Cayman Turtle Centre: Island Wildlife Encounter

Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre (CTCEC) is a first-of-its-kind conservation organization that has been saving endangered sea turtles since 1968, but it’s also a place for wild island fun, too. As the Centre raises Green sea turtles, visitors spend some time with the majestic giants who are helping keep their species from extinction. During breeding season from April to Sept, sharp-eyed visitors may spot a nest where a female laid her eggs the night before. Eggs are collected each morning and carefully moved to the Turtle Hatchery, where a professional animal care team and veterinarians keep a careful eye on them until they hatch. Visitors to the Education Center may see baby turtles flip-flopping their way out of their nest, a sight that’s impossible to forget. The hatchlings are cared for until they’re big and strong enough to be released into the brilliant aquamarine waters of the Cayman Islands. Guests fall in love with sea turtles as they snorkel alongside last year’s hatchlings, and especially if they’re lucky enough to attend a release, cheering on a sea turtle as it marches into its ancestral sea from a soft white Cayman beach. The Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre is a global innovator in sea turtle conservation and breeding, raising and releasing more than 34,000 turtles since 1980 without taking eggs from the wild. Its harvesting of a small number of adult turtles culturally unique island consumption is highly effective at thwarting poachers of wild turtles. But the Centre’s conservation work includes more than turtles. The Caribbean Free Flight Aviary, for example, is home to many of the brilliant tropical birds of Cayman, and the Butterfly Garden features smaller rainbows on the wing. Armed with a new understanding of sea turtles and ocean conservation, it’s time to play the day away! Hit the Turtle Twister waterslide and explore the flying rainbows in the Butterfly House and Free-Flight Aviary before taking a walk on