How to Swim with Sea Turtles in Peru Without Harming Them

Photo Credits: Alagua

In Organos, you’d have to be blind to miss the turtles that swim around the pier. Before you even get in the water, you can see almost a dozen bobbing around the water looking for food.

They lay their eggs around Organos and the neighboring beaches, right in front of hotels and residences, and rest nearby before they take off to the Galapagos Islands. You can watch the hatchlings sprout out of the sand and make their way to the shore every March.

With the abundance of wildlife here and the lack of restrictions, it also means that a lot of the tours operating tend to lean a little unsavory. When you get to the Organos pier, there are plenty of tour operators who run the pier like a Lima bus route. They don’t even leave the dock until they cram 20 or 30 people on their boat, many of whom can’t swim. They lure the turtles with snacks and let people grab them for selfies.

Peru is a developing country- there’s not even a hospital for several hours- so expecting American or European standards for the average tourist site here is naive at best. That said, that doesn’t mean you have to abstain or pick the unethical option!

Alagua: A responsible sea turtle tour operator

There are a few passionate local operators dedicated to ensuring tourists can experience local wildlife safely for both animals and people.

I chose a tour with Katerina, who runs the tour company Alagua, for this reason. Originally from Lima, Katerina has been working with whales and turtles in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru since she graduated from college with a degree in hospitality and tourism.

She offers private and small-group tours. I paid 80 soles for my reservation, and she has a great relationship with the local fishermen. I met her outside the pier with her daughter, her dog, and her mother in tow. Before we set out on the boat, we put on life jackets, and she explained why the green sea turtles came to the area and the other local wildlife, ranging from Orcas and Humpback whales to dolphins.

We got on the boat and went out looking for dolphins that the crew had seen earlier in the morning. It was too late in the morning, so we set out around 10 am, and we went back to the pier to the flotilla of turtles. While we were out, we discovered a stowaway who had snuck onto the boat earlier that morning.

Stowaways aren’t uncommon- stray cats and dogs are everywhere in Peru. Katerina said she had eight cats and four dogs she had rescued from the street, and a fifth dog she was eyeing to save. We shared the boat with another tour of two local women, one of whom had decided to adopt the stowaway kitten after it had crawled onto the boat during the night.

Before we got in the water, Katerina warned me of the long nails the turtles have on the front of their claws, should I get too close. While she preferred that I not make loud noises or touch the turtles, she said some of them were very social and would probably want to get close. They move quickly, and keeping calm in the water was crucial. We put on our snorkels and fins and hopped in.

She wasn’t wrong! Much to my chagrin, I broke the rules almost immediately—involuntarily gasping when the first turtle glided by and gently bumped my arm with its fin in water that had been unoccupied the second before. The turtles swam around us, underneath us, coming from all angles. It felt like being surrounded by an army. They were coming from every direction, silently and swiftly. One turtle in particular took a liking to me and followed me around. When I paused and treaded water, she swam circles around me.

While most tours were stuck in their own little territories in the water, we could swim freely around the pier. The currents were strong, so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you were a strong swimmer. Because of the competing currents, the water came in swells of alternating cold and hot. Looking for a pocket of warm water, we swam under the pier, and Katerina showed me the different species of snowcrabs living on the barnacles and wooden pillars.

We spent about an hour and a half in the water before I asked if we could go back to the boat (all the swimming made me tired!) Katerina was incredibly warm, engaging, and relaxed during our tour. She talked about the complexities of catering to local tourists in rural Northern Peru, many of whom have only an elementary school education, and in a country that is still developing much of its infrastructure. She was thoughtful about what was possible locally and what could benefit everyone, from the turtles to the local fishermen.

While there are many tours available in Northern Peru, I would highly recommend Katerina and Alagua for a truly local experience that takes animal wellbeing seriously.