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Transportation to Turtle Farm....


FLASHINGLIGHTS83
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We are trying to decide if we want to do the Turtle Farm through RC for 67$/pp, or on our own, for 45$/per adult and 25$/per child. I am trying to find our how much a taxi would be from the tender spot to the Turtle Farm, and how much a bus would be from the tender spot to the Turtle Farm?? Also roughly how long does it take to travel from the tender spot to the farm?

 

Also, if we do the 45$ ticket which includes everything, is it all do-able in one day? We are in GC from 7am-3:30pm.

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  • 4 weeks later...

My friends and I did it on our own when we were there a few years ago. We grabbed a taxi outside the cruise terminal. We stopped at Hell for about 20 min to get photos. I cant remember the cost to get out there with the stop. On the way home, we grabbed the bus for a couple of dollars (a white van actually lol). It was picked up across the street from the turtle farm and tt stopped about a block from the cruise terminal.

 

We did the snorkeling and fresh water beach, saw all the turtle tanks, hung out, had some drinks...we were there most of the day.

 

Enjoy the visit!

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We did the turtle farm on our own. You can get tickets online ahead of time and save some. They will refund them if your ship does not dock. We caught a taxi there and took the bus back. It was a great day and plenty to do there! I will say allow extra time for the ride back as traffic gets worse. We really enjoyed the turtle farm adults and kids!

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We did the turtle farm on our own. You can get tickets online ahead of time and save some. They will refund them if your ship does not dock. We caught a taxi there and took the bus back. It was a great day and plenty to do there! I will say allow extra time for the ride back as traffic gets worse. We really enjoyed the turtle farm adults and kids!

 

Is there swimming here? If so, how clear is the water?

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please do not put your hands into the turtle pools. I saw children doing this and there was turtle feces floating around. Danger!

 

Didn't see swimming at the actual farm. It contains many pools for different sized turtles that they raise.

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If you go with the higher-priced ($45/$25) "Adventure Tour" that the OP talks about, among other things there is:

 

Turtle Lagoon - Swim in the lagoon with Green Sea Turtles and enjoy this wonderful experience. There are also little islands where peacocks live.

 

Breaker’s Lagoon - This is the largest swimming pool on Cayman with two waterfalls and an underwater view of the predator tank.

 

Turtle Twister Waterslide - This slide at the Breaker's Lagoon is the only one on Cayman and features two loops and over 600 gallons of rushing water per minute.

 

Full details here: https://www.turtle.ky/tours-description

And the map: https://www.turtle.ky/turtle-Park-Map

 

 

These are essentially big pools, so I'd expect the clarity to be inline with a typical swimming pool.

 

I'm not sure how well this will work, but here is the satellite view from Google maps:

https://goo.gl/maps/wWPANSizSCP2

Edited by mikesteg
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Yes there is a snorkel lagoon you can swim in and also a huge pool area! The water in the lagoon was pretty clear though I didn't see too much. But enough to get a few underwater camera shots of some fish. The pool area is gorgeous with a slide and waterfall. My kids loved it. And as for the touch tanks of course you put your hands in them that's kind of the point! My girls touched and held turtles and also got in a bigger walk in tank with the turtles and held them there too. The park has a lot of hand washing stations around with signs to wash your hands after touching the turtles. So I don't think there's any "danger" lol! We had a great day there, my girls still talk about it!

Edited by LREcruise02
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I know this is a silly question.. but what is the difference between the $18 ticket and the $45 one? I have two 3 year olds -- and although there is no charge for them - is the $45 ticket worth it?

 

Twins?

 

https://www.turtle.ky/tours-description

 

The Adventure tour is the $45 price and it's a judgment call. I think we're going to do the adventure tour, but our kids our 6YO and will have a blast in the water areas.

 

The last time we were here the kids were 3-ish. We went to the turtle farm as part of a larger tour, so only spent ~45 minutes here. The kids had a blast and one of their biggest cruise memories is of me holding a mid-size (maybe 30 pound) turtle so they could "pet" it. That was part of the outside tour, but I believe it would be the equivalent of the $18 ticket now.

 

I'd say that it really depends how much your kids will get out of the water park area.

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Twins?

 

https://www.turtle.ky/tours-description

 

The Adventure tour is the $45 price and it's a judgment call. I think we're going to do the adventure tour, but our kids our 6YO and will have a blast in the water areas.

 

The last time we were here the kids were 3-ish. We went to the turtle farm as part of a larger tour, so only spent ~45 minutes here. The kids had a blast and one of their biggest cruise memories is of me holding a mid-size (maybe 30 pound) turtle so they could "pet" it. That was part of the outside tour, but I believe it would be the equivalent of the $18 ticket now.

 

I'd say that it really depends how much your kids will get out of the water park area.

 

lol - I'm still not use to saying twin girls...

They are at about 2 hours of attention span with one thing (zoo/parks)

 

They would really only like to swim -- if that's the only real difference, it may not be worth it. thanks

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lol - I'm still not use to saying twin girls...

They are at about 2 hours of attention span with one thing (zoo/parks)

 

They would really only like to swim -- if that's the only real difference, it may not be worth it. thanks

 

I interpret it as an attempt to provide a bit of the beach experience for people who would otherwise come and go in an hour. There is a bit of a zoo aspect also, with the aviary and predator reef, but that sounds like a 2-exhibit-zoo which probably gets 10 minutes of attention for 3YOs. Bad news though... it'll be 2 or 3 minutes of attention when they get older and are always rushing to the Next Thing. :eek:

 

For swimming, there is always 7 mile beach if you are OK with them being in the ocean.

Edited by mikesteg
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We are headed back there on our next cruise. We are traveling with friends on their first cruise so I know they will enjoy it.

 

If you book online you can save 20% on the $45 price. There are two nice pools. The freshwater one is a zero entry pool which would be good for little ones. There is a salt water pool for snorkeling also. Nice snack bar in addition to other things to tour besides turtles. We have a fairly short port time and plan to do this and shop for a little bit at port.

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Good tip. I saw the 20% off, but assumed it was just a gimmick. It totals to full price on the booking page, but knocks off the 20% when you get to the payment page. $28 saved for a family of 4... not too shabby.

 

Anybody know if that discount is normal for pre-paying online? We don't cruise until April and I'm not inclined to pay so far in advance.

 

Also, thank you for the info about fresh and salt water pools. I wasn't sure if the pools with be salt or fresh. The kids don't care, but DW will. Of course, she won't get it the pool with the turtles anyway.

 

Regarding the bus: does anybody know if they line up buses at the port? It seems like it could be quite a line if they truly run every 15 minutes while there are several hundred people coming ashore (per ship) in that time frame.

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I think the extra cost is worth it. The pool area is very nice and also they have a little kids gated and shaded play area right next to the pool area. My 4 year old enjoyed the pool and play area both.

 

And yes we did the online discount it is worth it. They had our name down and our wristbands all ready to go when we checked in. Also if your ship doesn't dock for some reason they will refund you. :)

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So my report is it was a fun time. Many tanks to view turtles of various sizes, and a small tank for kids to get in the water and hold small turtles. The higher cost admission includes the play area, a tank with a shark in it, an aviary, a salt water pool with turtles and fish you can snorkel in, and the swimming pool with a water slide. I think it was worth the cost.

 

As for the transportation to them. We got off, walked to the left 1 street, then down 2 blocks and next to the library was the main bus area. Just walked up to them, they asked where we were heading, and away we went. It IS THE PUBLIC BUS SYSTEM, so they stopped and picked up and dropped off other people. The cost was $2.50/per person each way. Definitely worth the extra research and doing it on our own....

 

Sent from my Droid Turbo

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  • 2 weeks later...

We did the smaller version because we did stingray city as well. I personally didn't find it that pretty it was just a bunch of turtles and some dinky little tanks. However, the kids are absolutely love touching and feeling and handling the turtles. They said it was one of the best things they have done. Their handwashing stations everywhere so no danger.

 

Going back in March it will probably go back to the turtles

Edited by Mirrasi
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It is a working farm, but my recollection is that they don't serve turtle dishes onsite. The website shows: "Prepared by our staff of experienced chefs, local selections include conch fritters and marinated conch appetizers, alongside shrimp, calamari, burgers and chicken favourites."

 

I don't think it would be good for business. I suspect most of the kids (and many of the adults) don't realize that they harvest the meat. If it were on th menu at the cafe I suspect they'd have fewer return visitors.

 

That said, I'd be surprised if you couldn't get it at other places on the island, and probably cheap. I haven't had any so don't know what the taste is.

 

No idea about the eggs either. Do you eat the whole thing (shell included) or just the usual part like with a chicken egg?

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The egg of sea turtle are soft. You open a small hole, put in some soya sauce and suck the whole thing in minus the shell. It taste gritty and sandy. Yum. Growing up eat so much of that now its extinction? Yet they can farm breed in the Caribbean.

 

When I went to Gatorland in Orlando, they do crock show and serve crock meat. I ate it and it taste and smell like swamp land.

Edited by chong67
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  • 2 months later...

A little late to the party but doing my research and found this option.

It is $48 for the full tour for $35 for the more limited one. Includes transportation if you don't want to worry about buses and taxis.

 

https://www.discountexcursions.com/grandcayman/turtle-farm-tour-snorkel-excursion

 

Looking into if if I end up booking my cruise this week.

 

I know this is an old thread but it comes up if you are searching about the turtle farm and others may find it useful.

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  • 5 months later...

Sorry to necro this thread, but for what I can see a cab for 4 ppl from the port to the turtle farm and back will set you back ~ $40. If you add ticket prices to that, makes it barely cheaper than cruise line. I'm one of those that use 3rd party tours when the price difference is >$75. If the price difference is less than that I use cruise line and forget about the hassle it is to coordinate on your own.

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