Siesta Key Sea Turtle Nesting Season

When you’re planning a trip to Siesta Key, you will find that there are many beautiful outdoor attractions for you to experience.

Since the weather is incredible all year long, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get out of your vacation rental and see the beautiful nature around you. You can spend your days enjoying the beautiful white sand beaches, going for a hike or a bike ride around the area, or visiting local wildlife preserves.

Sea Turtles In Siesta Key

If you’re in the area during the right time of year, you may even be lucky enough to see some of the famous Siesta Key sea turtles coming to the area to lay their eggs! Essential details are needed, such as knowing when the nesting season occurs and how you can make the most of it while staying in one of our Siesta Key resort rentals. It’s also important to understand how to keep the sea turtles safe and help protect their nesting grounds. We’re here to break it down and help you plan an epic Siesta Key adventure.

Sea Turtle Nesting Season

To start, when is sea turtle nesting season? Sea turtles don’t live in this area all year long and typically only come here to lay eggs. Then, when the eggs hatch, the baby sea turtles in Siesta Key will slowly make their way out to the water. Sea turtle nesting season occurs from May 1st to October 31st each year, when hundreds of turtles make their way to the area. You have a good chance of spotting sea turtles during these six months, but if you want to see the hatchlings head back to the water, you’ll want to visit toward the end of nesting season. Unfortunately, if you’re visiting from November through April, you’ll miss out, but that simply means you have to plan another visit next year!

Where to See Turtles on Siesta Key

So, where can you see them if you’re visiting during sea turtle nesting season? One of the most popular places to hang out in this area is Turtle Beach on Siesta Key, as this area is aptly named. While many of the other beaches on Siesta Key are crowded and busy, Turtle Beach tends to be calmer and more relaxing, making it the perfect place for sea turtle mothers to come to lay their eggs. (When you’re at the beach, not only can you see sea turtles, but you might also spot dolphins, manatees, and birds; you can also enjoy all kinds of water sports like kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, and more!)

How to Help Protect Sea Turtles in Siesta Key

It’s incredible to see sea turtles coming to this area, but we all have to do our part to make sure that they continue to call Siesta Key home for their nesting season. This involves ensuring that our local beaches are clean for the turtles to enjoy. Luckily, it doesn’t take much effort to create a safe and peaceful environment for these majestic creatures.

If you happen to come upon a nest or a group of hatchlings during your time on the beach, be sure to stay quiet so that they don’t get scared. You’ll also want to observe from a safe distance away. When you leave the beach for the day, take everything with you and dispose of trash in the proper receptacles. If you’re in the water, take particular care; boating can be a bit treacherous since turtles will mate offshore before the females come onto the beach to nest. Finally, make sure that your beach-facing outdoor lights are turned off during the nighttime hours. Any light not coming from the moon can confuse the hatchlings as they try to make it out to sea.

Mote Marine Sea Turtle Conservation

The Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium is one of the most popular attractions in this area all year. Still, they are an essential resource during sea turtle nesting season. The staff here at Mote Marine serves to educate the public about these incredible creatures and how we can protect them. They also help rehabilitate sick and injured turtles and conserve the environment they live in.

The Laboratory and Aquarium keep close eyes on the sea turtle nesting season every year. You can even find nesting numbers for every year since 2005 located on their website. They also run a Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital for the sick or injured turtles that come into their care. If unfortunately, they wind up with a deceased turtle, they perform detailed post-mortem examinations to learn more about the animals, the threats impacting them, and the long-term trends in mortality. Since 1995, more than 650 turtles have been admitted to this hospital, including all five turtle species found in the Gulf of Mexico.

If you spot a sick or injured turtle during your time in Siesta Key, you are encouraged to call the Stranding Investigations Program at Mote Marine at (941) 988-0212. This line is open 24/7.

Fun Facts About These Incredible Animals

Finally, before you come to check out the beautiful sea turtles here, it might be helpful to learn a bit about them. The sea turtles that come to this area are typically the loggerhead variety, which can live to be about 50 years old and often weigh more than 200 pounds! (In some cases, there have been loggerheads weighing a whopping 1,000 pounds!) Loggerhead sea turtles are more abundant than any other turtle species in the United States waters.

During a typical nesting season, female loggerheads will come to lay eggs four times. Their nesting periods occur every two to three years, so new turtles are always coming to our shores. The female will dig a hole in the sand to lay her eggs, and the beach where they lay their eggs is usually the same beach where they were born! After 60 days, the eggs will hatch, and the hatchlings wait until nightfall to make their way to the ocean, thanks to the moon’s natural lighting.

Siesta Key is one of the best places to see sea turtles in Florida, and it’s an experience that you will not soon forget. Be sure to book one of our Siesta Key rentals to make the most of your time here! At Tropical Breeze Resort, we’re proud to offer conveniently located vacation properties with luxury amenities like fully equipped kitchens, breathtaking beach views, spacious bedrooms and bathrooms, flat-screen TVs, and more.

Our rentals not only put you close to the sea turtles during their nesting season, but they also allow you to be just minutes from the area’s most popular attractions. You can easily spend your day at the beach, head into Siesta Key Village for shopping and dining opportunities, or take a day trip to nearby destinations like Lido Key, Sarasota, Longboat Key, and more.

Contact us today to start planning your next trip to Siesta Key during sea turtle nesting season!