turtle season
LADY MUSGRAVE ISLAND
Turtle Season
The Southern Great Barrier Reef’s Lady Musgrave Island is one of the best places in the world to see and swim with turtles all year round. You can swim with turtles in their natural habitat, which is a must-do when visiting Bundaberg. Our pristine turtle haven is home to resident Green turtles, Loggerhead turtles and even the endangered Hawskbill turtles.
Turtle nesting and hatching is a phenomenon you have to see with your own eyes. Every year between October and January, hundreds of mother turtles make their way up to Lady Musgrave Island to nest, creating quite the spectacle for tourists and guests staying on Lady Musgrave HQ.
From January to April, thousands of baby turtle hatchlings emerge from their sand nests and race to the sea.
Lady Musgrave Island is the best place in the world to see this natural wonder, so book your annual leave and plan a sleep on the reef experience onboard Lady Musgrave HQ pontoon. A turtles generally nest at sunset and hatch sometime during the night, our seasonal turtle nesting and hatching tours are an optional activity for Lady Musgrave Island accommodation guests between October to March.
There’s been a few rare occurrences when turtles have hatched during our Lady Musgrave Island Day Tour, however we cannot guarantee this.
Overnight Turtle Experience
Lady Musgrave HQ
How you can catch turtles nesting or hatching:
- Book overnight on Lady Musgrave HQ between the nesting months of October – January or hatching from January – April.
- Add a turtle tour as an optional activity – $65 per adult
- Pack your bags for a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
What’s Included:
- VIP Captain’s Lounge transfers on luxury catamaran between Bundaberg and Lady Musgrave HQ
- Morning and afternoon tea on transfers
- Sustainable souvenirs of Lady Musgrave Experience coffee keep-cup and re-usable water bottle
- All meals including breakfast, lunch and three-course dinner
- Day tour activities of glass bottom boat, guided island walk and snorkel equipment
- Snorkel in Lady Musgrave Island Lagoon
- Accommodation on Lady Musgrave HQ
Turtle Season, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
Swim with turtles all year round in Lady Musgrave Island Lagoon. Our incredible Great Barrier Reef is home to 6 out of 7 marine turtle species we are very lucky here on Lady Musgrave Island to have 4 of these species visible here including the beautiful critically endangered Hawksbill. Lady Musgrave Lagoon is home to multiple turtle cleaning stations where our resident sea turtles seek out fish to eat the algae off their shells. This in turn gives the fish a meal and keeps the turtles shells in tip top condition the perfect symbiotic relationship. Our crew will point out where the turtle cleaning stations are located so that you can witness this while snorkeling in the lagoon.
TURTLE NESTING – October to January
- Return to sender – using sunlight and temperature to help aid in direction, turtles have brains that work as magnetic compasses using the earth’s magnetic field to be able to return back to where they were born to start the cycle again from thousands of kilometres away.
- Female sea turtles like the Green and Loggerhead turtles lay a couple of clutches during the nesting season, laying around 100-120 eggs on average per clutch.
- The temperature of the sand plays a very important part of the development stage of turtle eggs when determining their gender. Hotter temperatures produce girls and cooler temperatures produce boys.
- Unlike female sea turtles, males spend nearly their whole lives at sea never stepping foot or flipper on dry land.
- Those tears you sea on a females face when she is on land are actually glands that help reduce excess salt from their eyes making it look like she is crying.
TURTLE HATCHING – January to April
It’s an incredible experience to watch newly hatched sea turtles make their way from their nest to the ocean, where they warm up their flippers in preparation for a big ocean journey.
Hatchlings imprint on the environment during their crossing so they know to return to this very location from 30 years from now when it comes time to nest.
Some interesting facts about turtle hatching before your visit:
Turtle Hatching Fun Facts:
- Newborn sea turtles are small, weighing between 15 and 30 grams, with a length of 5-7 centimetres.
- Hatchlings use the earth’s magnetic field to create an internal GPS and then use this tool to find their way back to their birthplace when it comes time for them in turn to nest.
- Only one in 1,000 sea turtles hatchlings make it to the age of 30, when they breed. Their average lifespan is 50 to 80 years.
- Head for the nesting spot at night. It’s cooler, and there’s less chance of being seen by predators.
- When turtles hatch, they naturally head towards the lowest light in the sky, which for them is the horizon over the open ocean.
Mon Repos Turtle Hatching Experience
Mon Repos beach in Bundaberg is a hatching hot spot supporting the largest population of nesting marine loggerhead turtles in the South Pacific.
The Mon Repos Turtle Centre is dedicated to marine turtle research, protection and education and is managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services. At these facilities, you can see turtles in their natural habitat and learn more about this endangered species.