"As of August, the incubation corral holds 926 nests with a total of 98,948 protected eggs," Veronica Sánchez, coordinator of the Sea Turtle Camp at Pueblo Bonito Resorts, said in a release dated August 25, 2026. "Of these, 86 nests have already hatched, allowing the release of 7,780 sea turtle hatchlings."
That leaves 840 nests that still had not hatched by late August. Those eggs are protected along the Pacific beach in front of Pueblo Bonito Pacifica and Sunset Beach, and also at El Médano in town. The headlines said 2026 was on pace for a record number of nests, but the summer only produced the count. For anyone with a terrace or a beach path on Quivira's shoreline, the season shows up as hatchlings in the weeks that follow.
The Record Pace Was a Count of Eggs
Pueblo Bonito has run its sea turtle protection and release program since 2003. Almost all of the work involves the olive ridley, which accounts for 99% of recorded nesting in Los Cabos. Here are the camp's monthly figures from the August release, comparing 2026 with the same windows in 2025:
| Window | Nests 2025 | Nests 2026 | Eggs 2025 | Eggs 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 15–30 | 53 | 53 | 5,374 | 5,863 |
| July 1–31 | 192 | 323 | 19,607 | 35,094 |
| August 1–17 | 363 | 550 | 38,621 | 57,991 |
June was flat. July and August account for the entire increase of 318 nests, which Sánchez put at 52.3%. She called July, August and September "the season's peak nesting period." The table stops at August 17, so those 550 August nests cover only part of the month, and none of September is in it yet.
The Gringo Gazette carried the same figures on August 25. It credited the favorable conditions during peak nesting for the jump.
Forty-Five Days Points Toward Fall
The release calendar runs weeks behind the nesting calendar, and the gap varies by season. According to Pueblo Bonito's conservation report, olive ridley hatchlings usually start coming out of the nest about 45 days after the eggs are collected. In the cooler winter months that can stretch to 75 days.
Apply that average to the table as a rough guide rather than a schedule. Nests from July would mostly fall due between mid-August and mid-September. The 550 nests collected from August 1 to 17 would fall due from around mid-September into early October. Anything collected after mid-August, including whatever September brought, would land in October or later, and the report says incubation can run longer in cooler months.
Last year shows the same pattern. In 2025, the camp released 88,668 hatchlings into the ocean in front of the Pacifica and Sunset Beach resorts, and the largest numbers went out in September and October. August was the top month for collecting nests that year as well. One older Pueblo Bonito article says releases "tend to occur in October and November." In 2026, July and August each brought far more nests than the year before. No 2026 release counts by month have been published yet, but last year's pattern and the 45-day average suggest a busy fall release calendar. The count from mid-August makes the backlog clear: of the 926 nests in the corral, only 86 had hatched.
Better conditions should also help after the turtles hatch. The 2025 report says lower temperatures and humidity after the rainy season raise survival rates. It recorded a hatching rate of 85.5% that year, against a 70% benchmark for success, and expected the rate to top 90% the following season.
Two Counts, Published a Week Apart
Pueblo Bonito's own blog post on the season, dated August 20, gives smaller figures. It reports 807 nests and 86,679 eggs as of August 17, with 63 nests hatched and 5,732 hatchlings released into the Pacific. It describes the increase as 53% over the same point in 2025. The press release that followed five days later has 926 nests and 98,948 eggs. Neither source explains the difference. Both show an increase of more than half over 2025, and both show that most nests still had not hatched in mid-August. The month-by-month comparison above comes from the later release.
Both counts cover more than one beach. The same August reporting describes a three-day surge on Médano Beach, near the Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos and Rosé resorts, when the team protected 105 nests holding 11,515 eggs. The team patrols more than five kilometers of beach day and night. For Quivira, the reliable local figure is still the 2025 result: last season's hatchlings were released in front of Pacifica and Sunset Beach.
How an Evening Release Runs
The 2026 release season started on August 10. Pueblo Bonito's current instructions describe each evening this way:
- Releases are held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Days and times can change with hatching activity and weather.
- A short talk on sea turtle conservation starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Sea Turtle Conservation Camp, with time for questions and photos.
- The hatchlings are released at about 6:45 p.m.
- Everything wraps up by 7:00 p.m.
- The release site is a five- to fifteen-minute walk along the beach, and a shuttle runs from the hotels.
The program is free. Last season, each release involved between 150 and 500 hatchlings, and the camp team used the time to explain how hands-on protection raises survival rates. Monday and Thursday are the only days without releases, so a week's plans can be built around the other five evenings.
Booking as an Owner Rather Than a Hotel Guest
The 2026 instructions are written for hotel guests, who reserve through concierge or their butler. The 2025 report shows participation reached beyond guests. Nearly 1,000 owners, residents and renters joined releases last year. The Turtle Camp manager organized them with the butlers and concierge teams at each property, using reservations, and sent details and flyers by email and WhatsApp.
Last season's guest numbers by property show that most of the activity happened in Quivira. Sunset Beach had 2,111 guests, Montecristo and Novaispania had 2,106, Pacífica had 1,275, and Rosé and Blanco had 88. The Gringo Gazette's August report says both guests and residents are invited. Even so, the current page does not say how a homeowner books, so the surest step is to ask the concierge desk at the nearest Pueblo Bonito property and get onto the WhatsApp list before a particular evening.
Quivira's October Calendar Around the Releases
The releases happen at dusk, which leaves mornings and afternoons free. Several other dated events inside Quivira fall this month.
Sunday, October 4. The Letty Coppel Foundation holds its fifth Charity Walk and Run starting at 7:00 a.m., hosted at Novaispania next to Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach. There is an inclusive 2-kilometer walk and an open 5-kilometer run. Sunday is also a scheduled release day, with the conservation talk at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, October 13, through Thursday, October 22. Quivira Golf Club's published 2026 aerification calendar has the course closed on Tuesday the 13th. It reopens at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday the 14th, and the greens are in recovery until Thursday the 22nd. The club says additional discounts apply during recovery and that playability and roll are not affected, although cosmetic marks may show. October is the last aerification month on the 2026 calendar, after July, August and September. A round on October 23 or later is on fully recovered greens.
Sundays, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Pueblo Bonito Pacifica's Pacific Lab Airstream runs a mixology session by the Constellation Pool. Reservations are required, and the operator says the schedule can change. It ends ninety minutes before the 6:30 p.m. conservation talk at the Sea Turtle Conservation Camp.
If you're watching this season from a home on Quivira's beachfront and want to talk through how the Pacifica and Sunset Beach shoreline fits into owning there, from the turtle corrals to the beach paths, I'm glad to help. My name is Jorge Gómez. Let's Connect.
