Thinking of Costa Rica for your next holiday? Just ask David Attenborough...

Watching our national treasure, David Attenborough narrating Blue Planet II brought on the goosebumps as I watched the Olive Ridley Sea Turtle make its way onto the beach in Costa Rica to lay its eggs. These turtles travel up to 1000 miles to lay eggs on the same beach where they hatched years before. It’s quite a sight to behold as up to 100,000 turtles make this journey! If you missed the spectacle, you can catch up here on BBC Iplayer Blue Planet II: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09hs07h/blue-planet-ii-series-1-6-coasts

Sea Turtles lay their eggs on both the Caribbean and Pacific beaches of Costa Rica. As long as you are flexible with the location, you can see hatchlings making their way back to the ocean all year round. Many species spend their lives far out in the ocean and only make this journey to lay eggs. They can stay submerged for up to 3 hours before taking a gulp of air at the surface, so they’re almost more fish than reptile.

Another interesting fact is that the sex of the turtle is determined by the temperature of the nest during the 2 week period in the middle of the incubation period. If the nest remains below 27 °C then all the hatchlings will be male. If the temperature remains above 30 °C then they’ll all be female. If the temperature hovers between the 2, then they’ll be a mix of male and female.