Where and when to see sea turtles

Green and hawksbill turtles live on many tropical reefs year-round, so they are one of the most reliable sightings in diving. Some regions also have nesting seasons when numbers peak.

This guide documents sightings in 34 Good Dives regions.

Colored-pencil illustration: one adult hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata).

Where to plan your trip

Our picks for a trip focused on sea turtles, chosen for the encounters below. Calendar peaks describe timing, not a ranking of destinations.

Many turtles along reef walls
Scuba diving
Sipadan & Semporna
Choose Sipadan for green-turtle encounters across several wall sites. Book island permits in advance. The sighting calendar describes underwater turtles, separately from nesting.
Target: green turtle
Ask about: Turtle Patch · Turtle Cove · Drop Off
Sources
- Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai dive sites (Seaventures)
Turtles on a diverse reef itinerary
Scuba diving
Raja Ampat
Cape Kri and Sauwandarek are documented turtle sites. Combine these encounters with the region’s reef diving rather than planning a nesting excursion.
Target: turtles
Ask about: Cape Kri · Sauwandarek
Sources
- Raja Ampat target animals and sites (Papua Diving)
Turtles with other island wildlife
Scuba diving
Galápagos
North Seymour and Mosquera combine turtles with sea lions and schooling fish. Ask for a local dive itinerary that includes these sites.
Target: turtles
Ask about: North Seymour · Mosquera
Sources
- North Seymour and Mosquera dive sites (Galápagos Conservancy)

Sea turtles sighting calendar

Calendar months, every year

This calendar covers in-water sightings. Nesting events are listed separately on region pages.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sipadan & SempornaMalaysia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Raja AmpatIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
GalápagosEcuador	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Andaman IslandsIndia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
AnilaoPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Baa AtollMaldives	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
BonaireCaribbean Netherlands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
British Virgin IslandsBritish Virgin Islands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
BunakenIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Canary IslandsSpain	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Cayman IslandsCayman Islands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
CozumelMexico	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
CuraçaoCuraçao	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Dauin & Apo IslandPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Daymaniyat IslandsOman	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Fernando de NoronhaBrazil	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Florida KeysUnited States	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Isla Mujeres & CancúnMexico	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Kona (Big Island)United States	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Mafia IslandTanzania	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
MauritiusMauritius	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
MoalboalPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Nusa PenidaIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Okinawa & Kerama IslandsJapan	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Roatán & Bay IslandsHonduras	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Saba & St KittsCaribbean Netherlands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Seychelles (Inner Islands)Seychelles	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Southern GBRAustralia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Tonga (Vava'u)Tonga	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
TrincomaleeSri Lanka	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Tubbataha ReefsPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Turks & CaicosTurks & Caicos Islands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Vanuatu (Espiritu Santo)Vanuatu	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
WakatobiIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●

Peak = best odds · ● = regularly seen · blank = unlikely.

Calendars describe animal presence, not weather or site access; check each region’s dive season. For grouped animals, a marked month may apply to only one member of the group. Sightings vary by site and dive.

Explore all 34 documented regions