Grand Cayman Turtle Farm Questions

[jana616]

We will be sailing on the Wonder in October, and are trying to finalize our excursions (planning to book privately, not through DCL). We have 3 kids (ages 9, 7, and turning 4 on our trip) and they are obsessed with turtles. We just got three baby map turtles at home, and my DH is a vet. We are animal people. I was thinking the turtle farm would be a clear winner for us (my other option was the stingrays, but I think my younger two will be too nervous in the water). With that said, I have three questions.

1) I have read complaints of people saying the farm was boring, or not worth the time. I am assuming these people did just the farm experience, and not the full package where you get to snorkel with the turtles and the water park, etc. If anyone has done the full package, was it worth it? I think my kids will like all the other stuff (they love reptiles, birds, etc), but I would love to hear from someone that the whole park was worth spending our day there. Or is the front part of the park enough?

2) We are there on a Sunday. How difficult will it be to find transport there, and then back to the port? I've read Sundays are a lot trickier.

3) I've read conflicting things on trip advisor about how old you need to be to hold the turtles. My youngest is fearless, and will absolutely want to climb in the tank and hold them too. At a few days shy of 4, will she be allowed to?

Thanks!!

 

[jkatzz]

We were ther last time we went to the Carmen's and made a Hugh mistake. Our mistake was that we did the dolphins with it and should have just spent the day at the turtle park. I can guarantee that your 4 year old will love it. We didn't see most of it. We had lunch there and opinion was very jealous of the people who were snorkeling near by. It is great we can't wait till we get to go again. My daughter was able to pick up the turtles in the tank. She loved it!

 

[jburge12000]

My kids were 9 and 6 when we went to the turtle farm and they still talk about it. We did the excursion with DCL for the all day visit so they provided transportation, its called the Boatswain's Adventure Marine Park in the Port Adventures, not sure why they call it something different but its the Turtle Farm all day. They let little kids in with the baby turtles and hold them. I saw a mother in with a little boy that could not have been more then 2.The only turtles they would not let the kids hold were the slightly older turtles that were about the length from my elbow to my finger tips, those the adults only could reach into that tank and pick up for the kids.

I also read a lot of negative reviews of the turtle farm and most of them came from people that did the tours that only stop for a few minutes and you hold the turtle and then on your way. When we first arrived and they finish a little orientation they take you to the turtle tanks. All of those tours were their at that time as well making the stop and it was really crowded. After about 30 minutes all of the tours left and the place was empty, at one point my kids only had 2 other kids in the turtle tank with them. I was really surprised at how much we could do besides the turtles. The bird aviary was actually one of our highlights as you got to feed all kinds of different birds and they would either walk up to you or land on your arms. Bring cash since you have to pay for the bird food. None of the tours go that far back into the park and our family had the aviary to ourselves. My kids also really liked that the large iguanas were everywhere you looked. The snorkeling was only OK. My son is fearless but my daughter gets scared when we snorkel. She did ok since the water was as clear as a swimming pool and no waves. Not a lot of fish to see, and all of the turtles we found huddled together next to one of the filters next to the plexiglass that separates the shark tank. That was very cool to snorkel up to the glass to look at the sharks. My kids spent so much time in the aviary with the birds and twice in the baby turtle tank that we never even made it over to the waterslides.

 

[DahliaRW]

My kids were 9, 6, and 4 when we went and they LOVED it. I do recommend booking through a company that provides a guided tour at the farm so you can actually learn about the sea turtles. The people with negative reviews usually go themselves, and then complain there wasn't much to do.

Yes, you can spend a whole day there. We had a half day port of call (got to the turtle farm noonish, left 4ish) and wish we'd had more time. As it was, we did the turtle farm tour, lunch, and the snorkeling lagoon (which was awesome). Then we got showered/dressed and did the nature trail area with the birds and such. It was fantastic. We didn't have time to get to the pool, so if you have more time you can work that in too. But I'd do the lagoon first.

 

[RhondaInMA]

We took our granddaughters ages 10 and 8 for their third time this past May. We all love the turtle farm. We try to spread our time out so we can see and do everything. We spend most of the time swimming in the pool and lagoon. They keep making improvements to the park.. like adding the water slide at the pool and more chairs etc... We never have enough time to do what we want to do.