Ahungalla Sea Turtles Conservation And Research Center
Ahungalla Sea Turtles Conservation And Research Center
Ahungalla Sea Turtles Conservation And Research Center
3.5
About
You can join in our effort to save these endangered creatures. We welcome local and international visitors to share the experience of the baby sea turtle release or see the process in action for education and awareness of sea turtle issues.
Duration: < 1 hour
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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See what travellers are saying
- Susan E24 contributionsExcellent VisitWorthwhile visit with knowledgeable guides who were able to provide interesting facts and information. So sad to see the turtles who were no longer able to dive for food, reproduce or lay eggs, solely due to their consumption of plastic. They will remain at the sanctuary until they die at a very early age of between 10 to 15 years. Definitely worth a visit and no, you can't touch the turtles but would you like someone you didn't know touch you?! I think not 😀Visited November 2023Travelled as a coupleWritten 6 December 2023
- aayushthakralNew Delhi, India58 contributionsOverpriced, look at other alternativesThere are a number of turtle hatcheries and conservation centres in Sri Lanka This one is among the more expensive one. They charge USD15 / person for a 15 minutes tour. Since we enjoyed watching the different types of turtles and the aquariums which had sharks, star fish eels and a few other aquatic creatures - that’s why I still rate this as 3 stars. Funny thing - the tour guide who spent 15-20 minutes with us was suggesting we donate money and also hinting at tips for his service. However there are other turtle farms / hatcheries which are equally good and priced lower. This one seemed just a rip off.Visited December 2023Travelled on businessWritten 28 December 2023
- Charitha SamarasingheColombo, Sri Lanka127 contributionsAmazing turtle aquarium in Ahungalla.! Worth itAmazing turtle aquarium in Ahungalla.! Filled with beautiful saltwater fish and many more species. We enjoyed the sightseeing here. The guide was well-educated on the seawater life species. The Huge turtle sculpture was breathtaking. Worth watching.!Visited April 2024Travelled with familyWritten 19 April 2024
- TLL48Spalding, United Kingdom1,277 contributionsVery educational and inspiringVery educational tour during which we were taught about the origin of each turtle at the centre, largely caught up in fishnets. Some of them will make a full recovery while others will live at the centre for the rest of their lives. Hatchery with many eggs being monitored and eventually released. This was wonderful to see. Great work! Highly recommended. Shop next door is nice for A/C but items are rather expensive.Visited May 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 11 May 2024
- rohini_arManimajra, India105 contributions👍Good outing for kids.. neat clean.. have a small aquarium before you enter the main rehab centre . The have a whole bunch of eggs.. n various types of turtles in the tanks.. most were unwell , and undergoing treatment or so they said.. can’t really say. For 10$ you can release a baby into the ocean but you have to do that at about 6/630 in the eve once it’s dark so factor that in if ur interested . Guides were well informed and took us around very nicely.. Worth it with kidsVisited June 2024Travelled with familyWritten 20 June 2024
- Nat D52 contributionsVisitors respect the turtles pleaseI think they are doing a good job, rescuing injured turtles. Informative, great for kids/families. I wish this and other turtle centres would not allow visitors to hold & take photos with the turtles. I read the turtles do not like to be held. Visitors please leave the turtles alone!!!!Visited July 2024Travelled with familyWritten 5 July 2024
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3.5
159 reviews
Excellent
68
Very good
30
Average
21
Poor
15
Terrible
26
Manishakatarya
New Delhi, India19 contributions
Mar 2022 • Family
These people are basically overpriced …highly over price for tourist so while a normal turtle farm ticket per person ideally cost 500 they would charge you 2000 per ticket …not only that it’s not even worth it because once you enter the entire experiences You would feel cheated by heavy ticket . … it is a prison for turtles which are hurt in the process of capturing and bred for business. While they quote it to be a hospital it is a business.They also have tie up with taxi etc to ensure they get walk-in.
I recommend visiting the hikkaduwa beach and see the turtles in their natural habitat. The feeling of seeing the free turtles would give happiness while the turtle farm will feel sad and depressing and you would feel cheated because of their tourist special price which is not even worth it
I recommend visiting the hikkaduwa beach and see the turtles in their natural habitat. The feeling of seeing the free turtles would give happiness while the turtle farm will feel sad and depressing and you would feel cheated because of their tourist special price which is not even worth it
Written 30 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Achal S
Mumbai, India8 contributions
Dec 2023 • Family
Absolute rip-off. No published rates on the website or at the centre. Charged $15 per adult for a 10 minute 'tour' that was a farce. No receipt given for the ticket. Say they are doing it for conservation but I only saw the 'con' part. Waste of time so please avoid.
Written 20 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TripArama90
2 contributions
Aug 2024 • Family
We were taken here as a ‘special’ treat part of the programme by our driver. As soon as we arrived something felt off, the 4 men on the front couldn’t wait to take our money (high entrance fee!) and just wanted to rush us through. It was getting dark and felt a bit intimidating and pressured. The turtles are kept in small dirty tanks of water with no plants and nothing at all to stimulate them. The sharks and water eels were clearly only there for entertainment, again small tanks with no stimulation. The entire experience left us feeling very concerned, quite sick, and sad for these poor creatures. They then wanted extra money for a donation (for a supposed new ‘vet centre’!!) where they literally couldn’t take their eyes off our wallet, and then the guide held out his hand again for a tip at the end. If we wanted to release one of the 2 baby turtles (kept in an austere prison tank with bars across the top) he said we had to pay even more money!! But surprise surprise, they were t releasing any today!! I’m sure there are honest and genuine rescues centres around but this is not one of them. When questioned about how they administrate the medicines, they couldn’t answer properly just bluffed through ‘ in their hand’. We are in no doubt that if we were to return in 12 months time the same poor turtles and the same apparently buried eggs would still be there. Especially sad was the disabled turtle who was kept in the smallest dirty tank in which he couldn’t even turn around. If they really cared for well being they would put him out of his misery. Sadly we felt our otherwise nice driver was likely in on a cut of the entrance fee. This soured our otherwise wonderful experience in this beautiful country.
Written 29 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Paddycody
Hastings, UK13 contributions
Feb 2020 • Couples
Our hotel was a 20 minute walk along the beach to this site. The staff were very knowledgable about the turtles and also very passionate. They save turtles who are injured and also put baby turtles back into the ocean once they are a week old which for a fee you can do yourselves. Which was an excellent experience.
Written 3 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
olivepopeye
Melbourne, Australia125 contributions
Mar 2024 • Family
When we arrive as two adult and three teenage kids they asked for $100- US which I said was outrageous and then they quickly dropped it to $15- US a person so we said two people would go in so then they said $50- for our group of 5. Price halved! We were in and out in 20 minutes. Even though the guide was knowledgeable and there was a heap of different turtles (an albino one too) it seemed a bit of a concrete jungle and not as genuine as other similar turtle places I have been to before and far more expensive. At the end, the guide said to our 15 year old son if you want to, you can tip before they tried to get us into the shop next door. I am sure underneath it all they are doing good work with their rehabilitation but it just felt a bit of a tourist trap.
Written 30 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steve - Cheshire
Cheshire, UK51 contributions
Feb 2022 • Couples
We were staying at the Rui Sri Lanka Hotel close by and this centre is one of four close by. Santha Fernando a young guy manages the project handed down by his family who started the project in the nineties.
At the centre eggs from five varieties of turtles are re buried to protect them from danger.
Leatherback, Green, Hawksbill, loggerhead and Olive Ridley they are all labelled and dated to show the incubation period and once hatched, transfered to one of the pools and released into the sea as soon as they are ready.
At the end of our visit one of the most wonderful experiences was when Satha gave us each one of our own that we were allowed to release into the sea ourselves, we will never forget that.
This is not one of the week known projects, nevertheless Santha was very knowledgeable and explained everything and how he supports them, totally open and honest. We have offered to help him gain support and I think anyone how big or small needs that support, his website looks ok, but I wish someone more knowledgeable than me would help him with social media, these people don't such an amazing job, need all the help they can get.
They had a little shop where we were able to buy something, only charging a small fee of £4 our money wasn't a lot, so we also gave a small donation which they did not expect
At the centre eggs from five varieties of turtles are re buried to protect them from danger.
Leatherback, Green, Hawksbill, loggerhead and Olive Ridley they are all labelled and dated to show the incubation period and once hatched, transfered to one of the pools and released into the sea as soon as they are ready.
At the end of our visit one of the most wonderful experiences was when Satha gave us each one of our own that we were allowed to release into the sea ourselves, we will never forget that.
This is not one of the week known projects, nevertheless Santha was very knowledgeable and explained everything and how he supports them, totally open and honest. We have offered to help him gain support and I think anyone how big or small needs that support, his website looks ok, but I wish someone more knowledgeable than me would help him with social media, these people don't such an amazing job, need all the help they can get.
They had a little shop where we were able to buy something, only charging a small fee of £4 our money wasn't a lot, so we also gave a small donation which they did not expect
Written 2 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SurreyConnie
Oxted, UK97 contributions
Apr 2024 • Family
We were taken by a tuk tuk driver and another man in a blue “tours” t shirt. We were then asked at the sanctuary to pay US $ 20 each to get in which we refused to pay. Our guide, not the tuk tuk driver, was apparently on a commission so beware. Later found out we should have been charged LKR 2,0000.
Written 11 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Meloray
1 contribution
Apr 2024 • Friends
This is not a turtle sanctuary it’s a turtle prison. A truly awful experience which they charged us $25USD / 5,000LKR each! No visible pricing, no issue of receipt, I highly regret not walking out of this scam. On top of that they had the audacity to then further ask for donations once inside. We hired a personal driver who is part of a tour company and we believe our driver was probably part of this business scam to ensure walk-in visitors.
Once inside we had a “guide” take us through and there are a few tanks at the front with baby sharks and various fish and starfishes probably trying to offset the horror that lies within.
Inside this place is truly depressing with turtles languishing in squalid conditions. Many of the turtles are missing their limbs and were unable to move, trapped in tiny circular concrete tanks with nothing but shallow water, whilst other tanks the water was so murky and green. We saw an albino turtle that looked severely distressed constantly trying to flip itself over.
There was also a larger tank with many baby turtles, held for ransom, exploiting visitors to pay for their release.
A truly horrific experience, I felt sick coming here.
Once inside we had a “guide” take us through and there are a few tanks at the front with baby sharks and various fish and starfishes probably trying to offset the horror that lies within.
Inside this place is truly depressing with turtles languishing in squalid conditions. Many of the turtles are missing their limbs and were unable to move, trapped in tiny circular concrete tanks with nothing but shallow water, whilst other tanks the water was so murky and green. We saw an albino turtle that looked severely distressed constantly trying to flip itself over.
There was also a larger tank with many baby turtles, held for ransom, exploiting visitors to pay for their release.
A truly horrific experience, I felt sick coming here.
Written 29 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rod_Var_Pa
Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia11 contributions
Apr 2023 • Family
I got charged 20 USD per person which included the turtle release and I was expecting a better aquarium, they just charge a lot for tourists and the aquarium is quite poor, there are other aquarium that charge less for the same experience. There was only 6 small tanks for the turtles and a few tanks with lobster and some fish. I was driven there by my driver, for sure he was involved with them. My advice is to do your research and go there do not follow taxi drivers recommendation.
Written 21 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Shireen B
6 contributions
July 2024 • Family
Our driver took us to this place, I wish I had thought to ask the name of the place when he suggested it as I should have researched it beforehand. This did not look like a turtle sanctuary, rather a money-making enterprise. It cost 20 USD per person and for that you got entrance and a guide. The guide appeared to be knowledgeable, but there was no evidence of any kind of turtle rehabilitation taking place. The concrete enclosures for the injured/rescued turtles were not big enough. The guide advised that the 'hospital' is still being built. We were told we could help release baby turtles in the evening for a further 10 USD per turtle (we did not take them up on this). Despite the entrance fee, we were expected to give a further donation towards food for the turtles halfway through the tour, and at the end, there was another expectation to pay the guide. The tour was less than 45 mins long. Don't visit. Research turtle sanctuaries before visiting any.
Written 2 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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