Am I a Crazy Turtle Lady?

Have you ever wanted to be named Crazy Turtle lady? All my life, I’ve had a fascination with turtles of all kinds; it has always just been an interest of mine. Being named a crazy Turtle lady and having people literally yell out the word “Turtle” as you walk by has always been kind of comical to me. Recently, though, I’ve accomplished something big with sea turtles that only a handful of people in the world have done (if that), so now it feels like there’s nothing more appropriate to call me. 

A Green Dream Start in Hawaii

My life goal since 2020 has been to see all 7 species of sea turtles in person, and as of December 2025, I have accomplished this goal!

It all started when I was on a trip in Hawaii. I had never seen any sea turtles at this point, and I spent a couple of days basically manifesting all of them to come to me. It was near the end of my trip, and I saw a sea turtle poking its head out of the water, coming up for air. This was beyond exciting for me. Little did I know, though, that night would change my life and switch me from a normal turtle lover to the crazy kind.

My friends and I were thinking we wanted to visit a beach at night, so I picked a random beach and off we went. When I arrived, I saw a rock that looked odd, so I went to check it out, and there she was – a green sea turtle. As if that wasn’t spectacular enough, there were about 30 of them all lined up next to her, just sleeping peacefully on the beach.

I’m not sure how to describe the feeling I had when I first laid eyes on these giant reptiles. I suppose at first, I felt this rush of adrenaline that transformed into awe and then came emotional tears. It’s like stepping into a different world, and you get a sense of serenity. I knew shortly after this that I needed more, so then came some trip planning.

Hell for Leather with WorkingAbroad

I couldn’t figure out where to start. I knew nothing about them or if it was even possible to come in contact with any again. This is when I found a volunteer website where you can work with nesting sea turtles in Grenada, among many other places in the world, through WorkingAbroad online. This was it, I knew this was what I needed to do, and I had the epiphany to see all the species! 

I ended up working with the leatherback turtles in Grenada, and that experience was incredible. Not only do you get to be up close to them, but you’re working in and around them and helping the species with data collection to save their future. I ended up seeing 9 leatherbacks and a baby hatchling while there.

I also got really lucky and swam with a hawksbill turtle while snorkelling! That amazing feeling you get when you see them for the first time doesn’t fade; it’s like seeing them for the first time all over again. This has also been the case for all the sea turtles I’ve encountered since. 

Logging Sea Turtle Number Three

Next up, Florida! I had been following Sea Turtle Conservancy on Facebook for years so I knew exactly where I wanted to go to see Loggerhead turtles. I message them often, always asking if they know the best spots for chances to see turtles on any trips I go on and they are so helpful.

They have a place in Florida called Loggerhead Marinelife Center so I planned my entire trip around that and made sure I visited all the most popular nesting beaches around. No luck seeing a Loggerhead out in the wild but I did see many at the centre and that place was so inspiring so make sure you check it out!

Two more Riddles to Solve

I did another volunteer trip next to Costa Rica and this time I worked with Olive Ridley’s. If I thought I was lucky before, in this experience I got to see and work with 53 Olives (I call them). This was the hardest I’ve ever worked my whole life as you would go out and do an all night walk on the beach and during the day we had cleaning duties and were building a new hatchery for their eggs. I can’t believe something I’ve been a part of will be around for years to come!

Things got a little complicated after this, Kemps Ridley’s are only found in one spot in the world and are the most endangered. I spent a week in Texas on Padre Island just driving the beaches (and camping on them), just hoping for the best.

Coming from Canada, being able to drive and camp on a beach is a cool concept and was an experience in itself. This species was a tough one to track down and I only ended up seeing one in the tank of the Sea Turtle Inc. hospital, but this little guy (named Hang Ten) and I had a pretty special bonding moment while there. This was my favourite moment with a turtle yet. Yeah, I might be a little bizarre. 

It’s Impossible to feel Flat when Chasing your Dreams

With only 1 left to see (Flatbacks), and the fact that I’m just a bit older now (and a lot out of shape), it was hard to pick a spot to track these ones down. Flatbacks are another species who are endemic to a certain area – Western/North Australia only. I was excited to be able to visit this country, but it sounded like all the volunteer opportunities in this area were really hard work.

The best one I could find, with the most chances of seeing a turtle, you had to camp with the team on a deserted island for 2 weeks and work every night. It is hot there, you sleep in a tent, and you also take turns cooking meals all day. As hard as it was to do, this was a huge pass for me.

I did find an amazing lady though who ran a local volunteer program in Point Samson. After I told her my story, she had no issues letting me tag along with her crew on the beaches here and there. This was not a hugely popular area for the nesting turtles though, so I had to gather all the hopes and dreams and determination just for a small chance of getting a glimpse.  

I was in the best mood getting to Australia, I mean, this was the end of everything I had worked towards after all. Here, I had a very generous volunteer offer up a room in her home for me to stay in and she had a large pool in her yard. I was nervous about accomplishing my goal but stayed positive and spent my free time relaxing by the water.

One Last Turtley-Awesome push for my Dream

If I have had this much success so far with this journey and It’s all I’ve been thinking about, then surely the universe knows it and I don’t need to get all worked up about it. This was a good concept, except I was 4 days into my 7 day trip and I had worked 5 shifts with no luck seeing anything.

It wasn’t easy, but the coordinator gave me even more shifts so I could have more chances. Sure enough, to my surprise, my very next shift was my lucky day. I was on the beach, walking for hours but I had to use a washroom. There were no washrooms so I had to excuse myself and climb a sand dune.

As I was walking back, I noticed the entire crew were looking at me and smiling. Everyone was aware of why I was there and everyone was cheering for me. I asked why they wouldn’t stop looking at me and everyone at the same time pointed to the water. As I turned around, I knew in my mind what was happening, and I was jumping for joy before even laying eyes on this turtle.

What a sight it was, seeing that turtle coming out of the water and crawling up the sand. All of my experiences had been in the dark with red flashlights but this one, and on my last adventure, she decided to come out during the day for me to catch it all. I ended up ugly crying with joy and couldn’t contain myself enough to be a part of the surveying for this one so I just stood there and soaked it all in. This ended up being a really busy night and I saw 14 turtles total while there.

Was it all worth it for the Crazy Turtle Lady Crown?

It’s all a game of luck with these sea creatures, and it took a lot of planning, taking chances, and hard work to be able to accomplish what I have. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Every single step and every single moment!

To know that only a few people in the world have ever done this, is surreal. Am I the world’s biggest turtle fan? I might be. Do I have a house full of turtle decorations? I might. Plus, I have a pet tortoise, I have turtle decals on all my equipment and on my car. I also join all the 5k races Sea Turtle Conservancy and Sea Turtle Inc. run every year so I can help the turtles, but if I’m being honest those metals you get for doing the run really help and add to my collections. Does all this make me crazy? I’ll own it if it does.

***Shoutout to all the groups I have worked with during all of this. They’re all doing such great things for these species – who are all on the endangered list. I truly enjoyed my time with all the conservancy groups, visiting all the turtle hospitals, and seeing such great work being done on all the beaches to preserve them for the future.

Written by Nicole Milson