Our time in Grenada has coincided with the annual leatherback turtle egg-laying season and so we joined a group of cruisers to make the journey across the island to Bathway Beach in the NE corner.

‘Shademan’ AKA Patrick, a local bus/taxi operator, provided the transport in a couple of his old minivans. We had been fore-warned that he was a bit of a ‘boy-racer’ driver and so opted for the van he wasn’t driving! The 2-hour journey took us through areas of lush rainforest, small towns, and plantations and provided a great insight into the island.

It was dark by the time we got there, around 8pm, and we listed to a short talk by our guide from the turtle sanctuary before heading down to the beach area. The turtles had stared laying back in March and, as we were now in July, it was coming to the end of the season which meant fewer turtles and therefore longer waiting around for one to arrive on the beach – you can’t hurry nature.

After a couple of hours, we got the call that we could make our way onto the beach as a turtle had arrived. In single file, behind our guide, we walked about 1 mile to the furthest point of the beach to be greeted by the sight of a leatherback turtle preparing her nesting spot. It was full moon during our visit which made visibility perfect as torchlight could have frightened her. We were amazed at how large the turtle was; around 2m long and over 1m wide. We can’t even guess at what she weighed but there she was carefully and delicately digging a deep hole behind her using her rear flippers just like hands. After an hour of digging she abandoned because she had come across a large rock under the sand. She simply moved around a little and started all over again. While this was going on, students from the turtle sanctuary were busy measuring and taking notes, and tagging the turtles if they needed it. As the turtle digs, she goes into a trance just before she lays, and at this point the students noticed that there was water in the bottom of the nest which meant that the eggs would not survive if left there. They took the decision to collect the eggs as they were laid and re-bury them in a better position on the beach. We were mesmerised as we stood right next to this huge turtle and watched the eggs appear and drop into the next. They were all white and very round, like golf balls and we were told that the shells are quite firm. Before she came out of her trance, we were able to touch her and her shell really did feel like thick, cool leather. She had no idea that the 50+ eggs that she had laid were not in the nest and we left her to cover and camouflage it as we made our way back down the beach.

We had to walk in single file behind the guide because some of the earlier turtle eggs were now hatching and we couldn’t afford to tread on one as a little hatchling was making its way to the sea. Our guide stopped walking and we waited in great anticipation as to the reason why. In front of her was a newly-hatched turtle taking its first steps seawards as fast as its little flippers could take it. She picked it up to show us and we were all able to hold it before releasing it onto the moonlit sand to continue its journey.

We felt very privileged to have seen both the eggs being laid and a new hatchling beginning its life-journey on the same night. If that turtle makes it, and it could travel as far as Canada and beyond, it will return to that same beach to lay its eggs and therefore continue the cycle in years to come.

It turned out to be a long night as we got back around 3am but it was a wonderful experience and one we shall remember forever.