Sea Shells and Turtle Farm Questions

[JmzandJojo]

I'm so excited about booking my 2nd cruise! I was wondering about the avaliability of sea shells. Those beautiful conch shells specifically. Can you purchase them? Can you dive for them? Do they serve conch in any resturants?

 

Secondly I'd love to hear from anyone who has visited the turtle farm. Was it worth the visit? Is there a gift shop?

 

Anyone visit the butterfly farm? Tell me about it?

[drew sailbum]

Conch is a protected species, with a closed season outlined in the Cayman Marine Law. A per person and/or per boat catch limit is in place as well. Designated Replenishment Zones are closed year round.

 

Generally, you may collect conch in accordance with the Marine Law provisions using snorkelling equipment. No marine life may be taken with the use of scuba gear.

 

Conch fritters are a popular appetizer in many restaurants in Cayman.

[bruce-r]

ISecondly I'd love to hear from anyone who has visited the turtle farm. Was it worth the visit? Is there a gift shop?

You should be aware that the Turtle farm is just that, a farm where turtles are raised as a consumable product. Yes, they do release a few turtles back into the ocean, but the numbers of turtles released has fallen quite a bit in the past few years. The majority of the turtles there are raised for meat. I'm definitely not saying you shouldn't go there, but just trying to inform you to the actual purpose of the place. If you want to see and touch turtles, that is the place to do it. Be sure to check the turtle farm web site for more information.

[SeaTeach]

I visited the turtle farm about 4 years ago (pre a few major storms). At that time a gift shop was up and running. They even served a sampling of turtle soup, which I DID NOT TASTE. Educationally, the tour was really worth it.

[twinkletoes4445]

The new turtle farm has a huge gift shop, but the day we were there, the place was packed. We'd been to the old one (a few years ago), and since we were in GC for the week, we drove over to see what the new one looked like. We didn't do the tour and see the turtles...we'd done that before.

[CaesarsNcruisin4me]

Hi there! Personally I did not enjoy the turtle farm but here are some photos that we took while at Turtle farm in November 2005. Heres the link: http://community.webshots.com/album/552826247zQZZJz

 

We only stayed for about a half hour at the farm though as the condition of how the turtles were kept was quite sad. There were way too many turtles in the tanks and they had no room to swim without being on top of each other. Some of them even looked like they were dead. At the touch area many people were placing the turtles on their backs and laughing as they struggled to flip over. We left the park at this point. Of course, this behavior reflects the people visiting the farm that day and not the farm itself. It wasn't what I was expecting and I did not enjoy the farm. This is just my opinion. Personally I hated it but the kids enjoyed parts of it. Plus it was very crowded when we were there! That being said, there was talk when we were there that they were in the midst of expanding the tanks at the farm so hopefully the conditions have since changed. There was a small restaurant and a very large gift shop on site. Its definitely not a full day excursion though so if you do go to the farm then you will still have lots of time to do something else.

 

I hope this helps. Good luck and Happy Cruising!

 

Sandie

[Jeremy19]

We were there end of June this year. I have a 12 year old aspiring Marine Biologist who absolutely loved it. We had a great time at the farm. Yes, it is a farm, yes they are raised mainly for consumption, etc.... But if you have any interested in sea turtles and have children, it is a good stop. One of the main reasons we enjoyed it so much was because we had a great guide. There were just 5 of us and we were on a private tour through Shoretrips. Our guide stopped at the Turtle farm and took us in and did the tour for us. She was as knowledgeable as anyone who could have worked there, in fact, the workers there all knew her. Her name was Matlee. She knew everything about the turtles, answered all our questions, etc. She took us around to all the tanks, yes many were crowded but they were clean and well kept. She took out a small turtle for us to hold, taking time to tell us how to hold it without harming it and how to properly put it back into the water. Then she took out a larger one for us and let my husband hold it as it was quite heavy. I did not see anyone mistreating the turtles while we were there. In fact, Matlee was the only one taking any out of a tank while we were there. They are working on expanding the facility to include a snorkle tank where you will eventually be able to snorkle with some turtles and they are adding other things as well. The gift shop was Ok, we only pretty much walked through it as we mainly take photos for our souveniers, but the shop was nice. It was crowded. I guess we were there for about an hour but I am not exactly sure. I would definitely go back and if we do, I plan on giving Matlee a call to take us around again.

 

Lynn

Woodstock, Ga