Turtle success at playa el Coco and la Flor

Below are images from our last visit to Playa el Coco and la Flor maritime park. Well, happy to say, we finally got to witness a turtle hatchling make its' way, safely to the ocean. We are so stoked about that! What made it more amazing is that Timothy, the 12 year old son of Elise's best friend, stumbled across the tiny turtle trying to dig it's way out of the sand within 30 seconds of stepping on the beach. Yeah, that's right within 30 seconds. Watching the newborn struggle on the beach made me appreciate adult turtles even more, considering how few of them actually make it to adulthood. 

   We loved our stay at the beach and still remark how few people we ever see there. On our last morning at Playa el Coco we believe we saw sharks eating an adult turtle in the shallow waters just off the beach from our house. Prior to rushing back to the house and getting my camera, the kids and I observed what appeared to be the the upper front right torso and flipper of the turtle bobbing in the water while sharks aggressively sloshed around it. It was a good lesson for the kids, experiencing the cycle of life and death, even though it was sad to see.  

Every sunset is magical.

Beautiful, wide, empty beach.

When mom and dad set down our drinks and decide to take a swim :) 

One of the rare family photos as I am usually the camera man.

Searching the shallows for animal life.

Sierra is not afraid to catch a crab.

The shimmering lights make the beach romantic at sunset.

Timothy playing the Hulk midst the picturesque lights of sunset.

Some of the damaged turtle eggs on display at the maritime park headquarters.

The maritime headquarters gathers eggs from the nest on the beach so they can be hatched and safely released in to the ocean. 

Our little guy that Timothy so quickly found.

We shinned a red light on the turtle so as to not confuse it.

A dead puffer fish laying on the beach.

Zoe surfing 

Elise enjoying some quite time on our hammock.

The morning cow strolls on the beach were neat to see.

Though the picture doesn't show much, this is what we believe to be a dead turtle with sharks chomping on it. We watched this for about 15 minutes to better understand what was happening.