Turtle farm on our own

[M&T]

We are interested in cheap transportation to the turtle farm. I understand that they have butterflies and birds too. What is the standard admission without a tour of the place. I have looked at their site and don't see the price. Does the admission allow you to watch the feeding of birds and turtles or do you have to do a tour to see that? Thanks for the information. We will be there in January of 2013.

[bookbabe]

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

 

When they say tour, I don't think they mean a tour with a guide necessarily.

[M&T]

I have already been to their site. I don't see a price for admission.

[bookbabe]

I have already been to their site. I don't see a price for admission.

 

Click on the link at the bottom of that page (below the descriptions) that says Pricing...the prices you see are the admission prices based on what access it lists in the descriptions.

 

Those prices are the full day, go on your own prices for access to the park. If you're looking for a cheaper quick visit, sometimes various private tour operators negotiate a discount for people on one of their island tours, based on the assumption that the tour visitors will only be spending an hour or less just looking at the turtle tanks.

[jules1121]

So if you buy a ticket to the Turtle Farm, does anyone know how much a cab from the port cost? Is cab the best way to get there if you buy your own ticket?

[M&T]

It appears that the cost for admission is $45. I am shocked that it is that high. Some are suggesting taking the local bus for $2.

[jules1121]

It looks like that $45 includes quite a bit in it and considering it grand cayman (more expensive in general because it's an island ). I went there before as part of a carnival tour and the place was pretty nice enough I wouldn't min going back.

[ata1976]

If you book online there is a 20% discount. It shows on the checkout page and cruise ship passengers get free transportation. When we went a couple of years ago we were actually just told to see the rep on the pier for the carnival excursion and we rode the same bus as the carnival excursion. :D

[M&T]

Thanks for the encouragement.

[bandit68]

Most of your questions have been answered, but since we just did the turtle farm on our own I will give you the overview. The turtle farm has two admission prices $30 and $45 (a little cheaper for kids). The $30 gives you admission to the turtle breading area, touch tanks,preditor tank,etc. The $45 adds on the pool,slide,snorkle lagoon, etc. There is also 20% off when pre-paying via their web site. Most of the ships excursions combine the turtle farm with stingray city,hell, snorkle, etc. When you do these tours you usually get the $30 admission piece.

 

When you get off the ship there are many vendors holding signs for the turtle farm (and other places). They wanted anywhere from $30pp to $15pp for transportation to/from the turtle farm and this did not include admission (they do not always tell you this), their prices were negotiatable. Some of the vendors were signing ppl up then walking them over to a bus, some had their own vehicle. You can negotiate your pick up time with them.

 

 

As someone previously stated, you can pre-purchase tickets on their web site and your transportation is covered. We were not able to do this and instead took the bus, this is how we did it:

 

The bus station is about 3 blocks away, it is right across the street from the library (see google maps), if you can't find it then ask a local. The bus station is more like a parking lot with a booth, and the buses were vans with an orange sticker on the hood, you want the one that says WB on the sticker (West Bay), just ask at the booth. The buses are small and have mostly locals and few tourists riders. The only official stop for this route was the turtle farm, otherwise the driver honks the horn at people walking to see if you want to be picked up, or they just wave the bus down, it is all very casual. The drivers are friendly and the cost was $2.50pp each way (we also tipped). The bus runs every 15 minutes. For us the bus was a fun way to experience the island on our own without being on a crowded tour with set times.

[M&T]

Thanks, a very detailed response. I understand now.

[CruiseinNJ]

We just got back and did turtle farm on our own. We booked on line and bought the $45 excursion which included Botswains for 4 of us. There was a 20% discount by purchasing on line. (there is a foreign transaction fee on your credit card, which ran around $4-$5)

 

We got off the ship and went over to the information booth. Grand Cayman is one hour behind ship time, so when we arrived at Cayman Islands at 10:00, I was concerned that the internet said the late shuttle was 9:45 a.m. that we would miss it and need to take a taxi. Since there was the hour time difference, we were ok.

 

The woman at the info booth walked us over to one of the tours, and talked to the woman there. While we waited, the people who booked Carnival Turtles, Turtles, Turtles were at the same area. The woman told us we would go with this group, and just not have the wrist bands she gave out. We took the same shuttle bus as the Carnival excursions. When we got there, the guide told us to go inside to get our wrist bands. We showed our confirmation to the desk, and received our wrist bands. We then went back outside and joined the same Carnival group and had a guided tour of the Turtles area. We were given tickets to get back on the shuttle to return to the ship.

 

The only time we had anything different than what was purchased thru Carnival was not having a wrist band on during the bus ride. We ended up paying $36/pp (after discount) vs. the $49/pp Carnival charged for the exact same experience.

 

Hope this helps!

[M&T]

Thanks. That is very helpful. I have a question. This is what their site says you get for the $45. Did you not want to do these other experiences? Did you see these other areas? We went with a tour on our last trip and just did the turtles, and I didn't even see these other areas.

 

 

Turtle Adventure Tour (Entire Park)

 

The Adventure includes all of the Exploration features as well as:

 

• Turtle Lagoon - Swim in the lagoon with Green Sea Turtles and enjoy this wonderful experience. There are also little islands where peacocks live.
  
• Predator Reef - Watch sharks and other predators through the underwater or dry view panels. Don't miss out on feeding time!
  
• Caribbean Free Flight Aviary - Caribbean birds, including the Cayman Parrot fly freely in this large aviary.
  
• 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.
  
• Blue Hole Nature Trail - Stroll along this trail and view the beautiful nature that Cayman has to offer, iincluding the national flower and even butterflies.
  
• Cayman Street - Walk down this gravel street to view old Cayman architecture, featuring sand gardens and conch shells
  

[CruiseinNJ]

Thanks. That is very helpful. I have a question. This is what their site says you get for the $45. Did you not want to do these other experiences? Did you see these other areas? We went with a tour on our last trip and just did the turtles, and I didn't even see these other areas.

 

 

Turtle Adventure Tour (Entire Park)

 

The Adventure includes all of the Exploration features as well as:

 

• Turtle Lagoon - Swim in the lagoon with Green Sea Turtles and enjoy this wonderful experience. There are also little islands where peacocks live.
  
• Predator Reef - Watch sharks and other predators through the underwater or dry view panels. Don't miss out on feeding time!
  
• Caribbean Free Flight Aviary - Caribbean birds, including the Cayman Parrot fly freely in this large aviary.
  
• 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.
  
• Blue Hole Nature Trail - Stroll along this trail and view the beautiful nature that Cayman has to offer, iincluding the national flower and even butterflies.
  
• Cayman Street - Walk down this gravel street to view old Cayman architecture, featuring sand gardens and conch shells
  

 

All of this was available. I'm not a swimmer, so skipped the turtle lagoon. My girls went to the aviary and predator reef. I just hung at the Breakers lagoon. The last time we were in Grand Cayman (around 2005?) these areas did not exist - it was just the turtles. It has definitely built up since then. I'm not sure how long ago it was that you were there, but maybe that's why you didn't see these areas?

[funfamilyof6]

Thanks for all of the great information!!!

[M&T]

I bet that is why we didn't see the other area. Thanks.