Mon Repos Turtle Centre, Mon Repos Conservation Park

Lunch was made by the beautiful Toni and by golly was it good! $20ish for burger and chips and WAY better than any pub meal we have had. Our 2yr also ate her zucchini slice which dad and I happily finished. There was a large screen showing informative clips of turtle conservation and up close photos/videos of turtles hatching which was great.

It’s a nice place but has some issues. They have everyone arrive at once regardless of the group you are already put into so it’s a massive slow (30-40 mins both times I’ve been) queue. Groups are based on first come first serve via booking date. If you’re group 4 or 5 (there’s 5 groups per night) chances are you’re going to be waiting around for hours and hours if you get to see anything at all because each time a nest on the beach has activity they take a group down so group 5 would only go if there has already been 4 hatchings or birthings on the beach THAT NIGHT. First time I went I was group 1 and we got lucky and saw a clutch hatching which was really great. The guides are lovely albeit not entirely professional, but they are volunteers so is to be expected. Groups are a little large so it’s crowded. The centre provides entertainment for about an hour until you’re just sitting about airport style. Also the cafe takes a very long time with orders, so long that we had to abandon our food to go on the tour, but they did keep it warm for our return. The second time we came we booked a week after release (for a Saturday) and got in group 2. So make sure you book very early if you can.

Amazing!!! 10/10 recommend!! We got to see two big loggerhead mamas- one up close and personal and one from afar. Our guides were wonderful and very knowledgeable (shout out to Grant🩷🐢) We saw our mama lay her eggs, (around 127!) we even got to touch a few. We waited until she was finished and followed her back to the ocean. Overall we had a magical experience, and we learnt a lot about the turtles in (and out of) the region. We spent around four hours between arrival and departure- probably an hour and a bit on the beach with turtles. Would recommend bringing good shoes for the sand dunes, some snacks, and a refillable water bottle for the journey. Maybe even a book while waiting (since it can be a bit until the turtles have been spotted).

We just had a beautiful experience seeing at least 100 endangered baby turtles emerge from their sandy nest at sunset. Thank you for trying to save them. The next step is getting rid of plastic from the sea which is killing them.