The coastal community of Playa Ostional, located in the Guanacaste province, is home to one of the most magical beaches in the Gold Coast of Costa Rica. There is something about the sand on this beach that is attracting more and more sea turtles to massively arrive during nesting season. Although climate change is affecting sea turtle arrivals in other parts of Costa Rica, this is clearly not the case in Playa Ostional, where nature conservation activists estimate that a million sea turtles will nest here this month.

September and October are typically among the busiest months of the nesting season at the Ostional Wildlife Refuge, one of the two most important sea turtle nesting sites in the world. Even though the massive arrivals are taking place a little later due to a change in average temperatures, the Pacific ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) are still arriving in record numbers.

According to nature journalist Angie Guerrero of online news daily CRHoy.com, the ridleys are very picky when it comes to when they will arrive. The cool beach sand has to be at the right temperature, and the chemical makeup of Ostional is essential for hatching. This beach has not been affected by erosion and rising sea levels as dramatically as some beaches in the Caribbean, where marine biologists have noticed a dwindling number of sea turtle arrivals and are trying to figure out where they are going instead; a hypothesis in this regard is that they are going north to Tortuguero, a true sanctuary of wildlife in Costa Rica.

The number of nesting sea turtles in Ostional and the eggs they lay on the beach are counted by conservation officials and members of the Ostional Nature Guides Association, who also report that more black sea turtles, Chelonia mydas agassizi, are also arriving in greater numbers. To learn more about the special relationship that Ostional neighbors have with the sea turtles they protect and profit from, please read our previous articles on this topic.