Abstract
Background Sea turtle conservation sites can function as authentic learning environments, but educational visits frequently remain informal, knowledge-centred, and disconnected from sustained participation. This study developed and established the initial content validity of an experiential learning model for conservation-based educational tourism at Taman Beach, Pacitan, Indonesia. Methods An educational research-and-development study combined a preliminary needs assessment, document and literature analysis, field observation, stakeholder interviews, model design, and expert validation. Qualitative evidence was organised into six design needs. The resulting Orientation–Exploration–Practice–Reflection (OEPR) model was reviewed independently by experts in education, environmental education, and sea turtle conservation using five-point instruments covering syntax, social system, reaction principles, support system, model effects, model handbook, and facilitator guide. Scores were summarised as percentages, while written comments were analysed thematically and converted into revision decisions. Results The needs assessment identified fragmented visit sequences, mainly lecture-based interpretation, limited media, weak community coordination, no structured learner assessment, and no systematic follow-up. Eleven years of monitoring records contained 14,441 eggs and 11,892 hatchlings; annual hatching proportions varied substantially, reinforcing the need to connect education with authentic monitoring data. Expert validity was 98.33% for education, 96.94% for environmental education, and 98.24% for conservation. Reviewers retained the four-stage syntax but strengthened sense of place, inquiry, social–ecological analysis, authentic practice, standard operating procedures, safety, scaffolding, reflection, and action planning. Conclusions OEPR offers a coherent, place-based structure for transforming a conservation visit into an experiential and reflective learning cycle. The evidence supports content validity and readiness for feasibility and pilot testing, but not yet effectiveness. Subsequent studies should evaluate implementation fidelity, learner outcomes, and ecological safeguards with larger participant samples.