Fodor's Expert Review Cayman Turtle Centre

Cayman's premier attraction has been transformed into a marine theme park with souvenir shops and restaurants. The turtles remain a central focal point, and you can tour ponds in the original breeding and research facility with thousands of turtles in various stages of growth, some up to 600 pounds and more than 70 years old. Four areas—three aquatic and one dry—cover 23 acres; different-color bracelets determine access (the steep all-area admission includes snorkeling gear and water slides). The park helps promote conservation, encouraging interaction (a tidal pool houses invertebrates such as starfish and crabs) and observation. Animal Program events include Keeper Talks, where you might feed birds or iguanas, and biologists' conservation programs. The freshwater Breaker's Lagoon, replete with cascades plunging over moss-carpeted rocks, evokes Cayman Brac. The saltwater Boatswain's Lagoon, replicating all the Cayman Islands and the Trench, teems with 14,000 denizens of the deep milling about a cannily designed synthetic reef. (You can snorkel here—lessons and guided tours are available.) Both lagoons have underwater 4-inch-thick acrylic panels that look directly into Predator Reef, home to six brown sharks, four nurse sharks, and other predatory fish such as tarpons, eels, and jacks, which can also be viewed from terra (or “terror,” as one guide jokes) firma. Look for feeding times. The free-flight Aviary, designed by consultants from Disney's Animal Kingdom, is a riot of color and noise with feathered friends representing the entire Caribbean basin; it doubles as a rehabilitation center for Cayman Wildlife and Rescue. A winding interpretive nature trail culminates in the Blue Hole, a collapsed cave once filled with water. Audio tours are available with different focuses, from butterflies to bush medicine. The last stop is the living museum, Cayman Street, with facades replicating vernacular architecture.