The leatherback turtle : an ancient giant
The leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) is the world's largest living reptile. It is also the deepest-diving, the widest-ranging, and the oldest evolutionary lineage among sea turtles — a lineage that stretches back over 100 million years. To be in the presence of one is to stand before living prehistory.
What makes the leatherback biologically unique among sea turtles is its shell — or rather, the absence of a hard one. Instead of bony scutes, it has a flexible, leathery carapace embedded with thousands of tiny bone fragments, giving it the oil-drum-like ridged appearance that makes it unmistakable. This soft shell allows it to dive to extraordinary depths — over 1,200 meters — in pursuit of jellyfish, its primary food.
Each nesting female makes the crossing from Canadian or European waters — where she feeds during summer — all the way to the beaches of the southern Caribbean and French Guiana, a migration of thousands of kilometers. She returns to the same beach where she was born, guided by the Earth's magnetic field in one of the most remarkable navigational feats in the animal kingdom.
Why French Guiana matters
French Guiana is home to one of the most significant leatherback nesting aggregations in the Atlantic. The beach at Awala-Yalimapo — on the remote northwestern coast near the Suriname border — was once considered the site of the world's largest leatherback population, at its peak accounting for an estimated 40% of all global leatherback nesting.
Three species of sea turtle nest on French Guiana's beaches every year:
Leatherback
The star of Awala-Yalimapo. Up to 800kg, no hard shell, nests April–July. Critically endangered.
Olive ridley
More numerous, lighter (~50kg). Nests April–August, primarily on eastern beaches near Cayenne.
Green turtle
Mid-size, fully herbivorous. Present throughout the season on both eastern and western beaches.
The nesting season : when to come
The leatherback nesting season peaks between April and July, with May and June being the months of highest activity. Egg hatching — when the hatchlings emerge and race for the ocean — occurs primarily in July and August, providing a second spectacular event to witness.
Nesting occurs at night, typically around high tide. Turtles are most active in the 1–2 hours either side of high tide. A local guide will track the tide schedule and position you correctly — this dramatically increases your chances of a close encounter.
Where to go : Awala-Yalimapo and Plage des Hattes
The best site for leatherback observation is Plage des Hattes at Awala-Yalimapo — a 5km beach on the northwestern coast of French Guiana, protected within the Réserve Naturelle Nationale de l'Amana. The village of Awala-Yalimapo is an Amerindian Kali'na community that has lived alongside these turtles for centuries.
Naturalists consistently prefer Awala over the closer beaches near Cayenne (Rémire-Montjoly) for one reason: it is wilder, quieter, and more emotionally powerful. Less infrastructure, less crowd, more silence. The experience at Awala is more immersive, more authentic, and — when the turtles come — more overwhelming.
Getting to Awala-Yalimapo
What a night on the beach looks like
You arrive at the beach after sunset and wait. The local guide reads the sand — tracks, the direction of the tide — and positions you. There is no sound except the ocean. Then you see the silhouette: a massive dark shape in the surf, pulling forward with her front flippers, pausing, breathing heavily.
You move silently, staying behind her and out of her field of vision. Once she begins digging her nest — using her rear flippers with astonishing precision and delicacy — she enters a state of focused concentration. You can approach closer. You watch as 70–90 ping-pong-ball-sized eggs fall into the hole she has excavated. Her breathing deepens, audible in the silence. Then she covers the nest, disguises it, and begins the long journey back to the sea.
The whole process takes 1–2 hours. Those who have witnessed it almost universally describe it as one of the most moving wildlife encounters of their lives. There is something about the scale, the ancient ritual, the vulnerability — a massive prehistoric animal trusting the beach with the continuation of her species — that bypasses language.
The observation rules : non-negotiable
Leatherback turtles are critically endangered. The rules below are not suggestions — they are the conditions that make responsible wildlife watching possible. The Kwata Association and the Amana Nature Reserve enforce them on all beaches.
Rules for turtle observation
- No white light of any kind — no flashlights, no phone screens, no camera flash. Red-filtered lights only. Turtles are disoriented by white light and will abort nesting.
- Stay behind the turtle at all times — never in her field of vision, never in front of her.
- Do not touch the turtle — under any circumstances.
- Complete silence during observation.
- Do not disturb the nest, do not help hatchlings reach the sea — both interfere with natural selection.
- Dogs on leash at all times on nesting beaches.
- Keep group size small — a local guide will manage this.
Photography note: you can photograph leatherbacks without flash — using high ISO in available moonlight produces the most atmospheric images anyway. A 50mm or short telephoto at f/1.8–2.8 and ISO 3200–6400 will capture the scene beautifully without disturbing the animal. Leave the wide-angle at the hotel.
A conservation crisis : the truth about what's happening
French Guiana's leatherback population is in a state of dramatic collapse. This needs to be said clearly, because it changes the nature of what witnessing these turtles means.
The SWOT Report 2026 — State of the World's Sea Turtles
The Maroni Estuary — which includes the beach at Awala-Yalimapo — once hosted what was considered the world's largest leatherback nesting population, at its peak accounting for an estimated 40% of all global Atlantic leatherback nesting.
Since the early 2010s, nesting numbers have declined by an estimated 99%. The primary driver is illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing — gillnets deployed directly across the turtles' migratory route in front of the nesting beaches. Leatherbacks cannot maneuver around these nets. They become entangled, exhaust themselves, and drown.
The Kawana hatchery, established in 2023 by the Kwata Association at Awala-Yalimapo, now protects leatherback nests from terrestrial threats. Conservation organizations including WWF Guianas are pushing for enforcement of fishing exclusion zones around the nesting beaches.
Every leatherback you see at Awala today is a survivor of this crisis — and witnessing one is no longer simply a wildlife experience. It is an encounter with a species fighting for its existence. The fact that they still come, still make this extraordinary journey, still trust this beach — is both humbling and urgent.
Where to stay at Awala-Yalimapo
Accommodation options
Stay at least two nights. Turtles don't follow a schedule. Some nights yield multiple encounters within an hour; others require patience. Two nights gives you two chances, and the village itself — the Kali'na culture, the food, the dawn birdsong — is worth the stay in its own right.
See leatherback turtles
as part of a greater journey.
Our Maroni & Turtles package combines a night at Awala-Yalimapo during peak nesting season with a pirogue journey on the Maroni river and the rainforest of Kaw — the wild west of French Guiana in one trip.