When do the turtles lay thieir eggs? I heard that they sometimes lay their eggs on the shores of TB. Are they protected in any way? I hear people like eating them.

We've only once seen evidence of one nesting on our Billy's Bay section. I inquired and was told it would be three years or more before the baby turtle survivors made their way back.
Meanwhile, we took a palm branch and obliterated the tracks, hoping to make it less likely that the buried eggs would be found at eaten. I'd urge anyone else finding such tracks to do the same. They're unmistakeable: Mama turtle drags herself inland with her flippers; digs a hole with her rear flippers and deposits dozens of eggs, covers the nest-hole over and than drags herself back. Looks as though someone had rowed a small boat up from the wet beach inland and then back. She manages to hide the nest itself fairly well, but can't obliterate her own tracks. A little human help at that chore will improve the survival rate.

What the turtle egg gestation period is I do not know but I understand that, traditionally, eggs hatch around full moon in November - I've actually seen evidence of this.

Much as I'd like to, I do not want to reveal the beaches where turtles lay - I witnessed once many carcasses of slaughtered female turtles, on a nearby beach, caught and killed whilst on their reproductive mission. Best to keep quiet about locations if this helps to preserve turtles and I hope everyone agrees.

That is sad. Is there any laws such as the one for lobsters when they are breeding for example?
You are right, I think, to keep quiet about location. The problem is, the people that did the slaughtering know the location already! The people who would keep an eye out for the interest of the species do not.

I agree the locations should be a secret!
You are soo lucky to have seen this happen!
Such a shame humans could be soo evil to nature like that.
I was in Zakynthos an island off the coast of Greece where the Logger head turtles are protected, parts of the beaches are fenced off to keep people off the areas where they have layed their eggs.
Turtles are fantastic i do hope they come back.
Thank-you Don for doing your bit to help them :-)

Trutle hatching ,begains july-october ,some do runs ln the frist part of november.Turtles eggs highly nutritious ,about the same rating as caviar ,but not the same in tast .After trying boil turtle eggs i decide to stick to chicken eggs -and seeing the meat moves about in the dish pan hours after being kill , decide to stick to winkles-curry winkles and white rice cook with coconut milk ,mamameya!.Capturing(turning)turtles is a dangerous processor.Turtle a protected species for about the past thirty years.Turtle meat national dish of the Cayman Islands .The farm also a tourist attraction, own by the government.exporting of turtle meat one of the Island income,turtles in wild are protected. website www.turtle.ky

According to info at
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/sea_turtles.php

the gestation is 6-10 weeks depending on species

interestingly it can take up to a week for the baby turtles to dig themselves out of the nest after hatching!

In a perfect world, we would use this experience as an example and education for our children. We would watch in amazement at this wonder. Educating people about the situation would not eliminate poaching, but may lessen it. I understand the need to make money, and the sometimes desperate situations create desperate acts. But I feel most of the abuse may be for selfish reasons, such as filling ones stomach with tasty stuff. We need more farmers and less hunters. We need to survive today, but plan on tomorrow. Boy, I'll tell you, I am coming there in a week. (Yippee). If I were to run across a nest I would cancel my return flight and just camp out until the babies waddled out to the sea. Really! Hey, I am self employed, what am I going to do, fire myself? I try to live by a writing by Michael Josephson titled 'What Will Matter.'
What Uncle Peter wrote about the slaughter is horrific.

I saw them nesting this year but am reluctant to say where. We saw the turtle tracks coming up on the beach and the mounds where the eggs were and we were then lucky enough to see them hatch and head out to sea months later. We also covered the tracks so they wouldn't be found.