent in the context in which you submit it and/or because the Site states the intended purpose. By submitting personal information at the Site, you are giving your consent and permission for any use that is consistent with uses stated in this Privacy Policy or disclosed elsewhere at the Site at the point you submit such personal information, and such consent will be presumed by us, unless you state otherwise at the time you submit the personal information. Please do not request any such communications on behalf of an individual or company if you are not authorized to make the request.

Withdrawing Consent to Use
If, after permitting use of your personal information, you later decide that you no longer want us to include you on its mailing list or otherwise contact you or use your personal information in the manner disclosed in this Privacy Policy or at the Site, simply tell us by sending an e-mail.

Use of Aggregated Data
We interested in improving the Site and may develop and offer new features and services. We monitor aggregated data regarding use of the Site for marketing purposes and to study, improve and promote use of the Site. In connection with such purposes, we may share aggregated data with third parties collectively and in an anonymous way. Disclosure of aggregated data does not reveal personal information about individual Site users in any way that identifies who they are or how to contact them.

Exceptions to the Privacy Policy
We have two exceptions to these limits on use of personal information:
(1) We may monitor and, when we believe in good faith that disclosure is required, disclose information to protect the security, property, assets and/or rights of Playa Las Tortugas from unauthorized use, or misuse, of the Site or anything found at the Site.
(2) We may disclose information when required by law; however, only to the extent necessary and in a manner that seeks to maintain the privacy of the individual.

Use of Cookies
To enable features at the Site, we may assign one or more “cookies” to your Internet browser. Cookies, among other things, speed navigation through our Site, keep track of information so that you do not have to re-enter it each time you visit our Site, and may provide you with customized content. A cookie is an Internet mechanism composed of a small text file containing a unique identification number that permits a web server to send small pieces of information or text by means of your browser and place them on your computer’s hard drive for storage. This text lets the web server know if you have previously visited the web page. Cookies by themselves cannot be used to find out the identity of any user.

We may use cookies to collect and maintain aggregated data (such as the number of visitors) to help us see which areas are most popular with our users and improve and update the content on our site. While in the process of browsing our site, you also provide us with information that doesn’t reveal your personal identity—what type of destination you’re exploring, for example. We use this aggregated data only as explained in this Privacy Policy. We do not connect aggregated data to any name, address, or other identifying information.

Children’s Privacy & Parental Consent
Please be aware that we have not designed this Site for, and do not intend for it to be used to submit information by, anyone under the age of 21 years. Accordingly, this Site should not be used to submit information by anyone under age 21. Our privacy policy prohibits us from accepting information from users who are under the age of 21. We specifically request that persons under the age of 21 not use this Site or submit or post information to the Site. Should we inadvertently acquire personal information or other data from users under the age of 21, we will not knowingly provide this data to any third party for any purpose whatsoever, and any subsequent disclosure would be due to the fact the user under age 21 used the Site and submitted personal information without solicitation by or permission from us.

Links Provided To Other Sites
We may provide links to a number of other web sites that we believe might offer you useful information and services. However, those sites may not follow the same privacy policies as we do. Therefore, we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the actions of any third parties, including without limitation, any web site owners whose sites may be reached through this Site, nor can we control the activities of those web sites. We urge you to contact the relevant parties controlling these sites or accessing their on-line policies for the relevant information about their data collection practices before submitting any personal information or other sensitive data.

Your Consent To This Privacy Policy
Use of the Site signifies your consent, as well as the consent of the company for whom you use the Site and whose information you submit (if any), to this on-line Privacy Policy, including the collection and use of information by us, as described in this statement, and also signifies agreement to the terms of use for the Site. Continued access and use of the Site without acceptance of the terms of this Privacy Policy relieves us from responsibility to the user.

Site Security Statement
We want our website http://www.playalastortugas.com visitors to feel confident about using our Site to plan and purchase their accommodations, so we are committed to protecting the information we collect.

Policy Modifications & Contacting Playa Las Tortugas
Playa Las Tortugas reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time; notice of changes will be published on this page. Changes will always be prospective, not retroactive. If you have questions about our policies, please contact:

Playa Las Tortugas Contact Information:

Robert Turley Hancock Jr.
Playa Las Tortugas

Two Kinds of Menus for Navigating

The Playa Las Tortugas site has two types of menus, which are the top menus and side menus. The side menus are “sub menus” of the top menus.

Top Menus are Major Categories

The top menus are found at the top of every page, such as “ABOUT” or “BEACH RENTALS”. These top menus divide our site into major categories. You can access the contents of the top menus by placing your cursor over the top menu (category name) and then left-clicking or right-clicking your mouse one time.

If you place your cursor over “ABOUT” and left-click your mouse the introduction page for “ABOUT” will open.

If you place your cursor over “ABOUT” and right-click your mouse instead of left-clicking then you will see a number of options appear in a “pop-up” menu. The options in the “pop-up” menu include “Open in New Window” which means you can open the “ABOUT” category in a new browser window without closing this current window. Opening in a new browser window is a handy way to look at different pages without losing your place.

The “ESPANOL” category opens the Spanish version of our site in a new browser window automatically, without closing the English version of the site.

Side Menus are Sub-Categories

The side menus are found on the left hand side of every page except the “HOME” page. After you left-click on a top menu, the top menu major category will open with an introduction page and you will see the side menus on the left side of your computer screen. The side menus are sub-categories of the major category.

Now place your cursor over the side menu you wish to know more about, and left-click your mouse. A new page will open, and you may also see a new level of side menus appear on the left side of the page underneath the menu item you just clicked on.

Alternatively if you place your cursor over the side menu item and right-click your mouse instead of left-clicking then you will see a number of options appear. The options include “Open in New Window” which means you can open the side menu item in a new browser window without closing this window.

Examples for Navigating

Move your cursor to the top of the page. Place your cursor over “ABOUT” and left-click your mouse. You will continue to see the top menus at the top of the page, while below them appears “ABOUT PLAYA LAS TORTUGAS”, and then “Warm Sand, Tropical Water, Blue Skies, Colorful Sunsets”. On the left side of the page you will see the side menus.

Place your cursor over and left-click on “Navigating our Web Site” to return to these instructions.

Now place your cursor over and RIGHT-click on “BEACH RENTALS”, move your cursor down the “pop up” menu to “Open in New Window”, and left-click your mouse. The “BEACH RENTALS” category will open in a new browser window, while this current page will also stay open.

Place your cursor over “The Villas” in the side menu and left or right click to open it or open in a new window. Now you will see another list of menu items under the side menu, which are the individual homes. You can then left or right-click on any of the homes to open that menu item.

From the Airport in Puerto Vallarta to Playa Las Tortugas:

It’s easy to find your way from the Puerto Vallarta International Airport to Playa Las Tortugas, and you’ll find the roads are normally well-maintained. In Mexico the use of “speed-bumps” is customary in smaller towns, particularly around schools or popular pedestrian crossing spots, so watch for them and read the Printable Driving Directions for more specific locations. We also offer door-to-door transportation from the airport, and for more information please contact Gabriel .

 
The federal highway in front of the airport takes you three-quarters of the way to our door. Then you make a left in Las Varas on to the state highway that brings you to the turn-off for our road. Your scenic drive north is about two hours, leading you through areas of old-growth jungle, coastal hills, typical Mexican towns, to the sandy road that leads here.
 
As you leave the airport parking lot, turn left leaving the toll booth and then bear right instead of returning to the terminal. Follow the signs for COMPOSTELA, which will take you the opposite direction from Puerto Vallarta. Merge onto Highway 200 in the direction of COMPOSTELA (TEPIC and GUADALAJARA). If you find yourself exiting the airport by the shopping center, turn left at the light in front of the shopping center (only with a green arrow), making a u-turn away from Puerto Vallarta. Follow Highway 200 for 84 km to LAS VARAS.

The first 21 km of the road from Puerto Vallarta toward Playa Las Tortugas is a four-lane highway which then becomes a federal two-lane highway, that is gradually being expanded to four lanes.

There are now several stoplights along this highway, including where you pass by Playa Los Ayala, Rincon de Guayabitos, and in Las Varas. Approaching the town of LAS VARAS, move into the right access lane, turn left at the second stoplight, and head toward SAN BLAS.

Our guests occasionally miss the turn in LAS VARAS so please pay close attention. When approaching LAS VARAS, move into the far right access lane (where there’s a sign for ZACUALPAN) in order to make a left at the second stoplight, toward ZACUALPAN and SAN BLAS. The town of LAS VARAS has several stoplights.  Turn at the second light when arriving from the direction of Vallarta and the airport.
 
For more exact directions including mileages / kilometers from Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, or Tepic/Mazatlan please click on the appropriate Printable Directions link in the left menu bar, just above. You can download or print the directions.

The “Tourism Corridor” Plan

During 2008 and 2009 more than a dozen new 15 to 30-floor condominium buildings were constructed in the Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta areas. In 2010 construction continues as Mexico looks to the future.

The large marina at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle is complete, the “Four Seasons” complex on Punta de Mita continues to grow with an 18-building estate being built on the golf course by Tom Siebel’s group. The new resort area at Litibu near Sayulita is in advanced stages of construction.

Sayulita and San Francisco (San Pancho) have seen an explosion of tourism-related populations, while availability of beachfront development properties has virtually disappeared.

A new access road is under construction for the Punta Raza development which is located near the resort towns of Rincon de Guayabitos and La Penita de Jaltemba, more than one hour north of Puerto Vallarta. The main highway is also being improved and widened in that area.

During the next 5 to 10 years the state of Nayarit, Mexico, from its southern border with Puerto Vallarta up north to San Blas, is projected to see very strong growth in tourism-related real estate development.

Growth of our “Riviera Nayarit” area is due in a large part to a long-term “Tourism Corridor” program for Puerto Vallarta and the State of Nayarit, Mexico which was developed around the beginning of 2000 and is being instituted through the joint efforts of private enterprise in conjunction with local, state, and federal government agencies.

The “Tourism Corridor” plan focuses on transforming the coast of Nayarit north of Puerto Vallarta up to San Blas into a sustainable tourism destination, branded as the “Riviera Nayarit”.

The portion of Nayarit included in the plan is from Nuevo Vallarta to San Blas, including the municipalities of Bahia de Banderas (Bay of Banderas), Compostela, and San Blas. The total area considered by the plan in Nayarit is approximately 118,000 hectares or 303,000 acres.
 
Mexico’s national department for tourism development, FONATUR, the agency responsible for spear-heading development of Los Cabos, Cancún, Loreto, Huatulco and Ixtapa, is providing considerable support to help insure success of the Nayarit “Tourism Corridor” plan. The strong growth of our Nayarit area is reminescent of what transpired in other successful major tourism areas of Mexico where FONATUR previously focused their resources.

The versions of illustrations of the tourism corridor plan that follow are from the original plan published in 2002. You will see that many of the projects forecasted have been started, and some completed.

Playa Las Tortugas, “Riviera Nayarit”

Playa Las Tortugas”, in its setting of 4 kilometers of coconut palm groves, is found in the heart of the rapidly growing “Riviera Nayarit”.  A significant level of new development is occurring within the “Tourism Corridor” area, and projects are being announced at an ever increasing pace. Please click on the image below to see project locations.

Over the next 5 to 7 years there will be at least two very important tourism markets looking to enjoy the beaches of Nayarit.

While millions of “baby boomers” from northern climates of North American and European countries are searching for their spot on the warm, sunny coasts of Mexico, there is also a burgeoning middle and upper-middle class in Mexico flexing their buying-power via increasingly competitive mortgage loans and interest rates.

The “Tourism Corridor” Overall Plan Strategy

Major Components of the “Tourism Corridor” Plan

The “Tourism Corridor” plan initially employs Puerto Vallarta, a traditional beach vacation center (CTP) with its international airport, to “jump-start” development of the first “Integral Tourism Projects” (PTI’s).

There are six initial PTI’s that comprise the most important areas to be developed, numbered as “PTI-1” through “PTI-6”. Two of the PTI’s (1 and 6) are made up of multiple locations.

Integral Tourism Project (PTI) 1
“PTI-1” includes Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta and Flamingos Vallarta projects, already well-advanced, and the expansion of the Puerto Vallarta International (PVR) Airport.

The airport expansion was in process for several years and is now complete. First a raised section of highway was installed to provide room below for better access, then a new departures check-in section was added to the terminal, and in 2008 a new set of gates and jetways (Terminal B) was completed. The plan also calls for future addition of another runway.

Integral Tourism Projects (PTI) 2 and 3
“PTI-2” is the area on the north shore of Banderas Bay between Bucerias and Punta Mita including the La Cruz de Huanacaxtle’s new marina. “PTI-3” is Punta de Mita, also well advanced with its world-class “Four Seasons” resort, St. Regis resort, and other new resorts coming on line in 2009 and 2010.

Integral Tourism Project (PTI) 4
The “PTI-4” includes an area just 18 kilometers south of “Playa Las Tortugas” known as “Boca Chila”. Numerous parcels of land have already been purchased by investors in the Boca Chila area and consolidated so that a development of significant size can be carried out. Adjacent to “Boca Chila” is Chacala and the “Marina Chacala” project where ocean front and ocean view lots have been developed and several homes from $1,800,000 to $2,500,000 USD have been constructed.

Integral Tourism Project (PTI) 5
“PTI-5” is the “Lima de Abajo - Puerta de la Lima” area, north of Guayabitos/La Penita and south of Las Varas. This PTI includes Punta Naranjo, Boca el Naranjo, and Playa el Naranjo. In 2010 FONATUR is actively working on development of the “PTI-5”, which includes resort hotel and residential properties accompanied by golf and other recreation activities.

The acces road from Federal Highway 200 has been paved down into the development area, and a new high-speed federal highway is approved (with the first section funded) to link Nayarit beaches in this area with the international highway, Guadalajara, and other inland cities.

This new highway connection to Puerta de la Lima will originate from the four-lane international highway near Jala (Jala is between Tepic and Guadalajara on the four-lane toll road) and terminate at Highway 200 near Puerta de la Lima.

The new highway will make for easy beach access from large metropolitan areas such as Guadalajara (more than 4 million population), Aguascalientes (more than 750,000 inhabitants),  Leon (Leon-Silao more than 3 million residents) and other important inland cities, opening Nayarit beaches to Mexico’s growing middle and upper-middle classes. You can see the approximate highway location in the above plan, departing from Puerta de la Lima and headed right (east) just underneath the “SSR” label, as well as below. The illustration below originated from a file generated by the Secretary of Communications and Transport.

Integral Tourism Project (PTI) 6 Litibu/Punta Raza/Platanitos
“PTI-6” includes Litibu (well-advanced), Punta Raza (first world-class five-star hotels under construction to be completed in 2011 and 2012 and to include a marina & golf), an area north of Platanitos which is still in planning stages with some properties destined, and Jolotemba where there is a development project underway.

Integrally Planned Center (CIP) Chila/Naranjo/Las Varas

Above is another view of a portion of the proposed “Riviera Nayarit” tourism corridor plan, with Playa Las Tortugas seen at the upper side, that includes the PTI’s 4, 5, and 6 (Punta Raza). The dashed line encloses the “CIP” (Integrally Planned Center) and indicates an area of proposed major development, with three specific subareas denoted by “PTI-4”, “PTI-5” and “PTI-6” circles, and the town of Las Varas in a circle “SSR” (Subregional Services) as a center for employee housing and employee or tourism services.

Development is generally arriving from the south towards the north, or from bottom to top of the proposed plan. Currently under development are “Marina Chacala” and “Punta Raza”, as well as “Playa Las Tortugas”.

The plan provides for protection of the turtle-nesting habitat on beaches between Platanitos (Playa Las Tortugas) and Chacala, as well as protection of the estuary bordering Playa Las Tortugas as a “protected natural area”.

Note that the long-term plan also provides for an airport between Zacualpan and the coast, about 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) south of Playa Las Tortugas. There is an existing paved 1000 meter runway between La Penita and Lima de Abajo which is proposed to be extended to 1500 meters, in order to service a variety of private craft and smaller jets with capacities possibly up to 40 passengers. It is assumed that this runway will be expanded in time to help service the new Punta Raza development.

New Development at “Punta Raza”

A new development was announced at “Punta Raza” between Monteon and Los Ayala, just south of Guayabitos.

“Punta Raza” is located on the beach, 58 kilometers (36 miles) north of the Puerto Vallarta (PVR) International Airport and only 52 kilometers (32 miles) south of Playa Las Tortugas.

The developer is “C&C Capital” which is a consortium of successful Mexican companies dedicated to development of luxury tourism projects.

The first phase of development in “Punta Raza” contemplates installation of the roads and accesses, and also construction of two hotels which are the Punta Raza Hotel (2011) and Gran Hyatt (2012), a marina, a golf course, and residences.

Ultimately the project will have up to 6 luxury hotels, 950 residences, the golf course, and a 250-slip marina. The residential prices are expected to range from $500,000 to $2,000,000 USD. Carlos Brockmann, vice president of “C & C” says that now it is almost impossible to put together tracts of land this large [in the area].

This means we’ll see world-class golf within an hour of PLT. The new “Punta Raza” project, along with others in the quickly developing “Riviera Nayarit” will help make an investment at PLT more attractive financially.

Another positive result of the “Punta Raza” project is that there is a proposed alternate route from Puerto Vallarta to Monteon. This alternate route will likely cut travel time from the PV airport bat least 20 minutes or more. The projected route leaves the four-lane north of the airport just before the Flamingo’s golf course and intersects the two-lane highway just south of Monteon, some 5-minutes south of Guayabitos.

Proposed Alternate Route from Puerto Vallarta to “Punta Raza”

The executive project (surveying and planning) is under way for a new highway which is proposed to run from near the Flamingos golf club outside of Puerto Vallarta to Highway 200 near “Punta Raza”. This highway will help save driving time to Playa Las Tortugas, by making a more direct route and avoiding coastal traffic bound for Punta Mita, Sayulita, San Pancho, and other points prior to Monteon. The developers of “Punta Raza” are helping to move the project forward.

Highway Projects Proposed or In-Process

A number of highway projects are proposed or in-process for the greater Puerto Vallarta - Riviera Nayarit area. Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit would both like to encourage more tourism from Guadalajara and Leon, where over 7 million live. Also, most retail and wholesale products come to Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit either via Guadalajara or down the coast from the north. The international highway from Nogales to Guadalajara is now practically 100% four-lane highway.

The Secretary of Communications and Transport (SCT) has a number of projects in or near completion of their design phases, including projects which will provide better highway access from Puerto Vallarta to Guadalajara. Three proposals address an alternate route from the greater Puerto Vallarta area to a point just south of Rincon de Guayabitos, a bypass around Guayabitos and La Penita up to Puerta de la Lima, and a route from Puerto de la Lima to Jala (Tepi - Guadalajara highway). You’ll see the bypass indicated in the PTI-6 Punta Raza plan, from Monteon to just above La Penita. The new route from Puerto Vallarta to Monteon is indicated in the “CTP” plan, though that route is expected to be modified somewhat. Some of these highway projects may initially be funded with money from the private sector, operated as toll roads, and then sold to the federal government at a later date.

The Nayarit state government is also encouraging a number of highway improvement projects, some of which are already being built, and some of which have topography and construction plans completed. Many of the proposed projects are targeted at helping increase access for tourism.

In 2009 there is a project underway building a highway from Tepic to Matanchen which will reduce driving time to under 30 minutes, further opening the Nayarit coast to the populations of Guadalajara, Leon, and other large inland cities.

On some nights there are thousands of hatchlings to return to the ocean. For many of our visitors, going on turtle patrol and releasing the newly-hatched baby turtles is the highlight of their stay. On the night of August 31st, 2007 a new record was established when 106 female turtles came up to lay nests, and 89 nests were collected with more than 8000 eggs. The nests were collected by personnel from the Camp including Veterinarian Miguel Angel Flores Peregrina, Carlos Rios Chavez, and people from the community participating in a special program. The previous record for one night was 42 nests during 2005, and 36 nests during 2000. This is very strong evidence that the efforts of the turtle conservation project are having a positive effect on the sea turtle population.

Sea turtles need our help.

Decades of commercialized hunting of the now endangered sea turtles for meat, eggs, and shells, have seriously diminished their numbers.

While man is clearly responsible for the sea turtle’s place on the infamous “endangered” list, there are few creatures on earth who experience such low survival rates—a mere 1% to 2% normally reach adulthood. The Sea Turtle Conservation Camp at Playa Las Tortugas is committed to improving the odds.

México is fortunate to be host to a majority of the species of sea turtles. Three species come to nest here on the Costa Tortuga, 70 miles north of Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast. The Turtle Camp provides an opportunity to witness and participate in a variety of natural wonders such as the incredible rush to the sea by the baby turtles.