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A nature lover's dream: David Whitley discovers a different kind of beach break at the northern tip of Grenada, birthing place of the the awe-inspiring leatherback turtle.

You don’t have to veer too far from the tourist enclave in the south-west of Grenada to discover an island with a natural beauty that goes well beyond the white-sand Caribbean stereotype. By taking a gamble and staying at a small, basic resort on the Atlantic Coast, it’s possible to look at beaches in a whole different way. And that starts with the turtles…

Levera Beach by moonlight

The light of the full moon offers just enough illumination to show the trail in the sand. It could be mistaken for tyre tracks were it not coming straight out of the sea. It’s just after midnight on Levera Beach, and the turtle has come back to her birthplace to lay her eggs.

The leatherback turtle is a truly remarkable creature. For a start, it’s absolutely huge, looking like a crocodile if it was stretched to the width of a dining table. Apparently the average mamma that comes to Levera is five feet long, while the feckless male that swanned off after getting her pregnant is twice the size.

Their sense of direction is even more incredible. Tagged leatherbacks have been spotted thousands of miles away, near African beaches or off the coast of Canada. Yet when it’s time to give birth, they’ll come back to where they first broke through their egg. That’s some GPS.

Endangered leatherbacks

One of those prodigal daughters awaits us when the small party from the Paradise Bay Resort arrives in the dark. The official tour went home an hour ago, unaware that most of the turtles come after 11.30pm. The only people there to greet her are volunteers from Ocean Spirits, here to monitor the births, protect the newly-laid eggs and tag the turtles for future research. Ocean Spirits is a Grenada-based organisation that aims to protect the turtle population and it is largely staffed by young volunteers from overseas wanting to do something completely different with their holiday.

The leatherback is on the critically endangered list, largely due to poaching. In many places – Grenada included - the turtle is considered something of a delicacy. Punishments for stealing eggs have recently been ramped up to two years’ imprisonment and a large fine, but that doesn’t stop turtle cropping up on restaurant menus or being sold surreptitiously on market stalls. The Ocean Spirits guys tolerate us – they’ve struck up a good relationship with Paradise Bay’s owner, James, and know he’s not going to turn it into a circus.

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