Sea turtles nesting at Grand-Béréby
Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green (Chelonia mydas) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) turtles. Grand-Béréby coast, San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire.
Best time: 1 Nov – 15 Jan (November to January). Where: Grand-Béréby – Mani beach and the CEM patrol beaches, Grand-Béréby – Baie des Sirènes (Côte d'Ivoire). Time of day: Females come ashore after dark, mostly between 21:00 and 03:00 on a rising tide.
- Guide, ranger or boat needed
- Low cost
- No binoculars needed
- Sound 2/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 1 Nov – 15 Jan. November to mid January, the heart of the leatherback and olive ridley season; hatchlings emerge about two months after each nesting peak
Active from 1 Sep to 28 Feb (September to February) in a typical year.
Time of day
Females come ashore after dark, mostly between 21:00 and 03:00 on a rising tide; hatchlings emerge at night
- Nesting patrol: 21:00 → 03:00
Depends on the tide: best around high tide. Check local tide tables.
What will you hear?
Mostly a sight, but the sound is worth having: the heavy breathing and sand-throwing of a leatherback digging, flippers slapping wet sand, and the surf of the Gulf of Guinea behind it.
Binoculars?
No binoculars needed. A nesting leatherback beside you in the dark; red torch only with the CEM patrol.
Where to go
- Grand-Béréby – Mani beach and the CEM patrol beaches — Conservation des Espèces Marines (CEM) runs night patrols and a hatchery; visitors join patrols by arrangement. Côte d'Ivoire's first marine protected area was declared here in 2020. Map
- Grand-Béréby – Baie des Sirènes — Beach used by nesting turtles; ask CEM which nights it patrols. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Approaching a nesting turtle without the CEM patrol is prohibited (protected species). Cheapest legal way: contact CEM in Grand-Béréby (bus from San Pédro) and join a night patrol for a donation.
Cost: Donation to CEM; check current prices.
Free or no-guide alternative: The beach is public and hatchling releases from the CEM hatchery are open to the public in season; walking the beach at night without the patrol is legal but you must not approach or light a nesting animal.
Who runs access
- Conservation des Espèces Marines (CEM) (NGO) — Runs the patrols and hatchery; join by arrangement
Field-recording notes
Only with a CEM patrol: red light only, no white torches or flash, approach from behind once the female is laying, and keep out of her line of sight. Nesting animals are highly sensitive; the eggs are protected by law and the local hatchery is how they survive. Surf is the bed of every recording, so a close, low-slung directional mic at the nest is the only way to isolate the animal. Nights are humid and windy; sand gets into everything. Hatchling releases at the hatchery are organised for visitors in season.
Sources
- Conservation des Espèces Marines (CEM)
- Conservation of sea turtles in Côte d'Ivoire – Fondation Ensemble
Similar spectacles
Sea turtles on the Togo coastA sighting more than a sound: the heavy breathing and sand-scraping of a nesting female against the surf, and the patrol team's low talk.
Sea turtles nesting at Grand-Popo and OuidahA sight more than a sound, but with a close mic: sand thrown by a leatherback's flippers, the deep exhalations of a nesting female, and the Bight of Benin surf behind.
Sea turtles at Ebodjé and the Campo Ma'an coastA visual event with a good close-mic moment: the digging and heavy breathing of a nesting turtle against the surf; behind the beach the Campo Ma'an forest at night.
Olive ridley nesting on the Angolan coast — the Atlantic's largest populationA sighting with a close-mic moment: the scraping and heavy breathing of a nesting ridley — a small turtle, a quick nest — against the Atlantic surf, and the Kitabanga patrol's low voices.
Conkouati-Douli: humpback whales and leatherback nestingBlows and breaches from the beach, humpback song on a hydrophone from a drifting pirogue, and at night the digging and heavy breathing of a leatherback on a wild beach with no lights for 50 km; chimpanzees pant-hooting from the lagoon islands at dawn.
Kartong — wetland pools, Allahein river mouth and turtle beachCrakes and pygmy geese in the sand-mine pools, a wader roost at the Allahein mouth, and on rainy-season nights the beach with the surf and, if you are lucky, a nesting green turtle's breathing.
More: all spectacles in Côte d'Ivoire · sea turtles · stork, heron and flamingo colonies · Côte d'Ivoire in January · Côte d'Ivoire in November · Côte d'Ivoire in December