Turtle Island National Park, Selingan Island is one of three islands dedicated to green and hawksbill turtle conservation and the only island which permits visitors to view turtles nesting and hatchlings being released. So, a trip here is a once in a lifetime experience and a must do if you are visiting Borneo. This island is not very visited yet, so there is hard to find information about what to do, how to get, so here I made this guide with plenty of information, to help those who are interested in visiting this unique place.
I absolutely loved my stay on the island and I will go back and would highly recommend it to anyone. I don’t think there could have been something for all the awesomeness of seeing these lovely turtles giving birth in their natural environment and returning the babies to the sea.
When is the best time to visit
There is no specific hatching season here on the island and mother turtles come every day to lay their eggs. A team of five full time rangers are on patrol every evening and work tirelessly as each female nests, to carefully remove her eggs and re locate them to a new nest dug in the safer confines of the island’s hatchery. However, so if you´re interested in swimming too, the sea is calmer between July and October, but I personally would come here at any moment, as I didn’t visit this place for swimming.
How do you get to the island
You have to take a speed boat to Turtle Island, which takes about 1 hour and the ride is absolutely gorgeous. The boat leaves every day at 10AM from the jetty just outside of the city and depending on where you come from you can walk or take a Grab. To get there you have to book an organised tour from a tour operator, who will arrange all details with you. For safety reasons before leaving to the island, while you are in the port they will take photos of your passport.
Booking the trip
It’s definitely best to book your trip to Turtle Island in advance, as there is a limited number of visitors to 20 each day. Our package included an overnight chalet accommodation and three buffet meals (lunch, dinner and breakfast), but I think that you can book to visit half a day. I prefer the overnight stay, it made the experience more intense and different.
Accommodation at Turtle Island
The overnight accommodation at Turtle Island is in cute wooden chalets, don’t expect much luxury (here the real luxury is the awesome experience you get on the island). The rooms are pretty basic, but spacious, but you’ll be all the time outside doing cool stuff (make the best of your time, for us it passed really fast) and prepare for a cold shower, which it is not that bad because it was very hot outside and I actually needed a cold shower.
Meals are taken in a the little hut, the first thing you’ll see when you will arrive, they use it as a reception, dining room and there is also a machine to buy some snacks. The buffet had a typical Malay selection of rice, noodles and meat, there are also vegetarian options (they ask about everybody food restrictions, so there is no need to worry if you have a specific diet), plus there was a good choice of fruit for dessert.
Conservation at Turtle Island
This island is one off the tree islands dedicated to essential conservation work. Geographically these islands belong to a chain of a further 6 islands belonging to the Philippines. Meaning that such proximity will lead to a constant vigilant military presence on the island. Full time rangers work on the island to keep an eye on the turtles, to assure tourists safety and to do all the hard labor that takes to keep the turtles safe. In addition, the rangers monitor and record the results of the breeding programme and ensure the safe passage of baby turtles to the sea.
The conservation programme is managed in collaboration between Malaysia and the Philippines. Here nest two species, the Green Turtle and Hawksbill Turtle and these beautiful mommies return year after year to lay their eggs in this safe Haven.
Late at night, when a momma turtle comes to the shore to nest they will call you to witness all the process. You are not allowed to make noise, or to use flash light, you can take photos, but be very careful with flash. I was totally impressed by all the process. Previously I’ve been privileged to witness turtles nesting Costa Rica, but I didn’t get the chance to see the babies going for the first time in the ocean and there it was done the same way as here, be quiet, no flash, you come here in big groups, to minimise the visits.
Madeleine 𓇼 