While on Grand Cayman, there are numerous attractions that are designed for both adults and children. One of them is the Cayman Turtle Centre in West Bay, near Seven Mile Beach. You can spend a couple hours there or all day, depending on how in-depth an experience you want to have.
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Grand Cayman Turtle Centre Facts
The Cayman Turtle Centre is open from 8 am to 5 pm every day. It offers turtle encounters in the turtle touch tanks, the opportunity to feed Green Sea Turtles in the Genesis Pond,
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How to get to the Cayman Turtle Centre
The Cayman Turtle Centre is a short shuttle ride away from Seven Mile Beach. Our resort, the Kimpton Seafire, was one of the stops for the free shuttle to and from the Cayman Turtle Centre. This made the excursion super convenient and cheap since we didn’t have a car and wouldn’t have to pay for a taxi.
How much does the Cayman Turtle Centre cost?
There are two options when you arrive at the Cayman Turtle Centre. Both are reasonably priced for this unique opportunity to interact with turtles up close and personal.
For the latest prices and information about the Cayman Turtle Centre, please visit their website.
Pro Tip: Look for 20% discount coupons at the airport
The Turtle Exploration Tour
The Turtle Exploration Tour is the basic entrance option. It is $18 for adults and $9 for children ages 5 through 12. Infants aged 0 through 4 are free.
The Turtle Exploration Tour includes:
- The Green’s Genesis Pond
- Turtle Touch Tanks
- Smiley’s Saltwater Lagoon
- Stingray’s Playground
- The Education Centre & Hatchery
- Schooner’s Bar and Grill
- Splash
You can also see a really big Cayman crocodile in his cage. “Smiley” is over 10 feet long and weighs over 300 pounds! There are feedings a few times a day, but we arrived too late to see that show.
Sadly, Smiley is only one of a few Cayman crocs remaining. The Cayman islands are named after these crocodiles.
The Turtle Adventure Tour
The Turtle Adventure Tour is the premium entrance fee, which provides access to everything in the Exploration package and a whole lot more. Adult admission is $45 and the child admission is $25.
Paying the extra money allows you to do everything included in the basic entrance fee, plus it provides access to a swimming pool with two slides, a pond where you can snorkel with turtles and fish, and an aviary where you can feed local birds.
We chose not to upgrade to this package because we didn’t want to spend the day in the water park. We decided to experience the turtles for a little while then head back to the hotel to enjoy all of the amenities there.
In addition to all that is included in the Exploration package, with the Adventure Tour, you also have access to:
- Turtle Lagoon
- Predator Reef
- Caribbean Free Flight Aviary
- Breaker’s Lagoon
- Blue Hole Nature Trail
- Cayman Street
I know we would have had a good time playing and going down the slides in the water park. And swimming & snorkeling with the turtles and fish in the lagoon would have been fun. But we used the $43 savings by not upgrading to splurge on a nice lunch back at the Kimpton Seafire Resort & Spa.
Can I touch the turtles at Cayman Turtle Centre?
Not only can you touch the turtles, there are several tanks where you can walk into knee-deep water and actually hold a turtle!
The best part of the basic admission is being able to step into the touch tanks and hold a turtle. Timmy and I both enjoyed this since he has never held a turtle before.
The tanks are fairly small… maybe 6 feet wide… so they limit the number of people in the tanks at any given time. Even factoring that in, we were able to spend as much time as we wanted in the tanks interacting with the turtles and watching them swim up close and personal.
The Education Centre and Hatchery
The education center shows a short film and offers a couple exhibits. There weren’t many people around when we visited the Cayman Turtle Centre, so we had the Education Centre all to ourselves.
Timmy thought it was funny to pretend to be a turtle.
The Bald Thoughts
When visiting Grand Cayman, the Cayman Turtle Centre is an excellent option for a budget-friendly experience that is pretty unique. You can see a huge Cayman crocodile, feed the large turtles, and hold small turtles. If your budget allows, you can upgrade your admission to be able to feed local birds, swim with turtles and fish, and have access a water park with a couple of fun slides. I highly recommend this family-friendly experience.
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