To get to Turtle Island we took a fast boat from Sandakan, and the journey out was quite smooth. Pulling into the Island you could see that this was your typical tropical paradise but turtle island's real beauty actually lies beneath its waters. As soon as we had checked our bags in I grabbed a snorkel and headed off to the beach. Swimming out past the roped off area I saw lots of beautiful coral and sponges, loads of fish (including clown fish), and various clams and coral worms. My day was basically spent swimming and exploring the beautiful reef. In the late afternoon I headed out with three others from my group to snorkel to the drop off point where the reef became open water. The fish out there were incredible.
At about 9:30pm it was time to go and watch the sea turtle come onto the beach and lay its eggs. As everyone on the island (about 30 people)walked to the one turtle we were allowed to watch lay we passed about 10 other turtles on the beach. Watching the turtles coming up the beach was an amazing experience but actually watching the turtle lay felt intrusive and unnessecary. I think the program needs to be changed so that the mother turtles are not interuppted while laying. Simply to watch the turtles crawl up the beach from the distance would have been a far more special experience. Watching the babies released into the ocean was by far the best part of the experience however. They are so tiny and you can only wish them luck on a life that is going to be a hard one to survive!
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