Best places to dive with Green sea turtle

Con Dao is Vietnam's most important green turtle rookery — roughly 400-900 nesting females a year across 18 beaches covering about 24 hectares, with Bay Canh the main site. Nesting peaks May to October, though the park reports some nesting year-round. Note the headline experience is a beach-based, ranger-led night-time nesting and hatchling-release programme on Bay Canh, not a dive. Underwater, turtles are seen on reef dives at Bay Canh and Hon Cau but are not guaranteed. Park rangers have assisted over 21,000 nests since 1995 at a hatching rate above 80%, releasing about 150,000 hatchlings a year.

The most reliable animal in the region. Redang's Chagar Hutang beach records roughly 700–1,700 green and hawksbill nests a year, monitored by Universiti Malaysia Terengganu's SEATRU since 1993, with green turtles the large majority — 385 green nests to 20 hawksbill in one recent season. Nesting peaks May–July, and turtles are seen on reef dives and in the shallows throughout the March–October season. Chagar Hutang itself is a closed sanctuary beach, not a dive site. Boat strikes are a live problem: the Redang Marine Conservation Group logged more than ten propeller deaths in a single season.

Resident on the reef and in the lagoons. The park's islands are documented nesting grounds for sea turtles, and the islands are staffed only by rotating park rangers, which keeps nesting beaches undisturbed.

Resident on Ari's reefs, but not equally frequent at every site.

Turtles are commonly reported on the Atauro reefs and boat dives year-round. No nesting-season data was found for Atauro, so no monthly peak is coded.

Resident on Baa's reefs and house reefs year-round, not monsoon-dependent.

The most common turtle on Bonaire; reliably seen year-round, especially around Salt Pier and shallow reefs.

The signature Bunaken encounter; green turtles are seen on most dives, with counts of ten or more in an hour reported on the Lekuan walls.

Green turtles are resident around reef and seagrass habitat.

The signature Apo Island encounter; green turtles graze the shallows and are seen on nearly every dive around the sanctuary, with 60-plus individuals documented.

Green turtles are on most dives across the archipelago, which holds Indonesia's largest nesting population — around 15,000 clutches a year. Monitoring recorded a mean of about 584 nesting emergences a month on Sangalaki against about 21 on Derawan. Beach nesting is higher May to October and lower November to April, but in-water sightings do not follow that pattern. Numbers remain well below historic levels: Sangalaki has averaged about 57% of 1995-2000 nesting and Derawan about 26% of its 1985-1990 baseline.

Green turtles are common on the reef, in the passes and over the lagoon coral gardens year-round. The most frequently seen turtle here.

Resident, common across central and northern sites.

Resident and one of the two main draws; seen on the majority of dives across all three islands year-round, with no meaningful seasonal variation.

Green turtles are resident, but individual dives vary.

Green turtles are resident around reefs and seagrass habitat.

Green turtles are resident around Kauaʻi reefs. Maintain NOAA's recommended separation.

Resident year-round, with Siaba Besar ('Turtle Bay') the site operators name for reliable green turtles on a shallow sandy-bottomed check dive. Also reported at Karang Makassar. No seasonality documented.

Green turtles are resident around lava reefs and resting areas. Keep distance and never block a surfacing animal.

On the coral slopes at The Valley, The Tunnel, Crack Reef and Wrasse Strip. Consistently listed across site descriptions.

Commonly seen on the Lighthouse Reef walls year-round. Half Moon Caye is a documented nesting site, with nesting in the summer season (roughly June-November).

Green turtles are resident on the reef system.

Seen on most dives around Mabul and Kapalai, including at cleaning stations on Panglima Reef and Ribbon Valley and resting under the jetty structures. No seasonal pattern. Present year-round; operators report nesting roughly April to September peaking around August, so numbers in the water lift modestly then — not enough, and not well enough sourced, to code a month override.

Present year-round around reefs and seagrass, but not equally likely at every site.

Possible in suitable habitat; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

Green turtles are resident on Maui reefs. NOAA recommends giving turtles at least 10 feet of space.

Reliable on most reef and shore dives, including the Panagsama house reef and Pescador; frequently seen on the same dives as the sardine baitball.

Resident year-round, grazing the seagrass beds at Mersa Bareika in Ras Mohammed and seen across the reefs.

Recorded regularly on survey dives across the Nusa Penida MPA through the year. Most often seen resting or grazing on the north-coast reefs and at Mangrove Point.

Green turtles are resident around Oʻahu reefs and wrecks. NOAA separation guidance applies.

Present year-round and at high density around Balicasag, where turtles feed on the seagrass and coral shelves at Divers Heaven and Cathedral. Multiple animals on a single dive is normal. The same turtles are the target of a snorkelling operation that reviewers describe as dozens of tourists following a handful of animals — divers generally see them in better conditions early in the morning.

Green turtles are regularly seen over the shallow reefs and seagrass around both main islands during the operating season. They are a realistic trip highlight, but sightings are not guaranteed on every dive.

Resident and commonly seen across the Ribbon Reefs year-round, including at Lighthouse Bommie, Dynamite Pass and Flare Point. Not seasonal.

Green turtles are resident around the island's reefs and seagrass habitat.

Seen on every Sipadan dive in high numbers; mate and nest around the island. Sipadan is closed each November.

Reported alongside hawksbills at Tangkaan Point and at the Santa Sofia turtle sanctuary south of Padre Burgos.

Regular on the shallow reefs and at Turtle Ledge, often grazing on the reef flat.

Green turtles are regularly reported on shallow reefs including Renggis, but no Tioman-wide monthly encounter series is available.

Green turtles are a common reef sighting at Tofo, usually large.

Common on the reefs and walls; Tubbataha is an important nesting and foraging area, and turtles are seen on most days.

Green turtles are resident around Utila reefs and seagrass.

Turtles are regularly seen on the reefs and House Reef throughout the year.

Green turtles may be encountered on reef slopes and feeding areas, but no Addu-wide encounter rate was found.

Green turtles may occur across seagrass and reef habitats.

Common on Bali reefs and around the Nusa Penida sites; often resting on coral or feeding on the shallows.

Green turtles may be encountered on Bangka reefs year-round, but they are not as central to the trip as they are in nearby Bunaken.

Green turtles may be encountered on reef dives.

Possible in suitable habitat; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

Possible in the region; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

Possible in suitable habitat; no unsupported peak is applied.

Possible throughout the operating year; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

Green turtles use the national park's reef and seagrass habitats. No dive-sighting peak is supported.

Seen year-round around the rocks and at cleaning stations such as Dirty Rock. Hawksbills are also reported but less often.

Turtles are seen occasionally around the wrecks, most often on the Irako and the Japanese freighter, but they are a bonus rather than a reliable feature.

Regular reef encounter with no defensible month-level peak applied.

Possible in suitable habitat; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

Possible in suitable habitat; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

Possible in suitable habitat; no unsupported peak is applied.

Possible in suitable habitat; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

Turtles are seen occasionally, most often on the Koh Rang National Park reefs; not guaranteed on any dive.

Resident on shallow reefs; regularly seen at Shark Bay, Aow Leuk and Hin Wong, grazing on seagrass and coral.

Possible in suitable habitat; no unsupported peak is applied.

Possible in the region; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

Seen on the reef and at Gato through the year.

Recorded in conservation surveys and around reef habitat, without a dive-sighting season.

Green turtles may occur on Nassau reefs.

Possible throughout the operating year; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

On the walls and reefs year-round.

Green turtles turn up on the reefs alongside the more frequent hawksbills, though in smaller numbers.

Possible in suitable habitat; no unsupported monthly peak is applied.

Commonly seen year-round, especially at Cape Mansuar and Sauwandarek Jetty, though not guaranteed on every dive.

Documented in Romblon Passage conservation work and reported at sanctuary reefs. No dive-sighting peak is established.