Turtle farm/boatswain's beach on your own

[wolfganghowell]

Thoughts on doing this - we are a group of 7 and feel this might be more for us to do on our own than through the ship excursion. Not only cheaper but we can do things on OUR timeframe. Can anyone share their experiences? Thanks!

 

(fyi - we have been to Cayman before so we know to allow for heavy traffic)

[bajathree]

Definitely very easy to do on your own...and free transportation is provided from the piers for cruise visitors.

[wolfganghowell]

Hmm, didn't see anything about free transport. Their website says to take a cab.

[askimdog]

Yep, Free Transport and 20% off tickets in bought online.

[bajathree]

Hmm, didn't see anything about free transport. Their website says to take a cab.

 

Order online and receive a 20% discount on your complete ticket order! (Discount displayed on final step of checkout process.)

Free transportation is provided from the piers for cruise visitors only. Departures at 8:30am and 9:45am. Return times are 12:00 and 1:15pm local time.

 

http://www.boatswainsbeach.ky/tickets/index.cfm

[nessz79]

Order online and receive a 20% discount on your complete ticket order! (Discount displayed on final step of checkout process.)

Free transportation is provided from the piers for cruise visitors only. Departures at 8:30am and 9:45am. Return times are 12:00 and 1:15pm local time.

 

http://www.boatswainsbeach.ky/tickets/index.cfm

 

I was just checking this website and it looks wonderful! I'm wondering what the $45 includes. It says the "whole experience", but what exactly is that? Access to the beach, turtle farm, and pool? Or does it include snorkeling gear, rafts, etc?

 

Thank you in advance :)

[centerlinefl]

I was just checking this website and it looks wonderful! I'm wondering what the $45 includes. It says the "whole experience", but what exactly is that? Access to the beach, turtle farm, and pool? Or does it include snorkeling gear, rafts, etc?

 

Thank you in advance :)

Wondering if you did this and how was it??

[nw2this]

If you do it as part of a tour the entrance fee is included in the tour price, right?

 

Some of the tours that stop here are $55 and include several other stops. So, the tours seem like a better deal to me.

[CayManTA]

If you do it as part of a tour the entrance fee is included in the tour price, right?

 

Some of the tours that stop here are $55 and include several other stops. So, the tours seem like a better deal to me.

 

Yes some form of entrance fee is usually included in tours that stop at the turtle farm, but there are two different types of admission. The tours offering several stops (including turtle farm) for around $55 stop there for about 45 minutes and you are able to walk around in the "front" part of the park where you can see lots of turtles of various ages and sizes, touch and hold a turtle, and get your picture taken with a turtle. However that admission doesn't include the whole park.

 

To be able to also snorkel in the lagoon with turtles (and fish), hand-feed birds in a walk-through aviary, watch the experts feed the sharks by hand, and go in a large fresh-water pool with a water slide, that is a different deal that the turtle farm (and the cruise lines) offer at around $45 or a bit more depending on factors like whether lunch is included or not. Transportation to and from the cruise terminal is included. To do all that will keep you occupied for quite a bit longer than 45 minutes!

[sonogal]

Few details I can add:

 

Transportation was included however you are lumped into the cruise ship excursion crowd and need to wait at the pier until they are ready to go. Wait was about 30 minutes for us. You also are required to return to the pier at the same time as those other passengers or pay for a taxi.

 

There is no beach access through the turtle farm.

 

It was fun and we had an enjoyable day but it still felt like we were lumped in with rigid excursion times and I didn't like that. The whole point was to have more control over our day. But that's what you get for free.

[mikehn]

We did this on our own thinking it would save a lot. The numbers look good on paper, but afterwards, running the numbers did not save us much if anything at all, especially if you factor in the cost of lunch.

[mariaw8889]

I just got back from a Western Caribbean cruise with FOS and a group of 10 us went to the turtle farm on our own. then we went to 7 mile beach. This is what we did.

We told the transportation people at the port what we wanted. they sent us over to the taxi mini vans and got a driver for us.

The driver (Bartlett) told us that we could get in the turtle farm for 30 minutes for only $10 for adult and $8 per child with his discount if we wanted to only stay for 30 minutes and to just see and hold the turtles, no other part of the place. That is exactly what we wanted so we were thrilled with that. (I think it might be $18 for adult and $12 per child if not with a bus-taxi driver, but i am not sure).

Bartlett stayed with us and we were able to keep our beach bags in the van. He even led us over to the Dolphin Discovery Park across the street so we could peek in and see the dolphins.

When we were ready, he took us to our spots of choice on 7 mile beach. some of us went snorkeling at cemetary beach(awesome) and others went to Sea Grape beach.

It was $12 per person for the taxi ride to the turtle farm and then to the beach and on th way back to port we just hailed a city bus (mini vans with blue license plates with round numbers (1 or 2) on the doors. the buses are $2.50 per person. we gave him more because we got stuck in a rainstorm and we were wet and sandy.

[mariaw8889]

From Boatswain's website, it leads you to believe that the cheapest price to see the turtles is $30 for adult $20 for child but then they will give you 20% off if you buy your tickets online ahead of time. When i couldn't get a response when i emailed about getting my money back if our ship couldn't tender, i decided to just wait till we got there and this is what we did. I am not sure how it would work if there were only 2 or 4 of you but this worked out great for our party of 10.

We told the transportation people at the port what we wanted. they sent us over to the taxi mini vans and got a driver for us.

The driver (Bartlett) told us that we could get in the turtle farm for 30 minutes for only $10 for adult and $8 per child with his discount if we wanted to only stay for 30 minutes and to just see and hold the turtles. That is exactly what we wanted so we were thrilled with that. (I think it might be $18 for adult and $12 per child if not with a bus-taxi driver, but i am not sure).

Bartlett stayed with us and we were able to keep our beach bags in the van. He even led us over to the Dolphin Discovery Park across the street so we could peek in and see the dolphins.

When we were ready, he took us to our spots of choice on 7 mile beach. some of us went snorkeling at cemetary beach(awesome) and others went to Sea Grape beach.

It was $12 per person for the taxi ride to the turtle farm and then to the beach and on the way back to port we just hailed a city bus (mini vans with blue license plates with round numbers (1 or 2) on the doors. the buses are $2.50 per person. we gave him more because we got stuck in a rainstorm and we were wet and sandy.

The kids were thrilled to hold the turtles. there is even a small plastic tank with some very small turtles to hold. Bring your camera, there was lots of happy smiling faces holding these little guys!

In retrospect, If you do take advantage of their free transportation then the $30 is still a good deal, you just don't have as much flexability with your time.