Bora Bora Turtle Center

Bora Bora Turtle Center is a place where injured turtles of French Polynesia found protection and medical care. The center is located inside Le Meridien however it’s open to be visited by everyone. A turtle feeding is organized at 10.30 am every day and the «Turtle team» will be happy to explain all you want to know about turtles. Every person coming from another hotel is asked to pay a 2000 XPF fee for the turtle association.

The turtle center is really small, however it’s really interesting what they show you there. You can touch and see some other sea animals. The thing I like most was the big turtle they use to explain you how they look from the inside. Of course explanation gave by the biologist was really interesting, I really enjoy it!!

The good thing about this turtle center is that it's not a place where they keep turtles forever. What they do is take injure turtles and take care of them until they are healthy. Once they are ready they are released into the ocean. In order for them to release a turtle they need to be able to eat by themselves (meaning fish by themselves) and be aggressive with the humans. This last step is really important as they need to protect themselves from human to avoid being caught. Even though hunting for turtles is prohibited there are still a lot of people that fish them to eat, so they need to be sure that they will not get close to humans.   

ECOFRIENDLY TIP: It’s really important to mention that you can’t touch the turtles. Creams and sun screen that we have in our hand damage the turtle shell, after a couple of year sun will break that damage shell and the turtle will die. Taking care of nature is our responsibility!!