Serangan Turtle Conservation and Education Center: A Visitor’s Guide

For most visitors, yes. Individual visitors walk in free and are asked to leave a donation, which pays for turtle feed and electricity. In 2023 the center said only large groups paid for entry: IDR 75,000 for foreign visitors and IDR 25,000 for Indonesians. Releasing a hatchling costs a separate donation.

Roughly 9 AM to 4 PM, but the center does not publish fixed hours online and listings disagree on which days it opens (checked Nov 2026). Mornings on weekdays are the safest bet. If you are coming from far away, ask your hotel to call ahead or send a message before you go.

Often, yes, in the dry season. Hatchlings from the center’s hatchery are released into the sea off Serangan, and visitors can join for a donation of about IDR 100,000 to 150,000 per hatchling, according to recent guides. Releases depend on what has hatched, so ask at the center before planning around one.

It is the most welfare-focused place to see turtles in South Bali. The center rescues seized and injured turtles, protects nests and returns animals to the sea with the regional conservation agency. Pools are basic and funding is tight. Avoid handling the turtles, and choose it over Turtle Island, where turtles are kept in pens for photos.

TCEC on Serangan is a rescue and hatchery center set up in 2006 with the provincial government, BKSDA Bali and WWF Indonesia, and its aim is to return turtles to the sea. Turtle Island (Pulau Penyu), reached by boat from Tanjung Benoa, keeps turtles in pens and lets visitors handle them for photos, which welfare groups have criticized.

About 45 minutes to an hour. The center is compact, with rescue pools, a hatchery and a small shop. Add time if a hatchling release is planned that day, or if you want to continue to Pura Sakenan nearby. It pairs well with a morning in Sanur.

By car, Grab or scooter. It is about 11 km from Sanur, a 20- to 30-minute drive south on the bypass and across the causeway onto Serangan, and about 14 km from the airport. Return rides from Serangan can take longer to find, so ask your driver to wait.

Green turtles, hawksbills and olive ridleys. In November 2023 the center held 21 adults, some thought to be more than 50 years old, most of them seized from traffickers by the police. In nesting season there are also eggs in the hatchery and newly hatched turtles waiting for release.

Yes, for an hour. Children can see large turtles at close range, learn the difference between species and, in the dry season, sometimes join a hatchling release. It is basic, with no playground or cafe inside, so pair it with the beach at Sanur or a bike ride on the beach path.

It is best not to. Handling stresses turtles and can spread disease, and many animals here are recovering from injuries. Watch from the edge of the pools and let staff do any lifting. If you want to hold a turtle for a photo, that is exactly the practice welfare groups criticize at Turtle Island, and the reason to come here instead.

Mainly from May to July, when center staff patrol Serangan’s beaches every day and move nests at risk into the hatchery. Eggs take roughly two months to hatch, so newly hatched turtles and releases follow through the dry season. Nest numbers have climbed from fewer than five a year in 2008 and 2009 to 63 from January to October 2023.

Yes, if you want to see turtles in a place that is trying to help them. It is small and plain, and you will not spend long there. Go for the rescue work, the hatchery and a possible release, not for a polished attraction, and leave a donation.