Turtle Watching in Sri Lanka: The Beaches and the Nights

Green Sea Turtle Regular

Chelonia mydas

The great grazing turtle of the tropics, the only sea turtle that turns vegetarian as an adult.

Where: The nesting beach, on the guided night watch from the visitor centre. Best: February to July, from 20:00. A genuine wild nesting beach with in situ nest protection, not a hatchery. Expect to wait, and expect no torches.

Leatherback Turtle Rare Vulnerable

Dermochelys coriacea

The largest turtle on Earth, a jellyfish hunter that dives deeper than most whales and crosses whole oceans.

Where: The nesting beach on the night watch. Best: January to June. The second commonest nester here, ahead of the olive ridley, and anyone who sees one has had an exceptional night.

Olive Ridley Turtle Occasional Vulnerable

Lepidochelys olivacea

The smallest and most numerous sea turtle, famous elsewhere for mass nestings of thousands at once.

Where: The nesting beach on the night watch. Best: December to January.

Saltwater Crocodile Rare

Crocodylus porosus

The largest living reptile and the ocean going giant of crocodiles, now virtually gone from Thai waters.

Where: The lagoon and the river mouth. Best: Year round.

Hawksbill Turtle Very rare Critically Endangered

Eretmochelys imbricata

The reef's sponge specialist, its beautiful shell also the reason it was hunted to the edge.

Where: The nesting beach, on the night watch. Best: February to July. Historically nested heavily on the south coast and was hunted out for tortoiseshell.

Loggerhead Turtle Ultra rare Vulnerable

Caretta caretta

Jaws powerful enough to crush a queen conch, and it navigates ocean basins by reading the earth's magnetic field.

Where: The nesting beach on the night watch. Best: November to April. If an operator claims routine loggerhead nesting, treat everything else they tell you sceptically.

Green Chromide Regular

Etroplus suratensis

One of only three cichlids in all of Asia, and the other two are its close relatives.

Where: Brackish lagoon shallows. Best: Year round.

Horn-eyed Ghost Crab Common

Ocypode ceratophthalmus

The fastest crab on earth, clocked at over two metres a second, and it growls at intruders from inside its burrow.

Where: The nesting beach itself after dark, and the reason many nests fail. Best: Year round. Ghost crabs take eggs and hatchlings, and the burrows scattered over the nesting beach are theirs. They are part of why the hatchery exists rather than a nuisance to be removed.

Green Sea Turtle Regular

Chelonia mydas

The great grazing turtle of the tropics, the only sea turtle that turns vegetarian as an adult.

Where: The beaches between Tangalle and Rekawa at night. Best: February to July. The same nesting coast as Rekawa, with less structure around it. Do not use white light on a nesting beach.

Leatherback Turtle Rare Vulnerable

Dermochelys coriacea

The largest turtle on Earth, a jellyfish hunter that dives deeper than most whales and crosses whole oceans.

Where: The beaches between Tangalle and Rekawa, coming ashore at night. Best: April to July. The largest turtle in the world and the least often seen. A nesting leatherback is a genuinely rare thing to witness.

Hawksbill Turtle Rare Critically Endangered

Eretmochelys imbricata

The reef's sponge specialist, its beautiful shell also the reason it was hunted to the edge.

Where: Offshore reef and rubble rather than the nesting beaches. Best: Year round.

Saltwater Crocodile Occasional

Crocodylus porosus

The largest living reptile and the ocean going giant of crocodiles, now virtually gone from Thai waters.

Where: The lagoon channels and the river mouths, more often than people expect. Best: Year round. A different and more dangerous animal than the mugger, and it is in the lagoons and the river mouths here.

Olive Ridley Turtle Occasional Vulnerable

Lepidochelys olivacea

The smallest and most numerous sea turtle, famous elsewhere for mass nestings of thousands at once.

Where: The nesting beaches. Best: December to January.

Green Chromide Regular

Etroplus suratensis

One of only three cichlids in all of Asia, and the other two are its close relatives.

Where: The Kalametiya and Rekawa lagoon systems. Best: Year round.

Great Thick-knee Occasional Near Threatened

Esacus recurvirostris

A heavy, huge-eyed shorebird that stands motionless on open shingle all day and only comes alive at dusk.

Where: Dry lagoon margins and the sand spits. Best: November to March.

Horn-eyed Ghost Crab Common

Ocypode ceratophthalmus

The fastest crab on earth, clocked at over two metres a second, and it growls at intruders from inside its burrow.

Where: The open sand at night, sprinting between burrows. Best: Year round, night. The crab that sprints past while you are waiting for a turtle.

Green Sea Turtle Common

Chelonia mydas

The great grazing turtle of the tropics, the only sea turtle that turns vegetarian as an adult.

Where: The shallow reef and the beach shallows, where turtles come in to be fed by hotels. Best: November to April. Turtles here are habituated and hand fed, which is why they are so easy to see. That is a fed animal, not a wild encounter, and it is worth knowing the difference.

Hawksbill Turtle Occasional Critically Endangered

Eretmochelys imbricata

The reef's sponge specialist, its beautiful shell also the reason it was hunted to the edge.

Where: Coral on the fringing reef. Best: November to April.

Olive Ridley Turtle Occasional Vulnerable

Lepidochelys olivacea

The smallest and most numerous sea turtle, famous elsewhere for mass nestings of thousands at once.

Where: Offshore water and occasionally over the reef. Best: Year round.

Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse Regular

Labroides dimidiatus

A tiny striped wrasse that runs the reef's health clinic, picking parasites from fish that queue up and even open their mouths for it.

Where: Cleaning stations on the larger coral heads. Best: November to April.

Moorish Idol Regular

Zanclus cornutus

An unmistakable disc of black, white and gold trailing a long ribbon fin, one of the most elegant fish on any reef.

Where: Fringing reef and rocky patches. Best: November to April.

Powder Blue Surgeonfish Regular

Acanthurus leucosternon

A stunning Andaman signature fish, powder blue with a yellow sail and a scalpel-sharp blade at the base of its tail.

Where: Grazing the shallow reef. Best: November to April.

Blacktip Reef Shark Rare Vulnerable

Carcharhinus melanopterus

The neat little reef shark of the shallows, its black-tipped fins often cutting the surface over sun-lit sand flats.

Where: The outer reef edge rather than the shallow flat. Best: November to April.

Indian Sailfin Tang Regular

Zebrasoma desjardinii

It raises a dorsal fin nearly as tall as its own body, and a startled one seems to double in size in front of you.

Where: Reef top and the boulder slopes. Best: November to April.

Hawksbill Turtle Regular Critically Endangered

Eretmochelys imbricata

The reef's sponge specialist, its beautiful shell also the reason it was hunted to the edge.

Where: Reef at Pigeon Island and off Nilaveli. Best: May to September. The single best place in Sri Lanka to see one.

Green Sea Turtle Regular

Chelonia mydas

The great grazing turtle of the tropics, the only sea turtle that turns vegetarian as an adult.

Where: Shallow reef and seagrass at Pigeon Island and Nilaveli. Best: May to September.

Loggerhead Turtle Rare Vulnerable

Caretta caretta

Jaws powerful enough to crush a queen conch, and it navigates ocean basins by reading the earth's magnetic field.

Where: Coastal water and reef edges, usually juveniles. Best: May to September.

Whale Shark Rare Endangered

Rhincodon typus

The biggest fish in the ocean, a spotted, bus sized filter feeder and the undisputed holy grail of tropical diving.

Where: Blue water beyond the reef. Best: May to September.

Reef Manta Ray Rare Vulnerable

Mobula alfredi

A four metre wingspan gliding overhead in slow, hypnotic loops that leave divers grinning for days.

Where: Deeper reef edges and cleaning stations. Best: May to September.

Black Pyramid Butterflyfish Regular

Hemitaurichthys zoster

They gather in the current in hundreds, and the white wedge on each flank turns the whole shoal into a drifting cloud of triangles.

Where: The drop-off edges off Pigeon Island and the Trincomalee canyon rim. Best: May to September.

Maldives Anemonefish Regular

Amphiprion nigripes

A clownfish found only in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the Lakshadweep, and nowhere else on earth.

Where: Anemones on the inner reef at Pigeon Island and off Nilaveli. Best: May to September.

Sebae Anemonefish Regular

Amphiprion sebae

The big dark anemonefish of the northern Indian Ocean, with a yellow tail that gives it away from a distance.

Where: Sand and rubble margins off Nilaveli and Pigeon Island. Best: May to September.

Green Sea Turtle Regular

Chelonia mydas

The great grazing turtle of the tropics, the only sea turtle that turns vegetarian as an adult.

Where: Bar Reef and the surrounding shallows. Best: November to April.

Hawksbill Turtle Occasional Critically Endangered

Eretmochelys imbricata

The reef's sponge specialist, its beautiful shell also the reason it was hunted to the edge.

Where: Bar Reef Marine Sanctuary. Best: November to April.

Blacktip Reef Shark Occasional Vulnerable

Carcharhinus melanopterus

The neat little reef shark of the shallows, its black-tipped fins often cutting the surface over sun-lit sand flats.

Where: Shallow reef and sand flats around Bar Reef. Best: November to April.

Olive Ridley Turtle Occasional Vulnerable

Lepidochelys olivacea

The smallest and most numerous sea turtle, famous elsewhere for mass nestings of thousands at once.

Where: Nesting beaches around Kandakuliya, and offshore. Best: November to March. Sri Lankan waters feed animals that nest at the Odisha arribadas in India.

Crab-plover Occasional

Dromas ardeola

The only bird in its family anywhere on earth, and the only wader that nests underground.

Where: Puttalam lagoon mudflats and the sand spits at low tide. Best: Nov-Mar. The most accessible site in the country. Flocks stand together on open sand at the tide edge.

Small Giant Clam Regular

Tridacna maxima

The electric blue and green lips are not pigment for show. They are farming light, and the clam gets most of its food from algae living in its own flesh.

Where: Shallow coral of Bar Reef. Best: November to April.

Yellowhead Butterflyfish Occasional

Chaetodon xanthocephalus

An Indian Ocean butterflyfish that pairs for life, and you almost never see one without the other close by.

Where: Bar Reef coral and rubble. Best: November to April.

Beaked Sea Snake Rare

Hydrophis schistosus

Drop for drop, one of the most venomous snakes in the sea, and it is responsible for most sea snake bites in Asia.

Where: Shallow water and the Puttalam lagoon approaches. Best: November to April.

Olive Ridley Turtle Occasional Vulnerable

Lepidochelys olivacea

The smallest and most numerous sea turtle, famous elsewhere for mass nestings of thousands at once.

Where: The park beaches between Okanda and Kumana, coming ashore at night. Best: October to March. The east coast nesting beaches are quieter and far less watched than the south coast ones.

Great Thick-knee Rare Near Threatened

Esacus recurvirostris

A heavy, huge-eyed shorebird that stands motionless on open shingle all day and only comes alive at dusk.

Where: Dry lagoon margins and open sand. Best: Year round.