The Turtle Farm - La Granja de las Tortugas

Click HERE if you want to help the farm by bringing turtle foods in your luggage. A good cause initiated by Elaine, a lover of this endangered species and it is free!

The turtle farm also known as the « Granja de las Tortugas » and now « Granja de los Quelonios » is located near the marina Cayo Largo. When you enter the village from the main road (there is only one!) you turn left. You will see the clinic (on right), the Casa del Habano (on left) then you will arrive at the turtle farm on your left. There is a sign.

This project is part of the conservation and protection programs of the natural resources of Cayo Largo del Sur tourism.

A 1 CUC fee is charged to visit the turtle farm (payable to the marina before the visit). Open from 9h to 18h everyday.

Click to see a satellite photo of the village of Cayo Largo. It will be easier for you to identify these places for your next trip to the village. It is good option to rent a scooter for a day and then visit the island, a day is enough to see.

Here are the employees of the turtles farm. They are doing a great job in protecting this endengered species. Note: Carlo Ramon is no longer part of the team. He retired recently.

¡ Muchas Gracias a los trabadores de la Granja de los Quelonios !

Ruben

Leonardo

For many years, this work has been done by Octavio. Unfortunately, in 2004 he left Cuba for Germany. We would like to thank Octavio for sharing his love for this endangered species. We learned a lot about sea turtles from him and are very grateful. Many tourists appreciated Octavio for all the informations, he gave us. ¡ Muchas Gracias Octavio !

Each year they collect hundreds of turtle eggs from the most vulnerable beaches, and brings them back to the breeding farm for incubation (~ 2 months). After the eggs have hatched, the baby turtles are kept for a little while in the pools and then released back to the sea on a safe beach. The release of the baby turtles is a very special event which the tourists are invited to take part.

Statistics

The most productive nest was a green turtle in August 13th, 2010 with 191 eggs!

Since 2008, there is a fee of 4 CUC to participate at this activity to release the baby turtles in the sea, payable to the marina or the lobby of the Sol Cayo Largo hotel (cause it is the beach of this hotel the release happens). You have to consider this fee as a contribution to the turtle farm.

If you are lucky, You may be invited to see an even more outstanding spectacle ... turtles laying eggs on the beach! However, you will have to be prepared to stay up late. This event occurs at night. You will have to crawl quietly up beside the turtle's nest, and, by the weak illumination of a small flashlight, actually see the small eggs falling down into the pit that the turtle has excavated in the sand.

We took part of this event in 2002 with Octavio.

It is not recommended to venture during the night searching for turtle nests without the presence of an experimented guide.

Between April and September, three different kinds of sea turtles come to the beaches of Cayo Largo to lay their eggs:

If you want to know more about this species of sea turtles, visit the NOAA Fisheries Service website.

The eggs are then collected and brought to the turtle farm for an incubation period of about two months.

During our many visits at Cayo Largo, we were lucky to witness events like...

The first baby turtles of 2000

Tagging of an hawkbill turtle

Turtle laying eggs on the beach.

Click HERE to read our story of that wonderful event in the evening of July 2002.

The friends of our discussion board gathered few times in Cayo Largo during an event organized by Lily. The release in the sea of baby-turtles was always an important event. Hundreds of them have been released!

Conference-dinner in Quebec about Cayo Largo sea turtles

	On Feb. 17th 2009, Lily and I attended a very interesting conference about the life of marine tortoises of Cayo Largo given by a great lover of these creatures, Élaine. We were more than 35 guests at the Chez Milot restaurant at Boisbriand. During the presentation, Élaine explained to us the life of the various species of marine tortoises of Cuba and the stages for the conservation of this species starting from collecting the eggs on the beach up to the release of the babies in the sea. She decided to contribute, in an original way, by obtaining a « commandite » by a company of food for tortoises. It is a container of 360 grams (see photo) 9.5 X 18 cm (approx. 1 liter). If you decide to contribute to this activity by bringing one or more containers, you may contact Élaine at the following address: tortue_marine@eclement.net You may bring one or more containers and a letter of reference, written in spanish, will be given to you (in case of a customs officer would question you about the containers).

To know more about this project, a website dedicated to the marine tortoises of Cayo Largo will be online soon. The link will be available when the site is ready. Since she started this program years ago, more than 200 food containers have been brought to the turtles' farm. A great success!

The baby-tortoises thank you for helping them and will greet you next time they see you in diving.

Click HERE to access the site of our photo albums of Cayo Largo.

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