Cayman's largest land-based attraction, Boatswain's Beach hosts more than 500,000 visitors each year. Educational, cultural and entertainment programmes are consistently being created and updated to enhance the experience that can only be had at Boatswain's Beach.
1968 The Cayman Turtle Farm, the first commercial venture to domesticate Green Sea Turtles begins. It is founded as Mariculture Ltd by Irvin Naylor, Henry Hamlin, Dr. Samuel Ayres III & Anthony G.A. Fisher with the blessing of and an exclusive franchise from the Cayman islands Government.
1968-1978 To form the herd, eggs, adults and sub-adult turtles are collected from the wild. A minimum of 477,644 eggs were collected from Ascension Island, Costa Rica, Guyana and Suriname.
1973 Mating & hatching of the Green Sea Turtle in captivity is achieved.
1975 A turtle hatches at the Farm, is reared to sexual maturity and is able to mate and nest with a hatch rate of 33 percent.
1980 The Farm introduces a small group of yearling and hatchling Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles - to establish a captive breeding colony of this endangered species and to obtain further biological data on this species in a controlled environment.
1983 The Turtle Farm reaches another operational milestone when the Cayman Islands Government purchases it from its previous owners and is incorporated as Cayman Turtle Farm Ltd.
1984 The first observed nesting in captivity of the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle occurs at the farm.
1989 The Turtle Farm registers another significant achievement when second generation turtles first hatch.
2000 The Farm becomes one of the largest tourist attractions on the Island, attracting over 340,000 visitors.
2001 The idea for Boatswain’s Beach is born when Hurricane Michelle causes irreparable damage to the Turtle Farm. Several meetings involving planning teams, construction engineers, members of the public and representatives from both the government and the private sector results in a promise that Cayman will soon be home to one of the most exciting tourist attractions in the Caribbean. At this point, the marine adventure park may have been the only architectural project in the world involving cab drivers.
2003 Design work is completed and the group seeks planning permission for a world-class marine park created on 23 acres. The project involves massive landscaping, construction of a host of new buildings encompassing 50,000 square feet, a series of sophisticated water-based features and more than a dozen subcontractors.
2004 Construction of the reception building and water features begin. When Hurricane Ivan descends on Cayman, the project suffers only minimal damage.
Boatswain's Beach continues to be a dynamically evolving enterprise. The Cayman Turtle Farm remains a unique marine venture with a scope of operation not seen elsewhere and with an unrivalled kind of research and commercial development of the Green Sea Turtle in captivity.
It is truly Cayman's National Treasure.