Get up close and personal with Sea Turtles in Habaraduwa

If you’re ever in Habaraduwa, be sure to make a stop at the local sea turtle hatchery – it’s a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with these gentle marine reptiles, while also learning how you can help preserve these wonderful creatures for future generations to enjoy as well!

This sea turtle hatchery prides itself in caring for sick and injured sea turtles. People from the Habaraduwa area, as well as the neighbouring shoreline regions, will notify the hatchery if they find stranded turtles and send these animals here to be rehabilitated. The beaches of Sri Lanka are visited by five different species of sea turtle – all of which are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and growing human pressures. Establishments like the Habaraduwa Turtle Hatchery do their best to help conserve these reptiles and provide them with a fighting chance for survival.

Here at the hatchery, you can get up-close and personal with the older turtles. You can watch as they swim about in their enclosures and feed from time to time. However, the true highlight here is the baby sea turtles.

Here, turtle eggs are collected and kept safe until they are ready to hatch – this ensures that the eggs won’t be destroyed by humans or be discovered by potential predators. A short while after the eggs have hatched, the hatchling is released onto the beach under the cover of moonlight. Watching these tiny turtles scramble to the safety of the ocean can be a truly marvellous sight – one that will stick with you for years to come.