For those looking for a more unique and educative activity for their family or friends in Athens, there is now the Sea Turtle Rescue Tour, a special visit to the Sea Turtle Rescue Center of ARCHELON in Glyfada!

Starting this summer, you can sponsor a sea turtle under treatment in the Rescue Center of ARCHELON and have the experience of a special visit in the Center’s facilities and the sea turtle rehabilitation space. 100% of proceeds goes to the sea turtles at the Centre.

The Sea Turtle Rescue Tour became available on July 1st this year, after careful planning and taking into account the need to secure a tranquil and quiet environment for the sea turtles under treatment.

Participants have the opportunity to:

- Tour the facility with a member of our staff or volunteers and see their efforts to heal and rehabilitate injured turtles so that they can be released back into the wild.

- Peek discretely into tanks, meet some of the resident sea turtles, including the one they directly sponsored for 10 days with their visit.

- Learn their stories and leave with the knowledge that your visit gets these fascinating creatures one step closer to returning to the sea!

- Find out more about sea turtles and about ARCHELON’s work to protect their nesting beaches in Greece.

- Enjoy the beach next to the Rescue Center and the lively suburb of Glyfada.

“ Your visit supports directly our efforts to have these animals return healthy back to their natural habitat, the Mediterranean Sea. The daily cost for food and pharmaceuticals for one sea turtles in the Center is 5 €” says Dimitris Fytilis, an oceanographer, who is responsible for the operations of the Rescue Centre.

The Sea Turtle Rescue Tour by ARCHELON is run in English and Greek. A visiting group can be 1-8 persons and children below 4 years are not accounted. The duration of the visit is 45 minutes and the sponsorship is 50€. There is wheelchair access to the turtle viewing deck and soon there will be also a wheelchair accessible toilet.

In 2018 the Centre received 9.000 visitors who received information about sea turtles. A number of visitors rated their experience in Trip Advisor, bringing the Rescue Center to the top 6 attractions in Glyfada!

Bookings are available online: https://archelon.simplybook.it.  Information tel: (+30) 210 8982600, email: education@archelon.gr.

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Short note for tour operators and journalists

About ARCHELON and the Sea Turtle Rescue Center

ARCHELON- The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece is a nonprofit Association, established in 1983 with the aim of protecting sea turtles and their habitats. The Sea Turtle Rescue Centre of ARCHELON was established in 1994 and is the first of its kind in the Mediterranean and the only one in Greece. The Centre receives an average of 65 sick or wounded animals per year and its annual operation is supported by 100 volunteers from Attica and all countries of the world. More than 500 sea turtles have been successfully rehabilitated and returned healthy to the Mediterranean Sea, since the beginning of its operations.

ARCHELON’s Environmental Awareness Program for schools is run every year, receiving an average of 10,000 pupils in the Rescue Centre during each school year.

Free admission to the public and short visits is possible every Saturday and Sunday, 12:00 - 17:00, except major public holidays. For the summer season (July 1st - September 15th) free admission is possible also daily from 13:00 to 15:00.