Sea Turtle Bay 海龟湾

About Sea Turtle Bay

The Guangdong provincial forestry administration places the reserve where Daya Bay meets Honghai Bay, on the southern flank of Daxingshan at the southernmost point of the Gangkou seaside resort district, and describes it as the only national-level sea turtle nature reserve on China's 18,000 kilometres of mainland coastline and on the Asian continental shelf. Land and sea together come to about 18 square kilometres, of which roughly 2 are land and about 16 are sea. The reserve was set up in 1985, raised to provincial level in 1986 and upgraded to national level with State Council approval in 1992; it joined the China Biosphere Reserve Network in 1993 and was entered on the List of Wetlands of International Importance in 2002, one of only 64 such wetlands in China at the time of writing.

Its principal subject is the green turtle, listed as a national first-class protected animal. The administration records seven surviving sea turtle species worldwide, of which five occur in Chinese waters — green, hawksbill, loggerhead, Pacific ridley and leatherback — with the green turtle the most numerous and the other four now scarce. The reserve and the waters around it are habitat and feeding grounds for all five. Green turtles return through the breeding season from June to October to mate and lay eggs, and local people call the place Haiguiwan.

The nesting beach runs about 1,500 metres. The administration describes an original granite coast with hills on three sides and the sea on the fourth, sand grains between 0.05 and 0.2 millimetres across, and sea water meeting the Chinese Class I water quality standard, and counts more than 1,300 aquatic animal and plant species, among them sargassum beds and coral reefs that it says help purify the water. Separately, Huidong County's yearbook lists a Huizhou Sea Turtle Bay tourist area among the county's national AAA-grade tourist areas.

What to look for

• The nesting beach, about 1,500 metres long, which green turtles come ashore to use between June and October.
• The original granite coast, with hills on three sides and the sea on the fourth.
• Green turtles, the reserve's main subject and a national first-class protected animal.
• A nesting-beach lookout (产卵沙滩瞭望台) and a turtle-rearing centre (海龟驯养中心), both pictured on the reserve's own page.
• The sargassum beds and coral reefs that the forestry administration says help purify the water.

Location & getting there

Getting to Sea Turtle Bay

Check the open visitor route and follow the site’s rules on distance, food and photography. Conservation areas may limit access beyond designated paths.

• Search for 海龟湾 with 惠州市 and 惠东县.