Looking for a unique family experience for the holiday season or the weekends? Come visit ARCHELON’s Rescue Centre in Glyfada
The ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Centre is in essence a ‘hospital’ for injured or sick sea turtles from all over Greece and, at the same time an information & awareness point for marine life. Kids and adult visitors come close to these ancient animals, their habitats, their stories and get to meet the people who fight for their recovery and their safe return to the sea.
This special ‘hospital’ is located at the 3rd Marina of Glyfada next to the sea shore and is housed in re-designed old train carriages and containers. Visitors are greeted at the entrance by ARCHELON’s volunteers and the tour takes place on a semi-outdoor space, next to the tanks, the greenhouse and through in informative exhibition.
The operation of the Rescue Centre began in 1994 with the cooperation of the Municipality of Glyfada. Since then, the Centre has welcomed over 1250 injured or sick sea turtles. ‘Staff and volunteers fight to save the turtles In an organized care facility. Around 700 animals have returned healthy to the sea reaching a full recovery up to now’, says Dimitris Fytilis, oceanographer and Manager of the Centre.
The sea turtles and the work done by the volunteers attract the interest of many people and the Centre has become a popular destination for Greek and foreign visitors. ‘We welcome over 10,000 visitors a year on weekdays and weekends, during the hours that we are open for the public’, says Anna Karatsori, ARCHELON's Awareness Officer.
In addition, many choose to book the 45-minute educational “Sea Turtle Rescue Tour”, which is designed for small groups that decide to ‘adopt’ an injured turtle. This guided tour concludes with an audio-visual presentation in a closed space. Participants receive information about their adopted turtle a few days after their visit. ‘Taking part in the “Sea Turtle Rescue Tour” means that you are no longer just an observer of the sea turtles but rather an important part of their story’, Dimitris explains.
In the reviews of people who took the tour we read:
‘A brilliant and informative tour. The volunteers that showed us around are clearly passionate about their work, and share the information in a lively and interesting way’ - Jennie Reeves
‘I have had such an amazing experience and have already recommended it to so many people. It is so lovely to see how much the volunteers care for the turtles. […] I enjoyed every minute of this tour and I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to visit. Hopefully one day I will return as a volunteer’ - Hollie Wood
‘Great tour that deepened our understanding about why sea turtles got injured and what the Centre does every day to help them. It gave my girls (age 8 & 10) some food for thought and ideas about what they can do in the future’ - Jermaine Chow
The Sea Turtle Rescue Centre is located at the 3rd Marina of Glyfada (TRAM stop ‘Paleo Dimarhio’). There is partial access for wheelchair (observation deck and toilet).
Free admission to the public on weekdays: Monday - Friday 13.00 - 15.00 and on weekends 11.00 - 17.00, with the possibility of a brief tour by a volunteer (up to 15 minutes - Greek and English).
The”Sea Turtle Rescue Tour” is available upon reservation, for groups of 1-8 people (not counting children under 4) who will make a donation for the care of a sea turtle for 10 days (50 Euros). The tour takes place at specific times every day, outside free admission hours, in Greek and in English and it is suitable for adults and children. It lasts 45 minutes and includes information about sea turtles, their rescue, care and protection of their nesting beaches. More information and reservations are to be found online.
Contact info: 210 8982600 (Monday – Friday, 9:00-17:00), rc.officer@archelon.gr
Note that the Rescue Centre will be closed for the following dates: 24/12/2022, 25/12/2022, 26/12/2022, 31/12/2022, 01/01/2023, 06/01/2023
This year our gifts also give back a bit of history!
The «different» project for sea turtles in Amvrakikos Gulf
RECENT NEWS
- OUR NEWS15/09/2023
Lilo, the tiny green turtle, made it back to the sea!
In November 2021 a small green turtle arrived at the ARCHELON Rescue Centre with a very serious head injury. After almost two years of intensive care, one Wednesday in September 2023 he was finally discharged and returned to the sea!
- OUR NEWS17/08/2023
World record of 37 years of reproductive life for a loggerhead sea turtle in Zakynthos, Greece – increased number of nests this summer, says ARCHELON
ARCHELON – the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece announces an important outcome of the systematic work of this year's sea turtle nest monitoring team in Zakynthos. Based on their long-term observations, ARCHELON managed to certify a new World Record of reproductive activity for loggerhead turtles.
- OUR NEWS07/08/2023
ATTENTION! Sea turtles are not pets: Do not touch them or feed them!
The Municipality of Eastern Mani and the Port Authorities requested the assistance of ARCHELON to inform beach users in the area of Limeni, near Mani, where 35 new incidents of sea turtle attacks on sea bathers have been recorded during this summer season. These are added to the already long list of 200 such records of previous years found in the nearby Health Center in Areopolis.
- OUR NEWS01/08/2023
Interview with a volunteer: Lea Heinen, Rescue Centre
Interview with a volunteer: Lea Heinen, Rescue Centre Lea shares her experience volunteering at the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Centre: “I think when a turtle starts to eat after a month of trying, when you can see the improvement or healing of a turtle's injury and when a turtle is released back into the sea, into its natural habitat, into its home - then you know that you are indeed saving turtles”.
- OUR NEWS21/07/2023
Kids Beach Competition 2023: Make your own little sea turtle with natural materials and send us a photo!
Help us spread the message about the protection of sea turtles by making your own baby turtles with natural materials you will find on the beach. Sand, stones, pebbles, shells, seaweed, sticks and whatever else you have available, can be transformed with a little imagination! Take a photo of your work and send it to the ARCHELON Beach Competition.
- OUR NEWS18/07/2023
Paving the way for next steps in conservation of marine turtles in the Mediterranean region
Last week the partner organizations of the project “Conservation of Marine Turtles in the Mediterranean Region” met for the 9th Steering Committee Meeting. The meeting was organized by SPA/RAC in the area of Kyparissia Bay, Greece on the 4th and 5th of July, 2023 in collaboration with ARCHELON.
- OUR NEWS04/07/2023
An offer to EXPERIENCED volunteers: You can now join the beach projects for 2-3 weeks!
The time is just right to join the projects again, even if you have only 2 or 3 weeks of available time. This offer is valid for August, September, October 2023. Apply through our new website and find out more about the dates and places you can join. More…
- OUR NEWS22/06/2023
The nesting season has begun! Learn what you can do if you find sea turtle tracks or nests on the beach
The nesting season for the loggerhead sea turtles has begun. The nests that are made in the areas monitored by ARCHELON and other collaborating groups are already being recorded. However, if you find tracks or nests on other beaches, you can also participate in the effort to record and protect these sporadic nests. Find out why it's important…
- OUR NEWS16/06/2023
A breath away from registering a new world record on the years of known active reproduction of a loggerhead sea turtle is ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece
This is the year when ARCHELON, a nonprofit environmental NGO, is celebrating 40 years of continuous and targeted action to save sea turtles in Greece and the Mediterranean. At the same time, the project teams of ARCHELON are ready to register the longest period of active reproduction known for the Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), in case it happens this year!
- OUR NEWS15/06/2023
A Saturday unlike any other - Turtle Festival 2023
ARCHELON invites kids and adults to celebrate the environment and the sea in an exciting way at the "Sea Turtle Festival" on Saturday, May 27 at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in the 3rd Marina of Glyfada.
- OUR NEWS07/06/2023
Announcement for all past volunteers of ARCHELON: Shall we meet this September?
Highlight: Hi everyone! This year marks 40 years of ARCHELON’s action for protecting sea turtles in Greece. During these four decades, thousands of volunteers from many countries joined our sea turtle projects and the Rescue Centre to help save the turtles. Let’s meet again this coming September and celebrate the animals we saved during all these years.
- OUR NEWS07/04/2023
Waiting list for schools that want to visit the ARCHELON Rescue Centre
Thousands of Greek students visit the Centre and get informed about the value of protecting the environment through contact with a particularly beloved animal, the sea turtle. "All the available visiting hours until the end of the 2022-2023 school year have been booked, but there is a waiting list that is activated in case of cancellations", says Anna Kontoleon, ARCHELON’s Education Officer. More hours for online tours may be added in May if volunteers become available.
- OUR NEWS28/03/2023
People are supporting wildlife conservation
The donations and "adoptions" made at the Rescue Centre in Glyfada, Attica and at ARCHELON’s field projects in Zakynthos, the Peloponnese and Crete in 2022, reached the amount of €350,000. We did a lot last year thanks to all these people, who also made it possible for us to continue this year.
- OUR NEWS24/03/2023
Gail Schofield
We learned with deep sadness the passing away of Gail Schofield, a pronounced sea turtle researcher and former ARCHELON volunteer. Read more…
- OUR NEWS20/03/2023
More than half of the rehabilitated sea turtles got released back to the sea in 2022!
The Sea Turtle Rescue Centre of ARCHELON in Glyfada rescues, takes care of and rehabilitates injured sea turtles from all parts of Greece since 1994. More than half of the sea turtles that were under care at the Rescue Centre in 2022 got released back to the sea after reaching full recovery this year! Read more…