Nature at Scala dei Turchi: plants, loggerhead turtles and coastal birds

Scala dei Turchi is also a site in the European Natura 2000 network of protected areas: the Site of Community Importance ITA040015 "Scala dei Turchi", 30 hectares, proposed in 2012, which protects dunes, patches of juniper and wild orchids. Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) nest on the surrounding coast, and the waters of Realmonte are rated excellent. Here is what to know and how to behave.

What does the Natura 2000 site protect?

The official site record, updated in 2022, lists dune habitats, the vegetation that grows along the strandline where the sea leaves debris, coastal shrubland, juniper scrub and pseudo-steppe. Among the species recorded:

• relict patches of juniper, Juniperus turbinata;
• three orchids, Ophrys calliantha, Ophrys oxyrrhynchos and Anacamptis pyramidalis;
• Romulea ramiflora and Scorzonera deliciosa.

On the sand, the pioneer plants range from sea rocket (Cakile maritima) near the water to marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) further inland. The record also describes marl cliffs, clay badlands and "practically inaccessible" sandy beaches. The site is land only: we found no protected marine site in front of the cliff.

Birds and seabed: what lives further west?

The data on birds and the seabed cover the coast further west. The Natura 2000 site running from Torre Salsa to Capo Bianco and the mouth of the Platani river (ITA040003) is a stopover for many migrating birds in spring and autumn; the species listed in its record include the kingfisher, the stone-curlew and the black-winged stilt. Off the reserve, the marine site "Fondali di Torre Salsa" (ITA040016) protects sandbanks and Posidonia seagrass meadows, with bottlenose dolphins and loggerhead turtles. Access and trails are on our page on Torre Salsa.

Where do loggerhead turtles nest?

The Natura 2000 record for Torre Salsa and Capo Bianco, the coast that runs as far as Eraclea Minoa, lists the loggerhead among the species that breed on the site, and WWF documented nests on the reserve beach in 2015 and 2017. In Realmonte, according to BlogSicilia, a turtle laid 125 eggs at Lido Kaeso on the night of 28 May 2024, and 117 hatchlings reached the sea. In 2025 there was a nest at Lido Majata, near the Scala, according to Balarm citing the association Mareamico. For 2026 we found no data on nests in the area.

The egg-laying documented here runs from late May to late July, and according to WWF the eggs hatch after about 50 to 60 days. If you are on the beach:

• if you see a turtle or its tracks in the sand, don't disturb it;
• don't shine lights at it: at night artificial light disorients the hatchlings;
• alert the Coast Guard or WWF;
• respect fenced-off nests.

Is the water clean?

According to the Portale Acque, the Italian Ministry of Health's bathing water portal, all of Realmonte's bathing waters are rated excellent in 2026, with six samples within limits, the last on 15 September. The portal has no sampling point called Scala dei Turchi: the nearest are Punta Grande and Lido Rossello. The rating measures microbiological quality and does not say where swimming is allowed: for that, read our guide to the beach.

How should you behave?

• Don't take away pieces of marl: the municipality bans it.
• Stay on the paths and don't trample the dune plants.
• Take your rubbish back with you.
• In the Torre Salsa reserve the regulations also ban removing sand and rocks, picking plants, disturbing nests and eggs, camping and lighting fires.

All the rules for visiting the Scala are on our page on the visiting rules; why the cliff is white and fragile is explained in our guide to the geology.