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Honolulu Zoological Society
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
36 reviews for Honolulu Zoological Society
I figured 750,000 visitors a year can't be wrong, and while small (42 acres), the price of $8 bucks is right.
Okay, let's start with that I love zoos. Aside that it's sub-tropical and animals don't seem to belong locked up in cages, I enjoy going to them. And while I had free admission, the time was no less special.
The zoo is deceptively large, especially if you're used to driving the streets around it. I spent an easy 4 hours visiting every exhibit without water - hint...bring water. The zoo is a great place for children and can easily be traversed with a wheelchair, is clean, and the landscaping is great. Sadly, the same can't be said for the cages - partly because of the humidity and temperature I'm sure, but many seemed to be really dirty...even for being a zoo.
The exhibits were great and animals were lively. Monkey and turtle lovers will enjoy, and having spent quite a bit of time in the water with turtles, was amazed at the size of some of the land turtles. Zebras were munching away 15 feet. A gorilla kept ramming its body into the wall. A hippo swam alongside the window doing who knows what.
Fortunately for me (and not so for the Honolulu Zoo), I've been to some great zoos - Belize, Woodland. While not in the same class, it does well for a small zoo and surpassed my expectations. If you're looking for a family activity in Waikiki or are just curious, it's a good way to spend the afternoon at least once.
Let start by saying there are many wonderful zoo's in the uNited States that out shine this one. I grew up going to the San Diego that is known worldwide for its natural settings and amazing collection of animals. The Honolulu zoo is very small and can be seen in 2 hrs or less. The exibits were sad, to be frank. The elephants were being contained in a tiny old school, 1940's type enclosure that did not even have a watering hole. The only area that was semi uncruel was the African exibit where the animlas were able to roam free. Honestly, the animals here looked sad. On the plus side they are slotted to begin work on a new and greatly improved elephant enclosure.
The price is cheap, military get in for free, and the plants are really the highlight of the zoo. It is not a must see, but also not a total waste if you enjoy roaming aroung in a lushly landscaped park setting with monkey's howling for help in the background.
I love animals...and for only $8, you can walk through a pretty substantial space and see creatures from all over. It's small, but you're on an island, where most people or creatures would prefer to not be in cages, so I didn't expect much.
The lemurs were hilarious, the monkeys (and their monkey hole they liked to crawl in and out of) were entertaining, and the magical Sun Bear--the only reason i wanted to go--was there, although very shy. The peacock was milling about (rocking out) and the cheetah was pretty amazing. There were no real stand out or exotic animals, but a nice way to spend the morning.
There was a field trip the day we went, and it was also oppressively hot, but we could walk to the zoo from our hotel and stroll by the water, so with every minus, there is a silver lined plus.
Sorry, zoo. It's cool that you were $8 and all, but half your exhibits were closed, you were hot as shit (well, given it IS in Hawaii, but damn!), and very small, but it just made me appreciate the San Francisco Zoo that much more.
Don't get me wrong, there are still animals here and it's good to walk around and look at the animals for the price, but if you've already been to SF Zoo and come to Honolulu Zoo expecting something more or different, then you'll be completely disappointed.
My Opinion/Story:
INTERESTING!!!
It's been a long while since I've been to a zoo and seeing all the birds walking beside you is quite weird. It's also nice to see all the zebras, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, peacocks, and other animals around. It's also nice that my husband finds all the primates quite entertaining. I was quite disappointed not to see the Lions and Tigers. I still feel bad how these animals are caged/locked up when they could be free in the wild. But it was a nice day and we had a great time.
I tried to walk in with an open mind, really I did. After visiting zoos in California (Oakland, SF and San Diego) I knew I had to walk in with no expectations or else I'd be setting myself up for failure. Sigh... lets just say that I'm glad we got in for free (Military ID = FREE ADMISSION).
We took our time and even then we circled the entire site, played in the children's area, sat and enjoyed the play area and made it out of there in little under 2 hours. The exhibits are sad, small and spread far apart from each other. We went on a really hot and humid day. There are random patches of shade under the bigger trees but dont bother sitting at a bench, the fire ants will get you! Seriously.. the grounds were all covered with fire ants waiting to have you for lunch. We kept moving.... closer.. and closer to the exit.
The only place onsite that was actually decent and entertaining was the children's area! That was also the only area onsite with CLEAN bathrooms. They have an amazing collection of Koi fish paired up with African cichlids in this cylinder like tank. It was shaded around the koi tank so I set up shop and ate our snack there before leaving the zoo.
Only other cute animals there were the Lemurs. My daughter got a kick out of them, pssh.. that was about it. As we left my daughter asked, "Mommy.. was that all? Really.. it was?" hahaha
I really enjoyed this Zoo.
It took me about two hours to get through the whole thing but I did stop to read some of the interesting facts they post near the animals. There was a little bit of everything and the Zoo is well kept in my opinion. The animals were quite active during my visit which I liked and they didn't seem as confined to previous Zoos I've been to.
The Zoo is small but if you take your time and really "savour the moment" so to speak, you'll have a great time. I saw a comment earlier about someone being hot during their visit and all I have to say to that is... It's a ZOO. Do you want air conditioned sidewalks?
One SMALL downfall was the amount of ants I encountered there. It's not a huge deal but anytime I rested my arm on a poll, I would have a colony on me. Also the cost to get in for the out-of-state people was $12 dollars, not the $8 I seen posted. Still cheap but just a heads up.
Something I thought was pretty cool to see apart from the Zoo was when you looked up in one direction you could see big sky scrappers and another direction would have mountains.
All in all, great time!
We wanted to do something different, so we decided to come here and walk around. My boyfriend used to come here all the time as a child but hadn't been here for like 15 years...so it was a long time coming.
It was great that it was only $8 for adults - as compared to the like..$25 admission to the SF zoo. It was the perfect day to go, sunny and warm, and during a weekday so it wasn't crowded. A few tourists and some families - but we definitely had all the space we wanted to and we never had to fight to see the exhibits.
I wasn't expecting it to be a HUGE zoo since, duh, its in the middle of honolulu which = very limited space. But it was the perfect size to walk around and see all the animals without being completly exhausted. They have some cool animals in the Africa section - giraffes, rhinos, hippos, zebras, cheetahs, etc. Not bad!!! The scenery is so beautiful too...with the natural trees/plants from Hawaii in the background of many of the pictures. Part of the zoo, all the pictures have Diamond head in the background.
Great place to spend a few hours to people watch/animal watch/enjoy the weather.
When I came here, I was caught in a torrential downpour. I stayed the entire time. The zoo isn't too big. I imagined it to be larger. Location is very close to the ocean. My concern was for the animals. Most of them look pretty pissed off.
"In the zoo, the mighty zoo,
the lions look pissed today.
In the zoo, the quiet zoo,
the gorillas look pissed today.
Near the ocean, the peaceful ocean,
the monkeys look pissed today.
Near the ocean, the quiet ocean,
the tigers look pissed today."
And, that's my song review to the tune of "In the Jungle".
This zoo is pretty cool. Caveat here is I haven't been to many zoos. I didn't expect to enjoy this much, but thought I'd just check it out since it's so close to our hotel. We had an awesome time at the zoo. They definitely have a lot of things for you to look at. The zoo is super chill and it wasn't crowded either.
Within walking distance from many Waikiki hotels, the Honolulu Zoo is nice excursion during your stay in Honolulu. It is a small zoo by comparison to many other US cities. They have a light showing of larger animals - but the zoo excels at birds. If you are a birder this zoo is a must see. They have a large variety of stunningly beautiful birds. You can easily see the entire zoo in a few hours. As you leave the Zoo, be sure to hang a left and walk around the exterior fence line to the east of the zoo. Many street vendors and local artists set up shop along the fence. Also within walking distance is the Waikiki
Aquarium. From the zoo walk to the beach and hang a left. A short walk down the beach you will find the aquarium
Oh Honolulu Zoo, I do miss you. When I lived in Honolulu, it was one of my favorite places to take a walk. It's surprisingly large and there's lots to see. I remember that on one particular day I saw humping tortoises making the funniest grunting sounds and a little monkey molesting a toad. Ah the memories...
The zoo is walking distance from the Waikiki hotels and admission is reasonable at $8 for non-kama'aina price.
I love how there is a full-fledged awesome zoo in the middle of Waikiki in walking distance of the main drag and beach. I'm so glad we were able to go there for a couple hours on our last trip between our inter-island and long wait for our main island flight. For only about $7 per person, this zoo is a find.
It has such an awesome variety of animals: birds, tigers, gorillas, giraffes, elephants, pigs, goats - oh my! We were hoping to see the new Sumatran tiger cubs, but they weren't quite ready for display, and we were saddened to learn that the lone meerkat we saw the last time we were there died....but they are planning a new display for 8 new meerkats soon. We're looking forward to our next visit to the Honolulu Zoo to see the new animals - rawr!
I took a TON of pictures, so I'll let those do most of the talking.
For those people who said that the zoo was small and dinky, what'd you expect? 435,197,826 acres? You're on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. You don't come here to look at contained animals. Chill.
Now I've been to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Vancouver Zoo. Both immensely large with a wide variety of creatures. I love how the Vancouver Zoo makes it cold when you're looking at polar bears and whales, and how they manage to make it freakishly hot in the 'jungle.' But that's not taking anything away from my experience at the Honolulu Zoo.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed myself a lot more than I thought I would. (Apparently I didn't like it so much when I was younger.) We mainly came here for my daughter, who loves our dogs at home, so we thought she'd enjoy different kinds of animals. I think I had more fun than she did. However, I experienced something that I don't think I should have.
Boy: "Mom, I need to shi shi."
Moments later, as I'm leaving the area, I happen to see... a butt. A naked butt of the little boy who needed to shi shi, baring it all for the world to see, smiling as he is watering the grass.
Good lord, at least put him in a bush or something!
Some tips: Try to go early. I mean early in the morning! 10 is good. Parking isn't hell and it's not too hot... yet.
If you can, bring a cooler with lots of water and snacks.
DON'T eat there (well, at the Kapahulu Market inside. The mac in my salad was hard, and our food came out almost as soon as we ordered it. The 'grill marks' weren't convincing. It was like looking at a TV dinner.)
In the 'middle' of the zoo, there is a lemonade stand and Italian ice stand.
If you're bringing the kids, do NOT forget their stroller.
If you plan on staying for more than 2 hours, bring a stroller for yourself!
I have always loved my zoo trips back when I was a kid. And then going to zoos on the mainland/Japan/Canada were awesome as an adult. However, it has been a while since I went to our Honolulu Zoo, but the other day my two best girlfriends and I went. We wanted to see the three baby tigers. Which were the cutest!
While the zoo can't compare to some of the others, it still has its own charms. The set up is still cool looking. And the new remodeled Keiki Zoo is nice. Parents will love that there is a sink with soap at the exit to wash all those goat/pig/sheep/etc germs off their child's hands.
Try going in the morning, otherwise it'll be hot(ter). Plus if you're lucky they may be feeding some of the animals, when we went the monkeys and apes were getting their breakfast, so they were all moving about.
And at only $4/person (Kamaaina rate), it's a cheap and fun thing to do now and then.
I lived next to the National Zoo in Washington, DC for one summer and I never came by though it was free--I just don't like animals.
I did have fun on my recent visit to the Honolulu Zoo, though, even if I was 2 feet taller and 15 years older than everyone there. It's not that big, but you'll be relieved it isn't--you don't want to spend more than 1.5 hours under the Hawaiian sun and put yourself at risk for skin cancer.
This is your average zoo with your basic animals. Don't come here expecting pandas and wombats--you'll be severely disappointed. I absolutely loved the flamingos and the giraffes. At $4 for locals and $8 for tourists, it's an awesome deal on a cloudy day.
As a visitor to Hawaii, the zoo was a nice diversion.
Strong points: Diverse collection of animals, probably good for a couple of hours of exploring. A nice collection of tropical plants can also be found in the orchid garden, "volunteer" garden, and zoo in general.
Weak points: I would have liked to have seen more of a focus on Hawaiian wildlife. A large part of their collection was from Africa (elephants, tigers, etc.),. This is not atypical for zoos, but I was really interested in learning more about Hawaiian species. A good exhibit on the Hawaiian Nene was a nice example of what can be done. In addition to the official exhibits, the zoo was also filled with a number of varieties of wild birds that were often as interesting as the confined animals. A stronger focus on these "common" species would have been a welcome addition to the "exotic" species from elsewhere. Since I'm not from Hawaii, they were all exotic to me!
Note: In keeping with its location in Hawaii, the zoo intentionally does not house cold-climate species. So you will see tigers and elephants and the like, but don't expect penguins or polar bears.
I haven't been here for maybe 20 years when I was still in Elementary school. I finally got a chance to visit it again and it wasn't as bad as I though! I was kind of trying to avoid the place over the years thinking that it isn't really that interesting.
I paid $4 local rate which is definitely worth the price. I spent almost two hours at this place. The place is huge, though a lot of it is like fields and parks. There are a lot of animals, though there were some that was pretty disappointing. I wasn't able to see the tigers. Not sure if they were hiding. The two crocs were sleeping (or dead??). Some of the exhibits were under construction or the animals were unavailable to view.
The most interesting animals I saw there were the large turtles. There were several of them and they would just slowly walk around in a large circle, one following the other in a line. You could swear that they were robots programmed to do that.
The monkeys were interesting too. One of the monkeys would just swing on the bamboo poles going around in the exact same looping pattern! I swear this little guy was a robot too!
It can get tiring walking around under the hot sun, and make you wanna buy something to drink here. But beware, everything is pretty expensive, from the vending machines, to the small eating area, to the cup of lemonade at the furthest end of the park.
As new parents of a 14-month-old, we've quickly become big fans of the Honolulu Zoo. The Keiki Zoo is awesome. Check out our recent visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/64q4zg
Kamaaina should take advantage of the annual membership...just $25/year. Looking forward to our next visit there.
The zoo was great entertainment for $8 each.
Most of their animals were African, and they had a decent collection of tropical birds from around the world. It was overcast and windy the day we were there, so the animals were out. A banyan tree outside the zoo had a dry spot under it, with no grass, confirming our observation at the Lyon Arboretum.
This was an in-close, intimate setting. At the chimp cage a naturalist was expressing some concern that the chimps would get over the fence by the trees. We had just heard of an escape at the San Francisco Zoo, and every exhibit was being reevaluated. There may be some modifications for this zoo in the future.
The gharials were fascinating; I had heard of their endangered status. The various small antelope species from South Africa were also amazingly interesting. Indian elephants attracted some curiosity. They had only male meerkats, as this species was dangerous to Hawaiian habitat, and for once the natives were NOT interested in breeding them.
The Three Secrets to a Successful Relationship:
1. Let your then-boyfriend give an improptu post-last call meat flute lesson to a trick.
2. In the back seat of a car parked in the zoo lot.
3. While you're in the car.
Memories.
Whew - The zoo wore me out!
So much to do and so see. I didn't even want to take my afternoon nap!
The open air format and easy climate of Honolulu make this one of the more pleasant zoos to wander around. The animals seem to naturally thrive in this weather and don't seem all caged up and sad the way they do in most zoos.
You are so close that you are able to touch most of the animals, including turtles bigger than my car, and some unassuming crocodiles - good thing there are signs all over saying not to touch them cause otherwise we'd have a lot of bloody hands lying around Waikiki and that's not good for tourism.
Make sure you stop and say hi to my friend who lives at the zoo. He's a White Handed Gibbon who likes to swing around, eat snacks, and lay in the sun. I feel that we would be so tight if I lived in Hawaii.
My cousin & I were screwing around Waiks & both decided this would be a fun way to spend an afternoon, as it'd been ages since either of us had visited a zoo.
Lots of birds, various types of monkeys (I LUV the monkeys), fierce looking tigers, elephants, rhinos, speedy cheetahs, ginormous turtles, alligators, komodo dragons, and cute little lemurs. I wasn't expecting such an array of animals on an island nearly 3,000 miles from the mainland but was pleasantly surprised.
All the cages had signs with factual summaries about each animal and there were lots of shaded areas for people to rest. There was a huge shaded playground near the rear of the park & next to the food hut. Great place for a leisurely stroll & would definitely recommend taking kids.
Pros: Good for kids,and for the whole family.now there sems to be more animals then a couple years ago when I was last there.Discount for locals (the Ka'amaina rate,just show your drivers license or state ID).Playground area for the little troops to burn out their energy.Quite a few shaded areas to take a break (especially good for the older people).You can bring things for a picnic and spend like the entire day there.
Cons:Needs more parking.Kinda expensive at the food court.The peacocks bother you at the food court when you try to eat.The wind seems to pick up a lot in the food court area.If it rains and your (for example)in the safari,you better run towards the middle of the safari where there are some bathrooms, unless people are hiding there aready too,then your kinda screwed.Some animals you get lucky to view sometimes since they like to hide sometimes..Actually this last time we went there (couple weeks ago) I finally got to see the tigers, last several times I've been there I didnt see them,basically Im saying you get your good days, and you get your bad.
I think basically thats it.It is worth the go. Even if you've been there before.Go and see the animals any day is a good day lol.
I've too uploaded some pictures I took a couple weeks ago when we went there for my 8 yr old brothers birthday.
One more thing I'd just want to add though. Get ready to see some dirtiness in there.. I mean the water is always so greenish...
Some 2678 miles from home we found ourselves in the middle of the Honolulu zoo, this is located on the Diamond Head side of Waikiki and well worth a visit, if you want to take a break from all the "beach" type activities.
All I can say is, gads was that place HOT! An Africa hot, PLUS humidity! I needed to seriously take a nap after that visit. PLENTY of walking and thankfully all the paths are paved, so if you have a stroller for the little ones or for those somewhat still small, BRING IT!!!
This is a nice small sized zoo, thankfully, any larger and I would have passed out from the heat! Just not enough places to sit under shade.
It was nice to find the Italian Ice stand mid-way through our safari! Plenty to see and do for the little ones, for the adults it was nice to be able to feel/smell right up and close to the animals.
We even got to see the State bird, the Nene,http://www.aloha-hawai... up close and personal.
Parking is somewhat limited, if you are staying close by, walk or take the bus.
Simply said ~ I enjoy going to the zoo! Zoos and aquariums are popular sources of education and recreation for people of all ages, don't you think so?
My main attraction are the Orang Utans; Rusty and his female companion, Violet.
FYI: The name Orangutan means "man of the forest" in Malay. The Orangutan is the largest of the tree dwelling apes of Southeast Asia. Orangutans live in the tree tops of the Southeast Asian tropical rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo.
Haven't been here in YEARS, but decided to take out of town guests here with their 3 kids.
We went in the morning before it got too hot, and even then, it was a pretty sticky day. Walked the entire park in less than 2 hours. Some of the exhibits were empty, especially in the Savannah part, and while much has been fixed up since I last visited (10 years+ ago), there are still some aging exhibits that I remember from when I was a kid (ie - Reptile House...dark, dusty, and hard as ever to find them creatures).
The kids enjoyed themselves quite a bit - very excited to see peacocks running about in the open areas. Turned out to be a great way to spend the morning. The playground was great, and the Keiki zoo was a lot of fun. Lots to see and do, pet and play...and places to wash up after touching all those animals. We all loved the Koi pond - that was a great exhibit and great photo op of the kids who crawled thru the tunnel to pop out from the center of the pond...with all the fish swimming around them.
And we DID luck out to see the tiger on the prowl...
Lots to see and do for kids, and an easy zoo to cover in a morning's outing makes me rate it 4 stars.
I was really disappointed with this place and I feel bad for giving such a negative review. I love going to zoos and was excited to come here, but why were more than half of the exhibits empty??!! I even felt bad for the animals because they seemed lonely and hungry. Their cages were not well-maintained.
This has lots of potential, so I hope I just caught them on a bad day.
A luscious green park with your typical zoo animals. The tiger even had newborn cubs; unfortunately they will not be on "display" until after Thanksgiving.
Small zoo. Some of the cages/enclosures had nothing in them. Elephants were chained by the ankle..it might have been because they were getting a bath..I certainly hope so. I was also sad to see a lot of the animals solo. They needed a companion in their enclosure.
I enjoyed the bird display most. The african ground hornbills are the coolest and weirdest birds ever. They hop around, are the size of a small child, and have these huge eyes with long eyelashes. Probably if they had let me take one home I could give this zoo 5 stars.
The Kona winds have arrived and I'm off to the zoo.
The highlight of my visit was the presentation by one of the staff at the chimp enclosure. He discussed the chimps individual behavior and the interactions within the troop. That alone was worth 5 stars.
At the entrance there is a sign telling of the days presentation time and place.
I was at this zoo years ago. The depth and breadth of the zoo has improved significantly.
Small, dinky zoo. I think it took us 2 hours to walk around the entire place. It's close to the ocean so you get the sea breeze as you look at animals, so I guess that's where the 2 stars come from. Make sure to wear sunscreen!
My brother was afraid of this zoo. He was 20 at the time and was afraid the animals would climb over their enclosures and attack him. While the zoo may seem open-field, I guess he didn't see the ditches between their habitats and the walkways. Good animals, but you really want to go to Australia for no-cage zoos with kangaroos, emus, birds, lizards, and everything walking all over each other. -Matt
Living in St. Louis which is the home of one of the best zoos in the U.S. (besides the San Diego Zoo) myself nor my husband were not impressed. This zoo needs a lot of work. Of course our children enjoyed themselves - and that's all that really matters.
The Honolulu Zoo is pretty big compared to the zoos of larger cities. The exhibits are also really good! I was quite surprised by the size (little nooks and crannies) and the number of animals they house. We spent an entire morning and part of an afternoon there. It was your typical Honolulu weather -- humid and very warm -- so I was exhausted very quickly. Make sure you bring lots of water and snacks. A picnic is also nice as there are tables situated around the place for you to do just that.
visited 1 day after the tiger attack at sf zoo so everyone was talking about IT. small zoo, great for keeping kids entertained for the afternoon especially when the only thing they want to do is hang at the pool (you go all this way, and they want the pool not the ocean, might as well find a hotel nearby home & stay there! they wouldn't know the difference).
