San Diego Zoo Reviews

It was great but a lot of exhibitions were empty, sections were closed off. This place you must wear comfy attire. It has many hills,its a great place for a family trip.

I really enjoy going to zoo's and this zoo is great. It is huge and seeing everything you would have to come pretty early. Suggest figuring out how to walk it before going if you aren't in town for a long period. Kids will love it and you will get exercise as well.

The premier zoo on the planet. With a world class botanical garden as your surroundings with over 1 million species of plants you can't go wrong. Also for food, consider Albert's restaurant. It is very good and not expensive compared to what you get elsewhere in the zoo.

We have season passes and use them often is a great day to spend the day with the family

One of the best Zoos ever! The pandas, koalas, landscaping & gondolas are just a few of the fantastic features here! Will be returning again!

Massive zoo, tons of animals too see. The earlier you get to the park the better! Reentry is allowed just be sure you have your tickets and get stamped on your way out. Snacks and souvenirs are not too expensive. Tip: Sky lift is a great way to get from one part of the park to the other and it's free. Wear comfy shoes! All staff I encountered very friendly and helpful!

I have an annual pass so that I can visit the zoo and the Safari park as often as possible. I absolutely love the collection s of animals from all over the world, and the way that they treat the animals with love and care. You can experience a pretty decent human-way of harmony between the animals and us.

Awesome trip..wear comfy shoes and take advantage of transportation throughout the zoo

Still a great zoo after all these years... Great updates including new exhibits, restaurants and activities. As a parent it is easy to spend 6-8 hours here. Plus they serve beer at a number of location throughout the park.

I love the new exhibits and updates! The bus rides around the zoo are also pretty top notch :)

I'm not a big fan of zoo's but I've had a lot of people tell me that I need to visit the zoo when I'm in San Diego and it was not a disappointment! What makes it so cool is all the trees, vegetation, and the hills where it's located. Compared to other zoo's, it looks like they care a lot more about the environment the animals are kept in. It's a bit pricey but the cost is worth it including the free sky-ride that comes with every ticket.

I absolutely love the San Diego Zoo! I have come here since I was a child with my parents and now I go there as an adult just for fun. My wife and I purchased the membership so we can go whenever we want. It is the perfect Sunday walk. It's a great time all the way around. Always something different, always something fun. World class exhibits, friendly staff...cant wait until summer when the African Rocks exhibit is finished and ready for the grand opening!

It s a big beautiful park. Lots to do. Lots of people. I would recommend taking the bus first. Some of the animals were hiding so they were not visible. It s great for learning and explore. But it made me realize that I am not a Zoo person. I rather to go to a smaller Zoo or Sea world.

Without a doubt the most spectacular zoo I have ever been to. The spacious grounds are very well laid out. The plants there rival those of a botanic garden. The volunteers there are well positioned and plentiful. They are very helpful with any questions from the nearest restroom to animal specifics to directing traffic. The bus is a very nice bonus as the zoo is huge and can be quite hilly. I also love the sky tram and the enclosures are so well designed that you feel very close to the animals. They obviously take very good care of the animals as there are constantly new baby animals at the zoo of every species. This is an A+ adventures for everyone of all ages

One of the world's premier zoos. Takes a whole day or more to see everything. Extensive remodeling of the zoo over the past 10 years, work continues. First time visitors should take the bus tour, to get a feel for the layout. Built on hills, so good walking shoes are a must. A must see if you are in SD.

Decent place. The enclosures seem very small and crammed together. Location is nice and there are plenty of things to do here and around the park

amazing experience. first zoo i have ever been to and it did not disappoint at all. lots of places to eat and with good prices. plan to visit more often in the future with the family.

To unorganized and walkways steep, go in circles. Food over priced and badly made st the safari grill.

Granddaughter absolutely loves it. It brings me great joy seeing the smiles on her face throughout the day.

Amazing zoo, animals do not seems sad. A lot of hilly walking though so be prepared.

Boring place. Very disappointing place. I have seen this zoo on television since I was a kid. The zoo people didn't do anything entertainment, all we see are empty cages and why?. They said the animals are sleeping. With total of $250+ for a family of five , it's not worth it. Sleeping here sleeping there. I hate this and not coming back.

It's the best zoo I've been to, although I don't go to many zoos but I heard this one is the best. There are many animals to see and the sky fari was great.

Efficient zoo. Don t have to walk far to see the next animal. Very well layout of zoo. Some of the exhibits were down so did not see everything. Heard it s the zoo to check out when you re in San Diego. Glad I did it. However, the animals are not that lively. I was told by a local the night zoo would be a better option as most animals are active during the night rather during day time. Definitely worth checking it out.

Huge animal park. Lots of different animals. Tigers. Bears. Sharks. Fish. Porcupines. Rinos. Birds. Elephants. Pandas. Etc

The San Diego zoo is an absolute knockout. Very easy to navigate, elevators, buses, and sky trams all make this one of the most enjoyable places to walk about. The price may seem steep (it was free for my active duty wife), but it is certainly worth it. Tons of square footage and shops makes this a great day trip where you won't find yourself running out of things to do.

No wonder this zoo is rated so high. A well maintained, well organized, clean five hour family outing. Very friendly staff that is helpful even when the zoo is super busy during the Christmas week. Some very rare animals like the Tasmanian devil, meercats, harpie eagle among others. A must visit if you are in Southern California.

A must go to beautifully designed zoo for it's moderate price. Sweet and helpful employees at the gates, tour bus drivers, and cashiers in stores plus restaurants except for the serious security. Packed parking so make sure to come early. Bus 7 from Downtown San Diego is a great option as well leaves you near the entrance. No overly expensive merch except the food without membership. Trully recommend it for family time vacations.

Great place to spend the day. One of the very few places to view live panda's. One of the best zoo's by far!

Get ready to walk and get your steps in for the day. This place is huge but it is so great. We had an amazing time taking our two year old girl there. The panther and jaguar was our girls favorite. But you can see so many animals. Definitely worth going.

I've seen them line up in the parking lot haven't been in since the covids

Still under construction but love the new exhibits. The fossa was great

Alot of walking but over all it was fun. I came with my family and we all got to the animals we love. Honestly reminds me of the African or Safari of disney world.

Beautiful place, they have all kinds of animal species in proper habitats, they look healthy and happy and the kids love going there

Love this Zoo. Disappointed the Pandas were sent back and the Children's Zoo where the Insect Zoo resided was under construction. Still a good day.

Bring your walking shoes. This place expands all the time. It's very hilly and the exhibits are spread out over a vast area. Very educational and entertaining. Fairly good park food and drinks.. beer too.

I loved this Zoo! Super fun and the animals are well kept which is super important to me. We had an amazing happy day at this zoo! February definitely is a great time to visit this place!

Members for two years in a row. Can't get enough of this place. What sets this zoo apart is the landscaping and the care taken into the animal enclosures.

Always clean, organized, and safe for kids. Very accommodating to anyone with babies or disabilities. I hadn't been here in years so it was a good surprise to come and be able to enjoy a beer in the park. Because of how well maintained and managed everything is, it is worth getting a year pass or membership.

It is my son's favourite place of late :) he wants to visit often

Always clean, with a great variety of animals. Perfect place to take your kids or significant other.

Fun! Newbies to the zoo... take the tram from the front to the back. You'll go more downhill than uphill. Take the kangaroo bus at least once. Definitely need walking shoes and bring water! This is a large zoo... take your time and you'll have a blast! .... did I mention you walk a lot????? 4 1/2 hours I walked 10k steps!!!

This was the best zoo we have been too thus far! This place is amazing, especially with the weather here in San Diego you can really explore the zoo. We will definitely be returning, this is a must do if your in San Diego you won t regret it.

Not worth it.

You will pay about $60 for each adult just to see few animals. Everything that included in the ticket is not available now because of covid-19.

I don t know how they collect money from people with the same price!!

Does not make any sense!!

Hard to get around.tram is fun, hop on hop off bus stops are between exhibits long walks.
Take the 30 minute bus first. Nice overview of
Zoo. Need more directions signs. Zoo map is hard to read lots of volunteers to ask for directions.

Been to multiple zoos around the country and this zoo is by far one of the best! It s so big you need more than a day to see everything. I recommend the bus tour to start so you get a better idea of the zoo layout. Be prepared to walk a lot to see everything and go early.

Great volunteers. Everything is clean and nice. Animals all are well taken care of and have lots of space. Huge opportunities for not only kids to learn, but adults too. A great time.

Parking is free, admission is very expensive. I've been to lots of zoos across the country. This one was the only one I'd been to where I was shocked at the price. The price would not make it easily accessible to low income families and children, which is sad.

I have two favorite zoos so far in America, the San Diego Zoo and Jack Hannah's Columbus Zoo.

In San Diego it costs my family $282 for one day admission to see 99 acres and 3,700+ animals (wiki). In Columbus it costs my family $74.94 for a one day admission to see 580 acres and 7,000+ animals. It's a huge difference.

Nice place to visit sd zoo with your family and friends

Excellent, Like to see happy animals. Looks like they are well taken care of.
Probably the best Zoo we have ever visited.
LOTS of walking !

A great day at the San Diego Zoo. There is something special about the San Diego Zoo, it has endless pathways full of wonderful exhibits. Bring your walking sneakers, water bottle and enjoy the entire day.

Everything there was great! The kids enjoyed watching the animals. We all really loved seeing the cheetahs and gorillas. They were always up and moving and it was very fascination to see what they are like. Some of the animals were sleeping the whole time though and we didn't really get to see much of the but other than that, we have an amazing time there and we will definitely came back!

Amazing! So many animals & things to do. It does get very crowded but the lines moved pretty quickly. Plenty of shade, food & water fountains. Loved the bus tour.

Love visiting the San Diego Zoo. It's such a fun, beautiful place, full of entertainment that will keep you busy for hours! Incredible variety of animals from all over the world, the entire place is very well maintained. I love the fact that the zoo is a nonprofit, it's all about the animals!

Been years. Very helpful volunteers. Great to have returned

We took the gondola ride and the tram around the whole park. The flamingos were gorgeous and so were the peacocks. I loved the aviaries with so many species of birds. Elephants and a lion, antelopes and gorillas and on and on! The zoo is so huge that we couldn't see all of it. Plan on a very full day!!

There is surely nothing I can say about this zoo that hasn't already been said. This is a must visit location for anyone who loves animals and wildlife conservation.

Absolutely love the San Diego zoo. I've recently moved here and it's one of my favorite places in the city. The Zoo is still open even with the whole COVID thing you just have to wear a mask and go through a line and answer the questions before entering. I plan on coming back here again and again and definitely recommend it as one of the things to do if you visit San Diego or if you are in the area.

Great zoo with lots of rare species of animals. Stayed for about 6 hours and barely finished everything.

I've traveled across the United States. South Carolina to California to visit San Diego Zoo! I have definitely not been disappointed!! A must see for everyone!

Great zoo. Everything you could want.
They also have this safari truck thing were you can get up close to giraffe. Extra but well worth it for closeup shots.

An amazing zoo! Hands down a great experience, a little hard to navigate but sometimes that s not always a bad thing- the staff is very attentive and eager to help & share!

The large expanse of the San Diego Zoo is home to an increasing number of Earths menagerie of animals. Many rare ,magnificent and often ill adapted (to humanity) animals from all over the world are housed and bred here. Great effort has been made to make Their new homes here as close to their natural habitat as possible. The enclosures are very clean and beautiful.

To see all the exhibits in the zoo in a one day is a feat. By first taking the Bus tour then the SkyFari will allow you to get an overview of interesting areas and then decide to spend time on the most interesting regions. Recommendations for the Bus Tour :for clockwise tours take the seats facing inside to easily view the majority of the enclosures.

Picnic food items are allowed into the Park and can lesson the $ of being in a Tourist hungry zone.

Pictured : Bai Yun the Panda in enclosure

Excellent experience at one of the world's best Zoos. Well run, clean with excellent animal exhibits in an expansive setting. Lots to do. Budget the entire day to see it all.

OMG best zoo my family has been to hands down. Watch out for the concession stands , they are very pricey buy the ticket is worth every penny.

This has to be the zoo by which all zoos are measured. It's impressive.

The best zoo I have ever seen. Spacious and with a 100 acres, it makes for a great day walking outside.

Out of all the places we could go in San Diego, the beach and the zoo where it. For the price it was well worth it compared with sea world and LEGO land. We are glad we brought walking shoes. And the extra $6 for the 4D experience and bus was worth it. And we only got to see half of it! Would go again.

I've been coming here since 1965 love this place Great place to visit over and over Love San Diego

If you're going to the zoo, plan to reach in the morning, later in the day the animal sightings would be fewer due to the heat. The bus tour was an average experience for us, but if you do plan to take it, opt for the lower deck for a better view for kids. Kids would love the areal tram ride and 4d happy feet movie. Also be ready to wait in long lines if you want to view the panda. Really tiring place for older people.

The zoo is always a great place to go! Any season or time of day. Military is free and discounted tickets are very easy come by. The 'skyfari' gives an amazing view over the whole park and the buses are extremely convenient. My personal favorite is the flamingos who just had some adorable chicks not too long ago.

Amazing place to see most the animals of the world. Lovely staff and volunteers that work their. Family friendly. Highly recommended

Wow, we're used to Reid Park Zoo in Tucson. This is more than 3 times the zoo for less than twice the price! We became members immediately, and after 4 visits in 3 weeks, it's paid for itself. It will take us at least an other 4 for us to have 'seen' everything once. But there is so much to take in that one really can't do it all well and swiftly.

Best zoo I've been too. Went as a kid and loved it just as much as an adult. So much to see you'll need a full day. Couldn't recommend this zoo enough. Animals are most active when it's cooler out so get an earlier start on your day.

First time back since the pandemic. Saw some lively howler monkeys and the tigers were howling. Kids had a great time!

Huge! Spend the extra money and buy the bus tickets. The zoo was amazing staff was amazing and the zoo is so clean and the animals are so healthy

Great zoo lots of unique animals you don t find at other zoos. Volunteers were great as were the kangaroo bus drivers. Only reason not a 5 could be my expectations were too hi but some of the exhibits seemed quite small for the inhabitants and kinda made us bummed.

I love zoos and this is the best. Went in at 11am left at around 5pm. They have just about every kind of animal exhibit. Baboons, meerkat, elephants, leopard sharks, okapi, donkeys, a bird that looks like it just didnt evolve out of the dinosaur phase. These little tiny birds that flutter around the whole zoo. A grumpy old duck that has decided it is the king of the zoo. Flamingos. Various monkeys, apes and other primates. Just about everything.

Stopped at Alfred's Cafe and had lunch. Great food too.

Highly recommend if you are in San Diego. Just plan on a whole day.

Pretty legit zoo. There's a ton to see. Hard to get it all in one day. Definitely a must if visiting San Diego.

Definitely one of the best zoos around! Friendly staff as well! I can't name any negatives about this place.

Enjoyed, felt safe, although it was crowded..we saw security prescence, unlike what I saw at Disney Ca

The San Diego Zoo is very beautiful place with many amazing exhibits and friendly staff. The zoo is kept very clean as well as the animal enclosures. I would recommend that anyone planning a trip to San Diego should make the zoo a must-do.....

We always enjoy the zoo. We regularly get a zoo "Membership" (AKA annual pass), and go as often as we can. The San Diego Zoo is quite literally the best zoo in the world. The exhibits are large and engaging, the animals are all expertly cared for, the zoo is clean and orderly, and there's free parking. It's big, and there are lots of hills, so plan on doing some walking.

There are a number of "back stage" animal encounter programs that are available, and I highly recommend them.