From May till October, Tulum receives very special guests: Each year during the summer months, sea turtles come back to the beaches where they were born to lay their eggs. Thus, the Mexican Caribbean coast becomes a giant nursery for some of the ocean’s most fascinating creatures.

Conscious of the enormous obstacles mother turtles have to overcome during their journey back to the coast, and the unimaginable perils their young have to beat to reach the ocean safely, AZULIK is very compromised with the cause and each year is searching for new ways to ensure the safety of the nests on the beach.

Once that turtles have buried their eggs and gone back to the sea –usually in the middle of the night–, our staff marks the nests with strategically placed poles and signs that communicate the importance of protecting these fragile cradles to our guests. For several weeks, we will watch over them until the hatchlings are ready to make their own way out into the big blue.

Unfortunately, the unusual amounts of sargassum, a type of seaweed in the Caribbean, is a great obstacle for the usual reproduction of sea turtles. We have ongoing efforts to remove as much sargassum as possible from the coast, in order to ease the path for the traveling mothers and fragile newborns. 

Also, turtles rely on moonlight for orientation which is why we have chosen to forego electric light in our villas in order to not confuse or scare them away. We are blessed to have such a beautiful phenomenon occur on our doorstep. Let’s work together to ensure this miracle of nature will go on for many more years to come.