The Turtle Island Pulau Serangan was a beautiful suggestion by our very professional driver Wayan Bawa; he said as we have time we should visit this turtle sanctuary. Cool! We imagined tanks with sick animals in that we could go and look at. But that’s not what this place was, it was so much more.
We entered a building with a shop at the top and as you looked around and down you sore this massive pool of water, with steps going down into it. I stared at the water and then I saw them, the turtles! There were loads of them, the lady in charge ushered me down to the steps beneath us.
Oh my freaking god I whispered under my breath, there were tiny baby turtles in the washing up tub in behind us. They told us how each baby is cleaned daily to make sure they stay parasite free. The lady explained further that the babies were picked up off the beach and brought to this fertility to be cared for until they are a year old, so they have a better chance of surviving in the wild. The pool they were in looked quite dark and dirty, but they explained that the pool gets its water directly from the sea, and it goes in and out with the tides too, it is exactly what they will be living in, in the wild.
It was completely overwhelming holding and letting the baby turtle waddle along your hands; I think my face says it all.
They also had a rather large fifty-year-old turtle too; she was beautiful and huge compared to the babies.
They have another tank that is for the turtles that are sick and need of longer care; one had a tumor on its neck, but it was swimming around like there was no problem at all.
This facility is government funded, but the staff wages comes from the public donations and the sales from their small shop. It completely worth a visit here but beware that most tour guides won’t take you there because the facility does not give the guides a commission like most places. Shame as there were hundreds of people heading out on the boats to see the dolphins (where the guides get huge commissions) but all but a few of them make it to this place. It’s a real shame.
