Trinidad and Tobago is home to the world’s second largest leatherback turtle nesting site

Given the extraordinary protection and conservation measures, Matura is considered Trinidad's safest nesting beach for leatherback sea turtles. Female turtles are projected to deposit 80 eggs up to 12 times every season during the nesting season. One of the groups in charge of turtle conservation efforts in Matura is Earthwatch, which claims to have practically eradicated the once-common practice of turtle poaching. Our shelled buddies, on the other hand, are concerned about a new threat: climate change. The warmer the sand, the more likely the eggs are to hatch as females, causing the population's gender balance to be thrown off. Turtle-watching is permitted as long as visitors get a permit from the Forestry Division in order to protect the turtle's comfort and minimize interruptions.

Every citizen of and tourist to Trinidad should go turtle-watching if they have the opportunity. The island is one of the only spots in the Caribbean where a huge leatherback female follows a centuries-old "family ritual" of returning to her birthplace to deposit her eggs. It's astonishing to see these massive creatures swimming in the harsh waves of the Atlantic Ocean or the Caribbean Sea, then making their way up onto the beach. On any north or east coast beach, the entire process of seeing her give birth may be watched, from the digging of the hole with her flippers through the "backfilling" after the delivery, to her return to the sea to mate again.