The Visitor Centre in the Cayman Islands is a popular attraction for tourists.
Tortuga has grown dramatically since it was started in 1984.
The Visitor Centre experience includes information on the story of Robert Hamaty.
In 1948, Robert Hamaty was born in Jamaica's sugar belt with rum in his blood - figuratively speaking. He grew up driving a tractor in his attorney father's cane fields, cutting sugar cane and hauling it to market. Even today, he admits "I never got the smell of pure molasses out of my nose.”
But Robert's real passion was flying. After graduating from flight school he joined Air Jamaica and at age 24 became its youngest DC-9 Captain. A year later, he became Air Jamaica's youngest Captain flying a transatlantic route at the controls of a DC-8. In 1978 he joined Cayman Airways and rose to the rank of Chief Pilot. While flying charters on the Bermuda route, Captain Hamaty became intrigued by the number of bottles of duty free "Bermuda Rum" passengers carried onboard. Knowing that Bermuda, like Cayman, has no indigenous sugar industry or rum distilleries, he did some research. It turned out "Bermuda" rum was actually blended West Indian rum, bottled elsewhere, imported to Bermuda and sold legally under a private label - a clever idea with tremendous appeal for tourists.
About that time, he met Carlene Jackson, a Cayman Airways inflight supervisor. This Caymanian lady shared his entrepreneurial spirit and business sense and became his wife and business partner in 1981. Carlene also had a generations-old family recipe for rum cake, which wasn't part of the original Tortuga business plan.
In 1984, while still with Cayman Airways, the couple ignored local skeptics and started a successful rum company.
The Hamatys hoped to capitalise on Cayman's rapidly growing cruise ship tourism industry and lack of duty free liquor outlets for departing passengers. This was already a lucrative business in other Caribbean islands, yet practically untouched in Cayman.
The company started out in a tiny office on North Church Street without a warehouse.
7 days a week | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Last admission at 4:30 PM.
Please note that our Turtle Lagoon closes at 2.30 PM daily.