We are very proud of our charity partner SEE Turtles for the fantastic work they do providing quality eco-tourism experiences that genuinely benefit the destination as much as the participants. SEE Turtles recently won the 2019 Changemakers Award from the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Eco-tourism can be a great way to explore new places while doing something good, but only if you pick your program carefully. Many of us have a drive, an instinct, to see pristine natural spaces, to go where not very many have gone before. We crave a vacation that gets us away from it all and away from other people. The irony is that as people, we can be the very problem we are trying to escape. Once we enter a pristine natural space, it is less pristine. Eco-tourism can be a way of seeing those astonishing places in a responsible way that helps rather than hurts them.
The key is finding the right eco-tourism provider, one you can trust to have the knowledge and the integrity to put the environment first. The Changemaker award recognizes that SEE Turtles has made real, impactful change through their work to promote sea turtle conservation with eco-tourism. This is the first year of the Changemaker award, so it is an incredible testament to SEE Turtles to be chosen for it.
SEE Turtles Is Going Places
Currently, SEE Turtles offers small group eco-tourism experiences in Central and South America to destinations including Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, Mexico, Columbia and Nicaragua. Participants will learn about the local ecosystems and conservation efforts with hands-on opportunities to help turtles. The itineraries include a fun mix of conservation activities, education and visits to beautiful places. While the schedule generally includes a little time to explore the urban areas, the trips really are all about doing good in nature. While participants should be over age eight, these experiences can be amazing family vacations for tweens and teens.
Their next trip, scheduled for December 2019, will take a maximum of 15 people to Costa Rica for eight days. Participants will help catch, weight and measure endangered hawksbill and green turtles, plant mangrove trees as part of a reforestation project to regenerate important habitats, and tour an organic chocolate farm as well as more standard tourist activities such as swimming in Gulfo Douce, shopping, exploring San Jose and looking for wildlife.
At Ocean Jewelry Store, we are incredibly proud to support SEE Turtles and the important work they do. If you feel as passionately as we do about protecting the ocean and the amazing creatures who call it home, SEE Turtles offers an unforgettable opportunity to do more than watch from a distance. You can be part of the solution, and if you choose SEE Turtles for your eco-tourism experience, you can be confident that your vacation is genuinely making a difference. And every time you make a purchase from Ocean, we’ll make donate one dollar to SEE Turtles, which will save ten turtle hatchlings.
Turtle jewelry would be the ideal gift for any turtle admirer!
