Turtles in Malaysia: an ethical guide to seeing them in the wild

Malaysia’s tropical location and its multiple islands mean one thing: plenty of marine ecosystems to observe, including sea turtles. Malaysia is home to four species of turtles: green, hawksbill, leatherback, and olive ridley. The most common ones are the green turtle and the hawksbill turtle. You can see them on several islands, but I chose to go to Selingan Turtle Island due to its ethical conservation practices. This island off the coast of Sabah (East Malaysia) allows you to see turtles in Malaysia laying eggs, and watch baby turtles find their way to the ocean and witness the swimming frenzy. 

It’s quite exciting to see turtles up close, but it’s also important to engage in responsible wildlife tourism to avoid harming them, which means no overcrowding, no flash photography, no loud noises, and absolutely no touching — and yes, this includes baby turtles. 

Here’s all the information you need to see turtles in Malaysia in an ethical and responsible manner. 

Ethical ways to see turtles

But first, why are turtles so important? Turtles are endangered, and some are even on the brink of extinction (like the leatherback and olive ridley). If they disappear, so will their whole ecosystem.

• Turtles are among the few animals that can feed on marine sponges. If turtles don’t eat them, marine sponges will overgrow, leading to damage to coral growth. 
• Turtles eat seagrass and jellyfish, controlling the population. Too much seagrass can lead to toxic mould, which kills marine life, and jellyfish can be harmful to fish and humans. Jellyfish can also reach the seafloor, where they suffocate marine life.
• Turtle eggshells provide nutrients to beach grass (which helps to prevent sand erosion) and to organisms living in sand.
• Turtle shells are a source of food as they carry algae and barnacles, which other sea organisms consume. 

Easy ways to engage in responsible turtle tourism 

• Don’t overcrowd, chase, or get too close to turtles, especially when they’re nesting or laying eggs, but even underwater. Overcrowding will stress them out. The recommended distance varies by country, but keep at least 5 metres (16.4 feet) distance as a general rule.
• Swimming close to sea turtles can be dangerous for them, as the chemicals from our sunscreen can cause health issues.
• Lower your voices and limit loud noises to avoid scaring the turtles.
• Never touch turtles. We can easily spread diseases to them with the bacteria on our hands. Conservation centres that allow you to release your own baby turtle, even if they’re in a bowl and you don’t directly touch them, are not practising responsible tourism. It’s illegal in many places to touch sea turtles (e.g. Mauritius, Hawaii).
• If you see a baby turtle heading to the beach, let it be. Don’t try to “help” it because baby turtles imprint on the beach where they hatched, returning to the same beach years later as adults to lay eggs. Touching them and moving them reduces their ability to imprint on the beach and also reduces their chances of survival.
• Don’t feed sea turtles. They have been feeding themselves for millions of years (they’re older than dinosaurs).
• If you’re taking photos, even underwater, use zoom lenses and turn off the flash.
• Don’t flash bright lights at turtles. If you need light to see them, use only red, amber, or orange LED headlamps or flashlights with a long-wavelength spectrum. White, blue, purple, green, and any bright light can disorient them.
• Don’t pay for activities that offer swimming with turtles. In fact, it’s illegal to swim with turtles in many places (e.g. Mauritius). If a turtle in water feels overcrowded, it will not surface and can drown. Turtles need to surface every few hours to breathe.
• This goes without saying, but please don’t litter. Don’t throw plastic, cigarette butts, or any other types of litter near the beach or in the water, as turtles and other marine animals can ingest them, blocking their digestive tracts.

If in doubt, the most important thing to remember is to avoid any close contact with turtles, including baby turtles. 

How to choose an ethical tour operator or conservation centre for turtles

• Check the centre’s partnerships and certificates.
• Request information about group size limits, rules for visitors, handling of eggs, their plans about releasing turtles, and turtle tanks and other living conditions if relevant. A truly ethical conservation centre will have processes in place to protect the turtles and will happily share them with the public. 
• Ask if the centre works with local communities, as the latter possess valuable ecosystem knowledge. Community-led programs and local voices tend to increase interest in conservation and lead to better initiatives that have a greater impact. 
• A common misconception about baby turtles is that they “need help to reach the ocean”. This greenwashing propaganda allows unethical conservation centres to charge visitors a fee to “release” their own baby turtle. Any conservation centre that allows visitors to do this activity should be avoided. 
• Avoid places that allow photo ops with the turtles.

Where to see turtles in Malaysia ethically: Pulau Selingan

You can see sea turtles in their natural habitat at various islands (“pulau”) in Malaysia, including Pulau Selingan in Sabah, at Turtle Beach on Pulau Perhentian, on Pulau Redang, Pulau Mabul, and Pulau Tioman. I only went to Pulau Selingan, so I can’t vouch for the other places, but I was happy to see Selingan engaging in real conservation efforts (more on that below).

Visiting Pulau Selingan to see turtles in Malaysia

Pulau Selingan is an island off the coast of Sabah, located in Borneo. 

Things to know about visiting Pulau Selingan

• Pulau Selingan belongs to the Sabah Park, a conservation entity. 
• This was the first turtle hatchery in Malaysia.
• There’s a small park fee to pay on the island, whether you’re Malaysian (about RM60) or a foreigner (about RM20). Bring cash.
• There’s also a smaller fee (about RM10) if you intend to take photos of the turtles.
• Video recording is NOT allowed, even with your phone, to protect the staff’s privacy.
• There’s no wifi or phone line on Selingan.
• You’re not allowed to wander the beach between sunset and sunrise, as this is when turtles tend to come to lay eggs, during the night.
• There are no day trips allowed to Selingan. You need to book at least 1 night there. 
• There is only one accommodation on Pulau Selingan. It’s simple but clean, and you will have a private room, bathroom, and clean towels.
• There’s a shared area with a restaurant and a tiny convenience store attached to it, but no other amenities on Selingan.
• Bring a water bottle so you can easily refill it on the island. Drinkable filtered water is available for free. 
• Travel light, especially for the boat ride. It’s a small speedboat.
• You can rent snorkel equipment, beach mats, beach towels, and life jackets on the island. 
• The meals are buffet style, and there’s a range of seafood, meat, vegetarian, and vegan options. It’s simple but delicious.
• There are limited spots available per night (I think around 40 people max), so make sure you book your trip to Selingan in advance. 
• It’s easier to book a package that offers airport pick up, boat ride, and drop off, from Sandakan (the closest town to Selingan on the mainland) to Selingan.

Here are the steps to get to Selingan:

1. Fly into the domestic airport at Sandakan from anywhere else in Malaysia. An alternative is to land in Kota Kinabalu (Sabah’s capital) and drive about 6 hours to Sandakan.
2. From Sandakan airport, you can drive to the small marina, or organise transport to pick you up from the airport.
3. The boat ride to Selingan takes about 45 minutes to an hour, and it was fairly calm. 
4. Upon arrival, you will check in and be shown to your room, with the itinerary explained.
5. After the trip, we took the boat back to Sandakan, and were dropped off at Sepilok for a brief stay to see the orangutans and sun bears, before we headed for a nature retreat by the Kinabatangan river for a few nights’ stay.

My experience seeing turtles in Malaysia at Pulau Selingan

We were picked up early from Sandakan airport and taken to the small marina where the boat would pick us up. After waiting for about 45 minutes or so for the boat, we reached Selingan around midday. 

The staff was quite quick in getting us settled, and were also kind and friendly. They gave us the itinerary for meal times, and explained that there’s, of course, no guarantee of seeing turtles nesting or baby turtles hatching, but if it does happen, it will be late at night.

The beach on Selingan is beautiful, and we spent the day exploring the small island. We saw many monitor lizards hiding in the bushes. After dinner, we watched an informative video about turtles, and everyone hung around the restaurant, playing cards and other games. It was quite lovely and felt like a little community. Around midnight, we were told a few turtles were getting ready to lay eggs, so we all ran to the location. 

A few turtles had dragged themselves up the beach and used their rear flippers to dig a hole for the eggs. This takes about 45 minutes. The staff checked to see if the one we were allowed to observe was a turtle that they had already been tracking, and it was not, so they took her measurements and tagged her. As she laid her eggs, the salt glands behind her eyes were working hard to eliminate the salt from her body, and this gave the impression that she was crying.

It was absolutely beautiful to see mama turtles lay eggs, and the staff gave us instructions on how to observe in a responsible manner, such as turning off our flashlights, keeping our voices low, keeping distance, and not touching any turtles. 

Unfortunately, many people didn’t follow the instructions, and the staff got a bit overwhelmed trying to get people to respect the rules. Most people were being loud, shining their light on the turtles to take photos, and walking carelessly in the area. We were all also way too close to the nesting turtles; any one of us could have easily reached out to touch them. 

I think a much smaller number of people should be allowed on the island daily, and those who don’t respect the rules should be asked to leave the nesting area immediately. 

After about an hour, the staff collected the eggs (around 70) carefully as the mother turtle laid them, and afterwards brought them to the “nursing” area, where they were gently buried in the sand. Around the same time at the nursery, we started seeing baby turtles hatching from another hole. The staff went over to collect them, wrote down information about each of them, and instructed us to NOT touch any of the babies.

They were placed in a basket, and we followed the staff out to the beach and sat down in a semi-circle as they released the babies. The baby turtles made their way to the beach and started the “swimming frenzy” as they hit the water.

During this moment, we were given explanations about the conservation efforts, and why burying the eggs might seem like they were disrupting nature, but it allowed more eggs to survive predators like the monitor lizards and birds.

All in all, it was a memorable experience, and all the rules in place pointed towards a truly conservative effort, though I wish the staff had been stricter about the rules and the people breaking the rules. 

Best time of the year to see turtles in Malaysia

The best time to see turtles in Malaysia depends on which island you’re visiting, as Malaysia has different rainy seasons depending on location. The general consensus for the best time of the year to see turtles is between April and September. 

On Selingan, the best time to see hawksbill turtles is February to April, while for green turtles it’s between June and September-October. We were in Selingan in June and saw green turtles.

The driest months with the calmest sea to visit Selingan are between March and July. 

Turtles in Malaysia: FAQs

• Where can you see turtles in Malaysia?

You can see turtles in Malaysia on various islands, such as Selingan island, Tioman, Perentian, Redang, and Mabul. Selingan’s conservation efforts towards protecting sea turtles is done responsibly, as they don’t allow human interaction with the turtles.

• Where can you release baby turtles?

Releasing baby turtles is prohibited in many places because we should not interact with or touch turtles, as this can spread diseases or cause disorientation. Unfortunately, many places around the world still allow tourists to release their own baby turtles, but this is slowly getting banned as more people become aware of the harm it causes to turtles.