The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue And Rehabilitation Center

What an up lifting experience. You are offered a glimpse into an organization built and operated largely by volunteers whose dedication to sea turtles is inspiring.
Our family thoroughly enjoyed the visit. As we waited to tour the main hospital area we enjoyed several informative displays and volunteer lead discussions about sea turtle life and their main threats. Once inside volunteers offered stories about individual turtles that were at different stages of recovery.
Keep in mid this is not SeaWorld or the Smithsonian. No big budget, wow the audience show. It’s tour of a working rehabilitation facility.
It is well worth the wait and we were happy to leave a donation when we left.
Keep up the great work!

Get here early as the line to get into the building is long! The staff was very informative, but I wish we actually got to touch the sea turtles. I assume it’s to rehabilitate them back to the ocean without human contact, but it would have been cool to be able to touch them!

It was extremely crowded. There were three long lines. I waited at least 1 hour. My family of four was $ 20, which is overpriced for what you get to see. The place is short staffed so the lines were rowdy, chaotic, and people were cutting. There was very little to see. I saw four turtles from a bad view because of the large crowd. They need to lower the price, control the crowds, and let less people in.

Extremely crowded. There are limited exhibits and very little to see. Our family of four paid twenty dollars to enter and I’ll consider it simply a donation to turtle care because the fee for what you get is outrageous. Won’t be returning. The staff needs to limit the amount of people they let in.

My wife and I have been trying to go here for about a year but they are only open from 12 – 4 and closed on Wednesday. We decided to go on Thursday July 2, arriving promptly at noon, but there was already a line of over hundred people wrapped around the building. As we pulled out one the employee’s explained that they let thirty people in at a time so the line moves fairly quickly. We decided to get lunch and head to the beach instead of waiting. Best decision! We returned at three to find a much shorter line of about thirty people and waited less than twenty minutes outside before moving to the line inside and waiting another thirty. Totally worth the wait but we will not go on a holiday weekend again.
When you enter there is a gift shop to the left and then a large wide hallway with an underwater mural on one side and employees set up on the other with information about the turtle hospital. I loved informational walk through type set up. Apparently there are seven different types of sea turtles and three of which are recovering at the hospital from multiple injuries. After you walk down the hallway the tour proceeds into the large room where are all the turtles recover. Each tank on the tour line has an employee to tell you about the turtle and answer any questions. Overall the tour is short and small but amazing. Before Thursday I had not had the opportunity to get that close to a large turtle. Can’t wait to go back during the off season!

Educational, and heartfelt. This place is run completely with the hearts of volunteers. They love the Sea turtles and are eager to share their knowledge as well as their spirit for the oceans with anyone that comes in. Yes you may wait, but there is plenty to learn about while waiting… once you get your eyes on your first Sea Turtle whether that’s is the rehabilitation room or in Sea Turtle Bay… you will be mesmerized!!! This is a must when in Surf City!

Be prepared to wait a LONG time! We waited for over 2 hours just to get in. Ended up leaving with out seeing anything because we couldn’t wait any longer. Not a place to take children.