Turtle Conservation Bali Serangan – Adopting Sea Turtles

Visiting the Turtle Conservation Center in Serangan was one of the highlights of our Bali vacation. This non-profit organization’s main activity is collecting eggs to save them from illegal trade and treating injured turtles. They also run an ‘Adopt a turtle’ program; you can choose a hatchling and release it back to the sea against a small donation. If you want to know more about the turtles of Bali and contribute to saving them, take a trip to the Serangan Turtle Center. Read our story for information about how to get there and what to expect!

What Is The Serangan Turtle Conservation Center?

Serangan Island was Indonesia’s black market center for turtle products for many years. The illegal trade, consuming turtle meat and eggs and using them in religious rituals, destroyed the population around Bali.

Luckily, a comprehensive strategic project was launched to stop illegal trading. As a part of this project, a non-profit Conservation and Education Center was opened on Serangan Island to help these endangered species.

The Serangan Conservation Center is an official non-profit organization. There are some other release projects in Bali, but sadly, most of them are not doing any conservation but rather operate as tourist attractions.

Bali Turtle Center is committed to rescue, research and education. They provide free tours led by knowledgeable, English-speaking guides. Moreover, visitors are welcome to participate in their “adopt turtle” donation-based program, where you can release baby turtles into the ocean.

What Is The Purpose Of The Turtle Conservation Center?

The center’s main purpose is turtle rescue, conservation, and education. The staff is working hard to end the turtle trade by encouraging the public not to consume turtle products and to minimize their religious use.

So far, they have agreed that species must be purchased through the Conservation Park for ceremonies. There is still a long way to go, but like this, they can have some control over this tradition.

Fishermen often bring injured or sick turtles into the center caught in nets with chunks of shell or flippers missing. Qualified employees follow American Turtle Hospitals‘ advice regarding treatment and recovery. They release them back to the sea when they are healthy and strong enough. When police find turtles caught by illegal fishermen, they also bring them into the park to monitor if they are stressed or injured.

On top of the rehabilitation, Turtle Conservation Bali works as a hatchery, too! They have a monitoring service in the nesting season, which usually runs between October and July.

You must have heard of that interesting turtle fact that females always return to the same beach to lay their eggs. Due to the intense development, Bali coasts are not safe anymore for the eggs to hatch.

Therefore, volunteers regularly visit the beaches at night during the nesting season and collect the eggs. They bury them in a sandy area in the conservation center until they hatch. This is how they protect them from birds and other predators

Approximately 50% of the eggs make it to hatch, which is already a higher rate compared to the ones left at the beaches. The babies hatch after 45-60 days when employees move them into seawater tanks, where they stay for a few weeks. The center cooperates with locals too; they pay them for the collected eggs to prevent them from ending up on the black market.

Luckily, the conservation efforts seem successful and the area’s turtle population is increasing. Several adult sea turtles are present in the island’s coastal waters, so if you want to encounter them, you can do that at most Bali snorkeling spots.

How To Get To There?

The Sea Turtle Conservation and Education Center can be found on Serangan Island. Therefore, it is often called Turtle Island. It is easily accessible by taxi from popular tourist regions like Sanur, Kuta, Nusa Dua or Jimbaran.

The center is not too big and can be walked around in 1-2 hours, making it a perfect program even if you have only a few free hours.

The area is remote, and we had difficulties returning to our hotel. Therefore, we recommend taking care of your return transfer in advance.

What Turtle Species Can You See In The Center?

Visitors can see almost all the turtle species that live in the coastal waters of Bali, but the most common one is the Olive Ridley. The eggs in the hatchery, the babies waiting for adoption, are mostly Olive Ridleys. Other species can also be seen in the Serangan Turtle Park that were brought in because of sickness or injury.

We saw Hawksbill and Green Sea turtles of different sizes during our visit. Two of them were waiting for surgery because they had ingested plastic. We know that plastic pollution in the ocean is one of the biggest dangers sea creatures face nowadays, but seeing those turtles suffering made us really think about reducing plastic usage when traveling.

In a separate corner, you also can see tortoises (land turtles) in the Turtle Conservation Bali Center. Don’t miss out on the funny feeding procedure when they are taking fresh leaves from visitors’ hands!

How Can You Help Save Turtles In Bali?

Turtle Conservation Bali enjoys the support of the Bali Government and also different Denpasar authorities, The Nature Resources Conservation Agency, and also WWF. Since the center is non-profit, there is no entry fee and even the guiding is free, they raise money through their baby turtle release program and donations only, so please support their work when you are here!

They spend the money on rehabilitation, food, surgeries, and keeping the center running. The donation box you find next to the seawater tanks has a small book where you can share your thoughts and tips about the center, too! You can read more about the adoption and release program in the next section!

Tip: If you want to know where in the world you can see turtles in their natural environment, in the ocean, read our Best Places to Swim with Turtles post!

Turtle Adoption And Release Program

It is shocking that everybody’s favorite sea creatures face a high risk of extinction in the wild. The center’s turtle release activity aims to stabilize the turtle population in Bali’s waters; you can contribute to their efforts by participating in the program.

Visitors who wish to take part in the release process and support the center by adopting a turtle can choose a baby from the big tanks. Kids often ask if they can take turtles home? Although it would be cool to have a turtle as a pet, adopting it means you will place it back in the sea where it belongs.

First, please talk to your guide or one of the employees who will ask you to sign the Adoption form. Don’t forget to choose a cute name for your baby turtle! The adoption costs only 250000 IDR (approx. 16 USD), and the money entirely goes into the center’s operation.

With your chosen baby in a small bucket, the staff transports you to the beach, where the release happens. When there, slowly and gently catch your turtle, wish her/him good luck, and let it swim away. You will receive a nice certificate and a handmade necklace at the end of the ceremony.

Final Thoughts On Visiting The Bali Turtle Conservation Center

The afternoon we spent in the center was one of the highlights of our time in Bali! We highly recommend this activity for families and all sea lovers. In this well-maintained park, young and old can gain comprehensive knowledge about these creatures and better understand the biggest, mainly human-caused threats these species face. If you are lucky enough to visit Turtle Island when they have hatchlings, don’t miss out on the adoption; the release is such a heart-warming event, you won’t regret it!

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