When is turtle hatching season in Queensland?

Is watching the adorable tiny turtle hatchlings appear for the first time and make their mad dash to the sea on your bucket list?

The endangered loggerhead turtles of Mon Repos are a well-kept secret in Queensland’s beautiful Bundaberg region that has become a very popular holiday destination, and a tour offered by Travel at 60.

Turtles make for an exciting attraction at this, the only park-ranger-guided turtle experience on the east coast of Australia, and the largest turtle rookery in the South Pacific.

When do the turtles hatch?

Visit Bundaberg from November to January, and you’ll see mother turtles beginning this wonderous cycle, laying their eggs in the tranquility of the night.

But the real drawcard comes when these adorable sea creatures make their way into the world, breaking through their shells and crawling their way to the foamy sea between January to February.

So, what’s the deal?

For just $920 per person, this three-night Tilt Train & Turtles Getaway begins aboard Queensland Rail’s Tilt Train. Crawl into your comfortable train seat and sit back to relax 351km journey which takes just 4.5 hours.

You’ll take off from Roma Street Station and weave your way through the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, past Gympie and Maryborough before arriving in Bundaberg. Then, you’ll be met at the station and transferred to beautiful Bargara, a sleepy beachside village.

Of course, first, there’s an opportunity on the trip to visit the Bundaberg Rum Distillery and learn all about fermenting and distilling the well-renowned sweet rums that the town is so well known for. But the turtles at Mon Repos will certainly ensure you think of it as bigger and more important than rum alone.  Then, as the sun goes down, you’ll travel to the Mon Repos Turtle Centre where a National Park ranger will guide you onto the beach to experience the turtles laying their eggs between November and January.