• Today we set off right after breakfast for the 45-minute drive to the Sandakan Pier where we board a speedboat for 1.5 hours voyage across the Sulu Sea to Selingan Island, also known as Turtle Island.

• On arrival we will check into beach chalets and enjoy a delicious lunch before taking the afternoon to swim, snorkel and discover the rich marine life on this remote island.

• Hawksbill Turtles and Green Turtles make the annual pilgrimage to Selingan in greater numbers every year, so successful is the conservation work being done here. While snorkeling, there’s a good chance of seeing these magnificent marine reptiles feeding along the reef and swimming like ballerinas as they surface for air and dive again in the crystal clear waters.

• After dinner there will be lessons on sea turtles and recovery efforts followed by a group candle circle on the beach.

• At some point during the night we will be called by the island’s Park Rangers to observe turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. It’s a slow sand digging, laying and burying ritual that each female goes through before making her way back to the sea. After the eggs are laid, they are removed from the nest burrow to a protected hatchery where they are re-buried in a place safe from predators.

• Selingan Island is one of he few places in the world where turtles lay eggs every night, consequently, there are baby turtles hatching out every night also. We will be able to not only watch the hatching process, but we will help release the turtles into the sea – a never to be forgotten experience!

Overnight: Selingan Island Park Chalets, Sulu Sea