Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Review

Newly built expanded aquarium has new experiences for everyone. Fun kids play area, everything from polar bears, tigers and a budgie area to sea otters and muskox.

We love coming here. 4th of july visit was perfect. Not crowded and still so much to learn.

Very clean. Staff was friendly and willing to talk, from a distance! The Pacific Seas Aquarium was phenomenal! The animals were not very active, even hiding! But the walrus and sea lions put on a show! Spent about 3 hours in the park. Well worth the time and money.

An excellent zoo to explore with small children. Small enough to be completely doable in an hour and a half to two and a half hours, with great exhibits. COVID mitigation procedures are very family friendly and effective, leading to a feeling of a private zoo trip.

Wonderful place, very informative keeper talks. Adorable red wolf pups when I went, and lots of information about the different animals.

Great little zoo and aquarium been coming here for years. My children really enjoy it. The the new aquarium is a nice addition.

Was not able to see many of the anmales and didn't seem the ones I did we're not happy would not recommend to anyone to visit

A wonderful zoo & aquarium. Easy parking and great access ... worth every cent! The drive through Pt. Defiance was beautiful.

Love this Zoo one of my most favorite zoo's, I have been to many other ones across the United States and this one always blows me away. Constantly redoing the zoo and taking care of the animals what more could you ask for.

We really enjoyed the aquarium part. I did not care for the zoo part. Animals seemed really lonely.

The new aquarium is so wonderful. It's was very thoughtfully planned out.

My son had a blast. I was really impressed with the facility.

Beautiful zoo. Definitely an all day trip. Enjoyed seeing g the animals

During covid-19 this place didn't have many other people but the coworkers helped us so much and made out time there fun

Closed a lot in the colder months
Call ahead or check online

Nice facility, always a good experience here. Zoo lights are well designed and worth the drive.
Plenty of viewing areas and wide pathways to navigate.

Very crowded and no parking; will avoid visiting on the weekends in the future

Its fun but not all the animals r out nor is it very interactive or easy to c many of the animals plus the construction sucks

Finally! Seaturtles, thank you for an awsome time Point Defiance!
I missed them sadly as they were being fed so the drive was almost wasted, but I really like the remodel!
You'll be seeing me again for sure.

Small zoo but they are one if the few places in America that have musk ox. So excited to see them.

Love this zoo. Just wish there were more dining options when we visited.

Disappointed with the aquarium and nothing open for rides on camels or snacks

Lovely zoo, glad I bought a membership! Can see the sound from it. Has good facilities for the animals

Great collection of animals. The aquarium was very nice and the animal exhibits are separated nicely by the hill.

Beautiful location! Aquarium~ fantastic sea creatures along with Zoo animals as their neighbors. Fun

I went to this zoo with my grandchild's school (Idlewild Elementary) and we had a ball. I have been living in WA State since 2004 and this was my first time going to the zoo but it will not be my last. I really enjoyed myself as the kids did also. I really loved the animals but most if all I loved that KID ZONE. LOL

Check out the elephants. The presenter Piper, is amazing. She is an expert, friendly and a real educator.

We took our small children (2yrs and 4months) to the zoo and aquarium during normal hours and then to the zoo lights after dark. We thoroughly enjoyed both aspects! Plus, they have a small petting zoo of goats and a nice play area with slides for the kids. Our toddler loved the slides. Though some of the animals were not available for viewing due to construction onsite, we still had a good time and spent a good amount of time wandering around. Our toddler LOVED the Christmas light display. The staff at PDZ did an incredible job putting together the display. Well done! Definitely recommended, especially for small children!! The indoor carousel was really nice!

I think they do a good job with their zoo. It's a great environment with enough to see. Just be prepared if you go on a weekend, it will be very busy and parking can be challenging.

It's a great place to take the kids. We are pretty happy.

My family and I went to zoolights. It was Amazing.. we had a great time.

Fun with the kids but food there isn't very good and it's so expensive.

We were at several enclosures during feeding time. Great to see how much fun some of the animals are during feeding time. The tricks they do.

New aquarium building and other updates to the zoo. Easy viewing spots of the animals. Great for photographers.

Everyone in Tacoma should visit this aquarium. Just opened September 2018 and has top of the line plummimg that recycles most of it's water making it one of the greenest aquariums in the world. See the cool fish also :)

They allowed Christian missionaries to harass us and did nothing to stop them. They had a loud speaker and signs saying anyone who does not accept their viewpoint is going to burn in hell! They grabbed my arm trying to force me to take their propaganda. The zoo staff needs to keep trash like this from blocking people from getting in or leaving. My kids were really upset. We are standing members with the zoo and this is not something we should have to deal with.

going there during the Christmas season is always magic with all the lights, and has become a family tradition for me too... however, I think this year they might have exaggerated a little bit putting so many lights.

Wow, not the same zoo at all. What happened? No animals. I understand that COVID-19 happened but dang. That was a long walk to see a cool walrus. Won't be back.

Wonderful place for adults only as well as families.

Love this place. Big enough to have a new experience every time. Small enough to do in a few hours.

Very nice exhibits. The polar bears are amazing. I would arrive early as it is very popular.

Pretty clean zoo, had an awesome aquarium and animals seemed pretty active

To be honest, that was the worse zoo that I went to in my life.

This is an organically built zoo. I liked the natural vibe walking around, and I really enjoyed the Walrus! I didn't know they could whistle.

Honestly not impressed. Pretty small and hardley any animals. My 2 year old did enjoy the aquarium so thats a plus. The covid safety was good. The bathrooms were flooded and disgusting. Overall not the best zoo experience and we only enjoyed the wolf and muskoxs exhibit. Wont go back to this one.

Great family trip! Great size zoo/aquarium for kids of all ages, and they are currently working on expansions for this year (2018). We have been several times and have always had a great experience. Clean, great layout, and a good amount of rest areas scattered throughout. A fun kids area with a small play area.

Great experience. The zoo and aquarium were amazing.

Don't waste your time or money most of the exhibits are closed and the ones that were open were for Animals that are mostly nocturnal so most of them were asleep and hidden out of sight

Clean, safe, good parking. A tough walk if you have knee problems because of the steps. Other than that a moderate hike. Great natural spaces and much consideration have been given to the animals spaces. One of the least depressing zoos I ve been to in a while.

Unfortunately several exhibits were closed for maintenance. The new aquarium is beautiful and the kids zone is always a hit.

Not very good for first experience. There is a lot of construction going on and a lot of areas are closed off. Didn't see as much animals as expected. I also visited the website beforehand and they never mentioned they have construction going on and many areas closed off until i got here. The only good thing was the sea aquarium for me. I would recommend woodland zoo park up north, it's very much underrated. I only came here for the aquarium and expecting something different and better but it wasn't. I will probably visit sometime in a distant future again and hope i will have a better experience once construction is done.

Was there long time ago as there was not much animals, few monkeys and few tigers, many goats, owls and peacocks. But still like place and giving 5 start because I was thinking maybe not all was out that we cannot see them. Planning to visit again soon. Peaceful place to spend day.

For being small it's a fun zoo! And they have a shark dive!

Free admission for my son with disabilities, also was for seniors as well! Once a year only but so worth the drive!

Paid for looking at animals that wasn't even there! Waste of money!

Our family's favorite zoo to visit. Love the new aquarium!!!

Used to be an absolutely beautiful place but now it is poorly maintained. Severely disappointed.

Always enjoy this place. Christmas lights are a treat.

Very small zoo. Everything seems kept up. New aquarium. Food is pretty good. Just don t expect to spend a full day here.

Fun place! Didn't get to see a lot of animals the day I went.

They neglected to mention that they were under construction so there wasn't going to be as many animals as there should be my waste of money I could have went to the Woodland Zoo and seen a giraffe. And not to mention the barn owl that they had is fake it wasn't even a real bird