Hotel Luna Azul is located about 1 km from Playa Ostional, the most important nesting site of the Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) in Latin America. Go for a night tour and let yourself overwhelm by this incredible spectacle of nature: Hundreds of thousands of females arriving in huge “arribadas” during several nights, digging a hole in the black sand and laying their eggs ( 100 – 110 per animal) into this nest.

The biggest arribadas normally occur from July to December. During these mass arrivals, thousands of nests of the animals having landed early are destroyed by the later arriving ones; for this reason the local people from the village are allowed to collect eggs during the first phase of each arribada. Turtle arribadas in Ostional are supervised by the national wildlife protection authorities.

Fortunately, the zoologists report that the Ostional population of this endangered species is stable or even slightly growing – on the contrary of other populations in different countries. The fact that the beach of Ostional is also visited by other endangered turtle species like i.e. the huge and extremely rare Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), makes it one of the most important breeding places of marine turtles worldwide.