Paying for a family to ride the bus to the Turtle Farm

We are a family of 5 planning to take the bus to/from the Turtle Farm next week. Anyone know if I need to plan on each of us having $2.50 in cash for each leg, or can I use larger bills and just pay $12.50 at once?

Pay as you get off the bus. No problem to pay for your entire group at once with larger bills. Do not expect US$ in change.

$12.50 each way will do it. Whoever is "in charge" can pay for the group.

$12.50 each way will do it. Whoever is "in charge" can pay for the group.

What happens if the person that is NOT "in charge" pays?? :eek:

Reporting back....the buses were totally easy to find and ride. We just handed the driver the full amount for us and our 3 kids when we got off at the turtle farm. For the ride back, a taxi driver offered to take us back to the port for the same $2.50 pp rate, so we took him up on the offer.

hi there we are going to be in GC on wednesday. i was wondering if you remember which bus you took and the cost of turtle farm ? :) TIA !!!!!!

We just did the Turtle Exploration Tour. It was $18 for anyone over 12 and $9 for ages 5 to 12. We paid in cash. We didn't feel the need to pay extra for the Turtle Adventure Tour ($45/$25). To see the differences in what is included in each tour, check out the Turtle Farm's website: https://www.turtle.ky/. If you choose to do the Adventure Tour, you should pre-buy your tickets online to save 20%. I could of pre-bought my tickets (no online savings for the Exploration Tour), but I chose not too since sometimes the port stop in Grand Cayman is canceled since it is a Tender Port. Even though they will refund your money if your ship doesn't stop there, I didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting a refund if that situation occurred.

I did a bunch of research about bus numbers, routes, etc. before going on our cruise, but in the end that didn't matter. We exited the port on to Harbour Dr. Just to the right was Fort Street. We walked up Fort Street for about a block. You will see the Library straight ahead and there were a ton of vans lined up. They just asked us where we wanted to go. We said the "Turtle Farm" and they told us to get right in. I can't copy/paste the map picture I have, but you can use Google Maps to see it.

We just did the Turtle Exploration Tour. It was $18 for anyone over 12 and $9 for ages 5 to 12. We paid in cash. We didn't feel the need to pay extra for the Turtle Adventure Tour ($45/$25). To see the differences in what is included in each tour, check out the Turtle Farm's website: https://www.turtle.ky/. If you choose to do the Adventure Tour, you should pre-buy your tickets online to save 20%. I could of pre-bought my tickets (no online savings for the Exploration Tour), but I chose not too since sometimes the port stop in Grand Cayman is canceled since it is a Tender Port. Even though they will refund your money if your ship doesn't stop there, I didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting a refund if that situation occurred.

 

I did a bunch of research about bus numbers, routes, etc. before going on our cruise, but in the end that didn't matter. We exited the port on to Harbour Dr. Just to the right was Fort Street. We walked up Fort Street for about a block. You will see the Library straight ahead and there were a ton of vans lined up. They just asked us where we wanted to go. We said the "Turtle Farm" and they told us to get right in. I can't copy/paste the map picture I have, but you can use Google Maps to see it.

So were the vans the busses or were they taxis? We are thinking of doing this as well. Can I ask what time your ship anchored and what time you had to be back? That is my main concern is the traffic on the island and making sure to get back in time for the tender to the ship. We will either be 2 adults or 4 if our friends decide to go as well. We will most likely do the one with the swim with the turtles so curious as to how this all worked.

We just did the Turtle Exploration Tour. It was $18 for anyone over 12 and $9 for ages 5 to 12. We paid in cash. We didn't feel the need to pay extra for the Turtle Adventure Tour ($45/$25). To see the differences in what is included in each tour, check out the Turtle Farm's website: https://www.turtle.ky/. If you choose to do the Adventure Tour, you should pre-buy your tickets online to save 20%. I could of pre-bought my tickets (no online savings for the Exploration Tour), but I chose not too since sometimes the port stop in Grand Cayman is canceled since it is a Tender Port. Even though they will refund your money if your ship doesn't stop there, I didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting a refund if that situation occurred.

 

I did a bunch of research about bus numbers, routes, etc. before going on our cruise, but in the end that didn't matter. We exited the port on to Harbour Dr. Just to the right was Fort Street. We walked up Fort Street for about a block. You will see the Library straight ahead and there were a ton of vans lined up. They just asked us where we wanted to go. We said the "Turtle Farm" and they told us to get right in. I can't copy/paste the map picture I have, but you can use Google Maps to see it.

Were you happy with the tour? I'm considering the Adventure tour with my family, but not sure if I can justify the cost. With the Exploration Tour were you able to handle the turtles at all or just look at them? Thank you!

Were you happy with the tour? I'm considering the Adventure tour with my family, but not sure if I can justify the cost. With the Exploration Tour were you able to handle the turtles at all or just look at them? Thank you!

I was happy with just doing the Adventure Tour. By not coming as part of a group tour, it is just a self-guided tour. After looking at the big turtles, we got to hold the yearlings. I will note that at the 1st yearling tank, Turtle Farm employees will hand you each a turtle to hold and then insist on taking a group picture and not let you use your own camera. They then proceed to try to overcharge you for the pictures. We declined and then moved on to the next spot right next to that tank where we were able to climb in the tank and pick up the turtles and hold them. The key for us was to go early before the group tours arrived. We got to spend a ton of time in the tank with the turtles with no wait. When we were leaving, there was a big long line. Since it is self-guided, you could choose to just head to the back to the yearling tanks first.

I was happy with just doing the Adventure Tour. By not coming as part of a group tour, it is just a self-guided tour. After looking at the big turtles, we got to hold the yearlings. I will note that at the 1st yearling tank, Turtle Farm employees will hand you each a turtle to hold and then insist on taking a group picture and not let you use your own camera. They then proceed to try to overcharge you for the pictures. We declined and then moved on to the next spot right next to that tank where we were able to climb in the tank and pick up the turtles and hold them. The key for us was to go early before the group tours arrived. We got to spend a ton of time in the tank with the turtles with no wait. When we were leaving, there was a big long line. Since it is self-guided, you could choose to just head to the back to the yearling tanks first.

Thanks so much for your response! I'll definitely take that information into account!

and catching the bus back? doable? where do you catch it?

The bus back can be caught on the road right in front of the Turtle Farm. Cayman generally does not have formal bus stops, so just wave down a passing bus anywhere along the road. Any passing bus, regardless of direction, goes back to the bus depot in George Town.

Cayman's buses are actually large passenger vans that seat about 15-17 passengers. Routes are colour coded with a large numeral designating the route. IIRC the West Bay Routes are #1 and #2.

and catching the bus back? doable? where do you catch it?

What the above poster said. Another possibility if you go first thing in the morning like we did is that a taxi will offer to take you back to the port for the same price as the bus. They would rather go back to the port with fee paying riders than empty to pick up more cruise passengers to go to the beach.