The Santa Barbara Zoo Review

Loved the fact that it wasn't a huge zoo & yet there were a great deal of amazing creatures to admire

I love this place. ... They are doing a great job there. ..

Beautiful Zoo right off the ocean natural lagoons animals with great habitats kid-friendly to the max

A small, quaint zoo that was clean and nice to check out

I love Santa Barbara Zoo, the perfect place for multi generational enjoyment for a day trip

The zoo is nice. I have been here at least 2 times. Both times I had a great time. The animals were out and you are able to see most of them. The penguins are so fun to watch and were very active

Very fun, it's a little zoo and can be done in a few hours. They did however get rid of their red panda which made us sad.

Gotta ride the train! Great place to spend the day! Get a season pass!

This is a small zoo but very beautiful and across from the beach, so it is "relatively" cool and breezy. A wonderful place to take small children and grandchildren. We have been coming for many years and it always is an enjoyable experience. Four thumbs up (if you count your toes)

Lovely zoo, animals well taken care of. Nice way to spend a few hours.

FOR THE GIRAFFE FEEDING THEY CHARGED MY CARD 4 TIMES AND THEY LADY WAS VERY COOL SAID OUR ERROR YOU WILL GET A REFUND IN THE FRONT CALLED IT IN BY RADIO AND EVERYONE AGREED THAT WAS A MISTAKE BY THE EMPLOYEE!!!!! CARLOS THE MANAGER ON DUTY GAVE ME THIS BS EXCUSE THAT HE COULD NOT CONFIRM I PAID ( I SHOWED HIM THE 4 TRANSACTIONS) SORRY I WONT REFUND YOU !!!

CARLOS WAS A PEACE OF WORK FOR SURE NO PROFESSIONAL HE DIDNT CARE TO HELP !!!!

Great place to spend a leisurely day. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. The animals are well cared for.

A wonderful little zoo! Really worth seeing! For the small appetite in between, it is advisable to take something from home, the prices for food are expensive and you will not get enough from the offer.

An okay zoo. If you live in the area, and have young kids, then it's worth visiting. If you are a tourist visiting Santa Barbara, it's not worth your time. Very small zoo with limited exhibits. The elephants and lion died recently. The elephants cannot be replaced. Too bad they don't have more space to expand.

I have seen this zoo change from as far back as the late 70's. Being a native of SB, I love taking my children there as I was taken there as a child, and support this zoo.

Super packed on a Sunday, but it's a zoo, so that should be expected. Compact, but with plenty of animals that actually look healthy and alive, great play areas for the kids.

Beautiful zoo! The train ride is very informative. The exhibits are well kept.

I visited the Santa Barbara Zoo with my family and we had a great time. The zoo is not super huge nor very small. The prices reasonable in my opinion.

The kids had lot of fun seeing all the different kinds of zoo animals. The park was clean and maintained well.

We enjoyed the visit and would visit again when we are back in the area.

Even it is the small zoo, but the kids can have a lot of good time there

Great place for kids to learn about animals from around the world. Grounds who are well-kept in animals appear to well cared for.

Visiting the lagoon of ducks remembering bygone days when they work the restaurant next door

We spent the day at Santa Barbara zoo awesome place to be for kids and families lots of activities to do. You highly recommend if you're visiting Santa Barbara to try to go to the zoo

Really small but nice for the kids can be done in about 3 hrs moving at a nice slow but steady pace

Great zoo for the price. I wish they'd get some capybaras though.

Good diversity of animals and activities for a smaller zoo. Easy to see everything in a short amount of time, and great for young children.

Small zoo with lots to offer. Good exhibits, clean grounds, get there early and feed the giraffes

Love this zoo. The exhibits are well set up so it feels like were just peering into these animals habitats as if they were in the wild. Their events are fun and the children always enjoy them

Very clean and well maintained. Good children's play area to deplete their energy. I like this place more than the LA Zoo.

Love coming here because you get the zoo with some great animals and the view of the beach as your back drop. After you can cross the street then play in the sand and water. One of my favorite relaxing places to go.

Disappointed that natural habitats are not provided in the info signs. Also many animals were not viewable, exhibits closed. Not sure what's going on there.

Great variety of animals. Some parts could use a new coat of paint. Some animal enclosures should be more natural looking. Gibbon area is awesome!

Had a great time with my grand kids. Beautiful day and really nice people..

Loved the zoo born and raised in Santa Barbara, when I got to the zoo I asked for one ticket for myself he asked how old my daughter was I said one, he then asked she s one? I said yes I said she is one. I asked if he needed her insurance card or some sort of proof since he didn t believe me. He gave me a dirty look and said no. Sorry my kids tall! So so rude!

The zoo is really small and it's basically for little children. Of course the food is overpriced and they make you pay for parking which is ridiculous because it's really expensive. you should be out in about an hour.

Many exhibits we're closed or the animals had been moved. Beautiful giraffe and lion enclosures!

Very pretty, the atmosphere was calm and the animals abundant. Good price and my kids loved it!!

What a wonderful surprise!
It's so much like the San Diego Zoo only smaller!

One of the best experiences...feeding the giraffes my kids & family enjoyed it.

Smaller zoo compared to San Diego or San Francisco. Layout is great and the location is phenomenal.

This is one of my favorite places to take my kids. They're 7, and we've been going since they were babies. It's a zoo you can see in a few hours with lots of open space to run around, and a play area.

Great place to take the kids to learn about animals

Love this zoo. Small, but it has a great atmosphere and a large central park

I'm sort of over the entire zoo thing. I have been to them all over the country with my now-adult child. Imagine my surprise when a friend invited me to come to this place, one of our local gems.

It's laid out very well, has amazing food (even healthy options) and you can sit on the grass overlooking the ocean!

I would go here even as an adult again in the future with out-of-town guests just to show them what a gorgeous zoo it is.

Almost half of the area is always under construction.

This has to be the most beautiful zoo in the world. Incredible views of the beach, wharf, and ocean, along with all the happy, healthy animals. Small enough that you can see everything without getting totally exhausted, but there is so much to do that you could easily spend the day. My girls also love the play area, especially the anthill slide!

One can view the entire zoo in a day. They have all of the typical animals in a zoo: lions, monkeys, elephants and giraffes. The terrain is not very hilly. The eateries and bathrooms accommodate children by having low seats and vanities. Overall it's a great place to take a young family to.

Great zoo.

Friendly staff

Can see everything within 45 mins to a hour

Has lot of kid activities on the weekend I believe

The landscaping is very nice. The size is not big. The parking fee is $ 7.

SB ZOO thank you for making the zoo experience still accessible during this pandemic. We had a fabulous time and felt all precautions were well implemented and observed! We were as happy as this guy!!

Always such a great place to take the family. Not too big, but with plenty to see and do. Sheep and goat feeding are always favorites along with the Ewwww room. A lot of animals are rehab amimals, but not all. Membership is worth the price if you plan on going even just 3 - 4 times in a year with a family (includes parking, which could add up after a few visits). Truly a gem in SB!!

It was so amazing lives it was really really nice and I so enjoyed feeding

While not as big or well-known as the San Diego or LA zoos, the Santa Barbara Zoo has alot to see and do.

Just a fantastic zoo, great animal enclosures, beautiful setting on a gentle hill, unique flora, worth the visit! This is a true gentleman in Santa Barbara, and a can't miss experience whether you have kids or not! The zoo is strewn carefully across lightly hilly acreage, with beautiful trees, plants and flowers, many native to Cape Town in South Africa due to similar ecology and weather. I like that they don't have too many animals - just the right balance. We brought our own food and enjoyed picnicking on the hill. From the Giraffe's enclosure you can see the Sandy beaches and ocean, quite beautiful. Easy to park and easy to get to, this is a sure win if you're near Santa Barbara!!

I used to go to this zoo about once a month when I was a child about 20 years ago. The community of Santa Barbara is wonderful. My girlfriend and I just went a few days ago and it is still a very nice zoo with lots of fun things to do for the kids and adults alike. The train that circles the zoo was always one of my favorite things to do there when I was a kid and they still have it up and running. Definitely worth the extra $6 to get the "behind-the-scenes" views. This zoo is not as big as some of the other zoos like LA or San Diego, but also not so crowded and since it is only a couple hundred yards from the beach, the weather is great! Parking is $7(or $10 on the weekends), but if you have a disabled placard or plate parking is free(parking is also free with an annual zoo membership... only $110 for 2 adults and children ). Admission is $17 for ages 13-64, $13 for seniors 65+, $10 for children 2-12 and under 2 are free. The zoo is open every day 10am to 5pm. After visiting the zoo, be sure to check out the pier "Stearns Wharf" only a couple blocks north from the zoo. There is a nice aquarium with a touch tank, there are also some nice gift shops, restaurants and boat tours with reasonable prices.

A very nice zoo, family friendly and within Santa Barbara which is a great place to explore.

Always a beautiful fun day for everyone in the family. Cool people, animals, and environment.