Only minor and solitary nesting has been recorded along the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico. This is the only sea turtle that can nest successfully outside of the tropics, but the summer surface water temperature must be over 20 C. As with other sea turtles, females return to lay their eggs on or near the same beach where they hatched. Unlike other sea turtles, courtship and mating usually do not take place near the nesting beach, but rather along the migration routes between feeding and breeding grounds. The eggs incubate in the sand for 55 to 62 days. The incubation period is longer when the weather is cool, and there is evidence that cooler incubation temperatures produce more male hatchlings.
Hatchlings emerge from the nest mostly at night.
After the majority of the hatchlings appear at the surface of the nest, they start a frenzied race toward the surf and out to sea. During this period, young turtles float on rafts of seaweed with the currents, feeding on organisms associated with sargassum mats.