San Diego Zoo Reviews

Beautiful Zoo. Clean and we'll kept. The animals are often traded with the Safari Park. Try the beer

One of the best zoo's I have ever been to on the US. Their light show during Christmas is fun.

Very nice, compares to the big zoos in Anaheim, Netherlands and Prague. Most animals have lots of space in natural looking environmet.
If you visit the zoo, be sure to also see the safari - especially if you feel sorry for the giraffes in their tiny habitat.
I paid full price (zoo, safari and seaworld) my attendand was free.

Great place to visit. Skyfari cable car is so nice, any number of times. We were lucky to see the Panda, which is going to be sent back to China on April 27th, 2019. Aviary zones are really good where you see colourful variety of birds from inside the netted area. Flamingos are awesome. Don't miss the various shows inside the zoo.

Although the Giant Pandas may have left San Diego for their home in China, the San Diego Zoo continues to upgrade its exhibits and each species' environment. Our dearest pandas will be missed, but it's great to see that our zoo is still working harder than ever to improve the lives of animals while educating the community.

So many animals...great habitats... awesome family time!

So much fun at the Zoo with Sara Rostad and Dave! Another great day! The park was amazing, staff friendly and informative. Great weather! 68 degrees with a cool breeze.

Must go if you are in san deigo...they have all the animals, birds... you can spent around 3 4 hours .. take water food with you..

Best zoo in the country. You can easily spend the whole day there.

Top tier zoo. Takes two days to see most of it. Sky tram is nice. 5 of 5 would go again.

This is a very nice place.free parking. I see them wiping down rails, keeping people separated . All good

This historic zoo is quite modern for both the animals and the public. Urbanites need zoos to learn about the wonderful world of nature. Animals need them for conservation, preservation, and animal care. This zoo excels in all categories. And as a botanical garden it is outstanding. A very enjoyable time and learned a lot!

Lots of great habitats for the animals. Good bus tour that was very informative, and the sky tram is cool. We missed some of the animals due to feeding time and they didn't bring them back out but..animals were probably tired, it just seemed early to put them away when the zoo closed at 8. But it was a great time there anyway!

29 Stars! The best zoo in the world...hands down!! Seriously! They have Dr. Seuss level cool bubble breathing dragonflumpers. That's a thing. Look it up.

One of the best Zoo's in the nation. Animals are well taken care of and there is so much to learn here.

Was a nice experience. If it's your first time expect to get lost. Luckily the zoo staff is very helpful and can tell when
someone is lost by the look on their face. I recommend 4 hours set aside to really get a good look at the place. Personally, I did not like the layout of this particular zoo.

it is defenitely the best zoo ive been too, make sure to take the bust tour first!!! 3 stars just because most of the animals are hiding inside their caves so try to go really early or super late

Fun. Easy navigation. Great animals. Friendly staff
Good family experience.

Wonderful zoo that keeps evolving and improving over time.

I took a private tour which was wonderful. Lisa our guide was the best. We got to feed the giraffes.

I was there with few friends for the first time & I had a good time! We took a tour bus seated on the top that will take you around the whole park, we did this to save time > Neat! We took a aerial tramway overlooking San Diego Zoo > WOW! Everything looks small. Loved the bird cage & the exotic plants they displayed.
Didn't eat there but had a couple of beers that run about $6 ea. I think anything you buy there will cast more, we knew that.
I have a few pics from the tour bus I'd like to share.

They really do make it hard to navigate through the zoo. The maps aren't oriented in a way that when you are looking at them, forward is up. The exhibits are also not created in loops, so there is a considerate amount of backtracking through the crowds once the end is reached. In the early portion of the day this wasn't problematic, but as the day rolled on it became quite exhausting. Other than this I did really enjoy my visit to the zoo.

The best zoo I've ever been to! Their mission toward conservation is evident everywhere. They do so much good work and the animals are such a joy to see!

Very clean, nice attractions and animals look very well taken care of

The enclosures are so small. The cheetah doesn't have any grass, just mud

Best zoo I've been to. Many diverse animals. Layout allows you to see them up close. Clean environment. Animals are well taken care of. Bottom line: if you like to look at animals, go here.

What can one say about the SD Zoo that hasn't been said before? Honestly the only negative is that there is just too much to do in one day!

Best climate and great time walking around. This has to be one of the best tourist attractions for San Diego.

This is a surprisingly large zoo. I would recommend spending an entire day to see everything it has to offer! We went with our 18 month old and she had a blast. Very fun place!

Beautiful amazing experience highly recommend any age

I love the animals tho obvi the food os expensive. 1 slice =10$

This was a wonderful trip and a fantastic experience for the kids! Make sure you have a couple days to experience the whole thing you won't get through it all in just 1 day :)

The San Diego zoo is absolutely the best zoo in the country! From the range of animals, to how clean and well kept the facilities are, the zoo always has something to offer for everyone, at almost any time! There's constant construction, work, and repairs being completed throughout the zoo which means that the landscape there always changes fairly regularly. Parking is a breeze, post covid 19, but in general plan to come early and search when the crowds return. have been coming for the better part of 33 years and always am amazed at how lucky southern California is to have such an amazing and beneficial attraction.

We love the zoo! If you are local, get the year pass...you will not regret it. The new area Africa Rocks is amazing. We also love the reptile house!

We love this zoo! We come here all the time! The keeper talks and bus tours are always wonderful!

We Love the Zoo! Especially at the evening feeding time. Most animals are active then.

Large enclosures in the most part. Most exhibits are open with some renovation going since opening in August 2020 again.

Really nice enclosures with friendly staff more often than not. A very wide variety of animals there and I spent 9 hours there and greatly enjoyed it. Would love to go again and highly recommend it.

I love the San Diego zoo
But not during pandemic.
No buses tours, walking 100 acres up and down step hills and many animals were not in their habitat
Kind of a waste of $58
With added pressure of mask police too

By far, the best zoo in CA! San Diego Zoo has so much to see and do! This zoo is pretty pricey but well worth it! There's so many animals and this zoo is huge!The staff are all welcoming and very nice. This zoo is well maintained and clean! This is perfect for the whole family. There's alot of activities and many fun things to do. Plenty of walking here!

Never a disappointment kids and adults both love it. Especially fun if you have a yearly pass and go at non busy hours. Must see if in San Diego!

A bit expensive, but very fun. The zoo has a fantastic amount of attractions (like a waterfall near the penguins) and there are so many animals, way more than the amount at my local zoo. The panda was very neat to see, and the penguins were a hit, too.

Huge zoo lots to do and be prepared to walk up and down hills lots of resting areas. R strooms are very clean and plenty. Very friendly staff. Restaurants area good and kept clean.

Best zoo, my son and I always visit when in the area.

This is a one of a kind place. Great variety of amazing animals to observe and enjoy. Double decker buses provide guided tours throughout the Zoo and there is a Sky gondola ride that takes you above the treetops from one side of the Zoo to the other. Take in a couple of the shows scheduled each day and enjoy the sprawling botanical gardens throughout.
My kids especially enjoy the children's zoo which has interactive exibits, a petting area, as well as a small playground.
The Zoo is always well maintained, clean, has great food options and stellar shopping (souvenirs, games, art, clothing, toys).

Was definitely amazing! More than what I was expecting! For sure want to go back! Certainly worth the 6 hour ride!

It would be more enjoyable if the animals were awake!

Visited on a trip to see my step-son graduate from nearby MCRD. This zoo is HUGE. The animals seem to all be well cared for and the grounds are neat and tidy. The prices are steep but for tourists and locals you can't beat the enormity of this place. Would definitely return.

Arguably the best Zoo in the world I love the gorillas

Wonderful exhibits and animals. You can tell they really care for the animals and their needs.

Amazing place easy to walk but also has trams and gondola with great tours. I live in San Diego and we get yearly passes, summer can get crowded but it is still manageable. Take your time and plan your walk you can get more down hill paths. Remember it's San Diego the weather will be stable you can count on good weather year round a bad day in San Diego is still a great day.

We visited here for our kids, this place was amazing. Kids got to see many animals they had a blast! We had a blast defiantly take your family here if your around this area we came here just for the zoo from las vegas

All day fun. Make sure you have on your walking shoes as this zoo is huge!! Wish the pandas were still on display but there are more than enough animals to see and keep you busy all day.

The zoo was clean, fresh, the animals were active and displayed in nice areas. The vegetation at the park was very nice too.

My wife and I had an awesome time here. We got there right at opening and took the guided double decker tour bus first thing. We rode on the top and enjoyed it but I would suggest sitting on the right hand side as most animals will be to your right during the tour. All enclosures were well kept and most animals seemed content in them. The only animal who seemed to be a little neurotic was the male polar bear. He did the same thing all day long and could probably use some new enrichment activities. I do appreciate that this is a non profit zoo and that they take a lot of pride in their conservation efforts. The plant arrangements throughout the park are truly breathtaking in some places. We stayed from open to close and were able to see about 80-85% of the park. We did not eat at any restaurants while we were here but we did grab 2 beers from the station next to the koalas. The honeycomb beer and blueberry beer were both tasty! This is definitely the best zoo that I have ever visited. Up until this visit, St Louis held that spot for me. Thank you for the awesome day and keep up the great work San Diego!

It is way too crowded. They need to restrict amount of visitors allowed in at one time. Also standing in line for a restroom for 15 minutes is a bit ridiculous!

I am generally wary of zoos, as they get bad reputations for a reason. However, this zoo is amazing. Lots of space in each exhibit as well as between. Just walking around the beautiful landscaping is fun, but throw in baby koalas, pandas, tons of different beat species, lots of shoes and monkeys, and you've got a full day ahead of you. Being in your own pack lunch or choose from any of the many stands. They also sell delicious SD craft beer all over the park, so there's something for everyone! If you've been to the SD Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, there isn't a ton of overlap of species. So still work checking the original zoo out.

If you re in San Diego for at least 3 days, spend one of those days at the zoo. And take a bus tour first! They are very knowledgeable and the 40-minute ride will provide a solid overview and orientation.

One of the best zoo's in the world. An amazing assortment of species and many options to get around and view as much as you can.

Enjoying the scenery shower the map and layout are complicated. Lots of walking. Some really cool animals. They have a baby hippo.

I love the zoo and have been going here for over 20 years. My elderly Mom loves it and we used the wheelchair from the zoo to make her visit more pleasant! The grounds are beautiful just to walk through. It s best not to go in the heat of the day as the animals seem to be resting then! Makes sense!

This zoo is amazing. Plenty of animals to see and the place is huge. You gotta ride the skyfari which takes you above the zoo and gives you a bird's eye view of the whole place.

The best zoo I ve been to - could be the weather that makes the zoo stroll so nice. All the attendees are wonderful! Especially the volunteers they re a great and essential group that makes this park a top attraction! The panda attraction had a line - it was a bit overhyped in my opinion but it was still good!
Credibility - Been to 3 other zoos.

CRAZINESS I WAS SPEECHLESS
So I was told over and over again by one of my friends that you could find something here that is truly exotic. Something that many people do not even think exist anymore: dinosaurs. I came here and saw so dinosaurs. I think someone was pulling my leg. I felt very let down. I can't believe I believed them. They really tricked me good. The only thing that lifted up my mood was the cotton candy that someone sold me here. Otherwise I would have left in tears. I wanted to see a freakin' brontosaurus.

We had a great day. Lots of people to give advice and directions. Take advantage of the guided bus tour to get a quick overview of the zoo. Then take advantage of the kangaroo zoo bus they can take you from different locations around the zoo. Lots of assistance to give you information about all the exhibits. Would bring my own drinks and some snacks food was pricey. This was a great trip worth the admission price.

Love this place it is world class. The gold standard that other zoo's try to emulate.

Great zoo! Clean facilities and friendly staff. Kids had a great time, stoked the whole time, all the way until closing. Parked close on a Monday (perfect day to go) and walked a short distance to the entrance. Food was pretty good too! And what's more, the zoo is close to other attractions like Balboa Park and museums. Just a cool area to visit.

One of the nicest zoo's in the world. Unfortunately the panda is gone so not at attractive as before.

Place is Busy and Huge... Be Prepared for some good walking though.. Seen all kinds of anilmals.. Reptile Housewas Neat and kept the Family entertained.. Heads up, the Food is Pricey.. But usually is in all places like such.. Cant wait till we come back..

Awesome place to visit. The price may seem steep, but you can easily spend the entire day there. Very large range of animals from across the world.

Will go up and above to make visitors experiences a great all inclusive adventure

Of course the San Diego Zoo is an amazing place. The 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the food choices for vegetarians. If you're a meat eater there are plenty of options at every restaurant. If you want an alcoholic drink there are lots of options. But if you are a vegetarian you're options are pretty much limited to a piece of cheese pizza, a VERY DRY veggie burger, or a curry dish. The food they feed the giraffes and elephants looks more appetizing!!!

This is by far one of the best Zoos we ve visited. There a lot to do for adults and children. The food places are great. We had lunch at Albert s Cafe. We will come back with the children for our next trip to SoCal.

One of the best zoo in U.S. (or the world)!!! My legs was sored in the end. It's just too big.

Incredible zoo. So much to see and do here. There are a number of new exhibits since we were there last in 2011. Africa Rocks was really cool. They also have exclusive Stone beer on draft all around the park. What better than to check out the animals and sip on a cold beer.

Awesome time. Expect to stay all day because it is expansive and there are many things to see and do.

Great place. Not happy that we had to wait over an hour for a 35 minute bus tour. And the views of the few animals we saw were horrible. The bus' brakes kept popping which was concerning. Just glad that we were able to see more animals and exhibits on foot.