Sherbro and the Turtle Islands — terns, waders and turtle beaches
Royal, Caspian & sandwich terns, grey-headed gull, wintering whimbrel, godwits and sanderling; green, olive ridley and leatherback turtles nesting; humpback dolphins. Turtle Islands & Sherbro Island, Bonthe district, Sierra Leone.
Best time: 15 Nov – 28 Feb (November to February). Where: Turtle Islands (Nyangai, Sei, Bakie), Bonthe, Sherbro Island (Sierra Leone). Time of day: High-tide roosts in the 2 hours around high water.
- Partly on your own
- Low cost
- Binoculars essential
- Sound 3/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 15 Nov – 28 Feb. Mid November to end of February for the roosts; turtle nesting mainly in the rains (roughly June–October, poorly monitored)
Active from 15 Oct to 30 Apr (October to April) in a typical year.
Time of day
High-tide roosts in the 2 hours around high water; village evenings on the islands are their own soundscape
- Morning roost: sunrise → 2 h after sunrise
- Evening roost: 90 min before sunset → sunset
Depends on the tide: best around high tide. Check local tide tables.
What will you hear?
Tern and wader roosts on white sandbanks between eight Sherbro-speaking fishing islands, surf, and the villages' evening singing; dolphins in the channels.
Binoculars?
Binoculars essential. Tern and wader roosts on sandbanks 100–300 m from the boat; binoculars needed. Turtle nights are red torch only.
Where to go
- Turtle Islands (Nyangai, Sei, Bakie) — 3-hour boat from Freetown or from Bonthe; transport is erratic. Hoong island is closed to visitors (initiation island). Nyangai is disappearing to erosion. Map
- Bonthe, Sherbro Island — Old port town and base for boats to the islands. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Public boat Freetown–Bonthe or road to Bonthe via Mattru Jong, then a hired boat to the islands; no park, no fee, but village permission and a gift. Not a place to go without time in hand.
Cost: Boat charter and village contribution — check current prices locally.
Free or no-guide alternative: Sherbro Island's own beaches and the Bonthe waterfront have tern roosts and waders for free without the further crossing.
Field-recording notes
No infrastructure: you stay in a village with permission (a gift to the chief) and hire a boat by the day. Salt, humidity and no charging. Village sound is part of any night here. Turtle nesting is real but unmonitored — if you find a nesting female, red light, distance, no flash.
Sources
Similar spectacles
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More: all spectacles in Sierra Leone · sea turtles · seabird colonies · Sierra Leone in January · Sierra Leone in February · Sierra Leone in November · Sierra Leone in December