Grand Cayman: Turtle Center and Hell
The Turtle Center in Grand Cayman isn’t just the top tourist attraction on the island, It’s also an internationally renowned sea turtle research and conservation center.
In addition to the Turtle Center I wanted to visit the limestone rock formation known locally as “Hell.” I searched multiple sites looking for an excursion that included both. Grand Cayman Hell and Turtle Farm Orientation is the excursion I booked for $49.
Water Shuttle/Tender
My excursion instructions said to meet the tour at Capt. Marvin’s at 10:45.
I was the first person in the bottom level of the boat at 10:10. We departed at 10:20 and arrived at 10:25. I was off of the shuttle at 10:30.
Captain Marvin’s
Captain Marvin’s was directly across the street from the cruise port and very easy to find.
I went inside at 10:35 and gave my ticket to the girl working there. She had me sign a liability form and issued me a new ticket. “Tim will be your driver. He will call for you at 10:50,” she said.
If you have to use the bathroom you can do so behind the building across the street from Captain Marvin’s.
I boarded the shuttle at 10:44 with seven other people.
We had a slight delay because a few people boarded the bus without going inside and getting their new ticket.
We saw a few places of interest along the way.
The Governor’s Mansion
Governor’s Beach
7 Mile Beach
Hell
We arrived at Hell at 11:10. We had 25 minutes at this stop. I only needed 5 of them.
According to Tim the name of this place came from a politician who was bird hunting here. He missed the bird and said “ah hell.”
This is the rock formation they call Hell.
Hell was originally white limestone. You can see some white in the close rocks.
Inside the gift shop you can purchase all of your “I’ve been to hell” shirts and hats. You can also purchase and mail post cards from hell.
Turtle Center
We arrived at the Turtle Center at 11:40.
Tim dropped us off and parked bus across street. He returned with the wristbands we needed for entry. Our time actually started at 11:47. We were instructed to meet Tim out front at 12:30.
These turtles are just a few days old.
Turtle eggs
Turtle theater
They have touch tanks that you can get inside and hold some of the smaller turtles.
Moving over to the bigger turtles. This is the breeding pond.
I really was not prepared to see this many turtles at the same time.
This video is easily the most viewed item I’ve posted on instagram so far.
This group of three pools has older turtles in it. They are grouped in pools by age range.
They also have a crocodile at the Turtle Center and I was able to just barely catch a feeding.
We were given green bracelets on this tour. If you have more time you can upgrade to another color and use their nature trail or snorkel with turtles and fish.
This is the Lagoon area where the snorkeling is happening.
On the way out I saw this where you can buy turtle feed. I wish I had seen it earlier. I would’ve definitely done it. I don’t recall seeing anyone feeding turtles while I was there.
When animals attack. We saw this from the bus. This is chicken vs. lizard. It looks like the chicken wins.
But it turns out the lizard was just playing dead and ran away when the chicken let up.
We left the turtle center at 12:35. Five people wanted to go to a beach. We dropped them off. Three were going to a resort. We stopped and dropped them off on the way back to Captain Marvin’s.
We arrived back at Capt. Marvin’s at 1:10.
Grand Cayman Cruise Port
Before I got on the water shuttle I noticed the bar I had the overpriced local beer at after my Stingray excursion appears to be closed.
Tender/Water Shuttle
I was on the tender/water shuttle at 1:15.
I was back at the ship at 1:20
The 7-mile beach portion of this excursion was non-existent unless you wanted to get dropped off at the end and find your own transportation back to the ship. I was glad I got to see hell but 5 minutes was enough for me. We spent 25 minutes there.
I really enjoyed getting to see the sea turtles up close. Sea turtles and stingrays are the tours to do in Grand Cayman if you ask me. If I only had just one day here I would do an early morning Stingray excursion and take a cab to the Turtle Center.
