Turtle Night Tour in Isla Cañas｜Canada

The Isla Cañas Night Turtle Tour begins on the mainland, where you'll board a boat that travels through a channel in the mangroves to reach the island. This is only possible at high tide; otherwise, you may have to wade through mud. The port for crossing to Isla Cañas is about 20 minutes from Playa Venao, and transportation is available if needed.

Participants will have dinner at a family home with a small restaurant. Your guide will provide information about the turtles using posters on the walls. After dinner, you'll take a horse-drawn carriage (sometimes a pick-up truck) to the beach. This sometimes happens at sunset; other times, you'll enjoy the sunset during the boat ride, depending on the tour's start time. You will arrive at the government office where the hatcheries are located to begin patrolling the beach in search of nesting turtles.

Isla Cañas was declared a wildlife refuge on June 29, 1994. This island off the Pacific coast of Panama covers 832 hectares. The protected area encompasses 254.3 km² and is located between the Tonosi and Cañas rivers. The island boasts a 13-kilometer stretch of gray sand beach, a nesting site for turtles. More than 10,000 turtles feed here each year, and this is one of only two beaches in Panama where a mass turtle nesting event, known as an "arribada," occurs. The other beach is La Marinera, in Tonosí. If you are lucky, you may witness this phenomenon, which happens a few nights a year. Most of the turtles are olive ridley, the smallest species. However, hawksbill, loggerhead, leatherback, and green turtles also nest on Isla Cañas.