The Kosgoda Hatchery, a sea turtle conservatory and research centre in Bentota, is a pioneering conservation project and an immersive couple activity. It is Sri Lanka’s oldest turtle hatchery, going back to 1978. The area is the nesting grounds for five of the world’s seven endangered sea turtle species and is the most important turtle hatchery in Bentota.
Located 9 km from Bentota, this project uses volunteers and generous donors for its conservation efforts. The Turtle eggs are bought from the locals, who scour the beach area at night looking for nesting grounds.
The project started officially with the generous donation of Victor Hasselblad, the famous Swedish camera maker whose cameras were used during the moon landings, and with the effort and collaboration of several Sri Lankan conservationists.
The project’s success is attributed to the collaborations of the local villages and fishermen, who, in the past, would sell turtle eggs on the local markets but now sell them to the conservation centre. The eggs are sold to the conservation centre for protection from predators and poachers and buried in the sand for 50 days, the incubation period. Once the hatchlings come out into the world, they are cared for until it’s time to release them back into the ocean.
The Kosgoda area is a healthy nesting ground for Green, Leatherback, Olive Ridley, Hawksbill and Loggerhead Turtles. At the conservation centre, the volunteers bury the eggs of each species in incubation, and the baby hatchlings of these different species swim around in tanks at the centre before their journey back into the ocean. The volunteers do not release any injured or disabled babies who are kept and taken off at the centre, along with any rare albino turtles who would not have good survival chances in the ocean.
Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Centre
School Lane, Nape, Kosgoda
Open: Daily 9:00 am to 5:30 pm (Turtle releasing 6:30 pm)
Tel: +94717879928
Website: info@htrcc.info
Tickets 1000 for Adults (Prices current as of June 2024)