Giant marine turtles are truly one of nature's most moving miracles throughout their life cycles - babies hatch from beach sands and endure a frantic rush to the ocean before being devoured by ravenous, swooping sea birds, growing up in the ocean, then the females instinctively finding their way by back thousands of kilometres to their birth beaches to lay eggs, thus keeping this amazing cycle in motion. And  Central America's Pacific beaches - including those of Guatemala - are among the world's premier regions to witness this eco miracle on both ends, both the hatching and the egg laying.

Here the action happens a roughly three-hour drive from capital Guatemala City (as well as lovely colonial Antigua) in the Pacific coast beach town of Monterrico, its fetching black-sand beaches (above) and kicky waves popular with surfers and swimmers but also known for its beachfront Tortugario Monterrico, a 40-year-old, university-run facility devoted to the nurturing and protection of endangered olive ridley, leatherback, and green sea turtles., as well as alligators, crocodiles, and iguanas.

Read more my postAstonishing Sea Turtle Spotting in Guatemala.