Great place to take the family & enjoy the day. My best friend, her son,my boys & myself enjoyed ourselves per usual. For those who are new to the area or havent been here.There are tables to have lunch & yes youll have to bring your own lunch but its worth having that quality time. The trails are good to walk & cute animals to see not to mention a nice staff.

Fantastic place, great guides. My teens and I did the guided nature walk, even though the path was flooded from last weeks storm the guide was able to keep our attention and teach us many many fun facts about the swamp land ecosystem. Wonderful place, if you really pay attention and get engaged with each exhibit you can spend a whole day here. Bring a lunch as no concessions are available. Cant wait to go back and see the planetarium presentation also. :)

Calusa Nature Center is a gem!! They are always educational and exciting. Every time we go it is a new experience. The people who take care of the animals love to answer questions and are so knowledgeable about them. You cant beat the price and it includes the planetarium shows and animal talks. The laser light shows are $10 and well worth the price. Get the glasses for a dollar extra it is so much better.

I visited Calusa Nature Center many times as a kid. However, today was the first time I visited the center in almost 20 years. I was excited to see that theyve expanded and are now caring for injured animals and other captive raised animals. They had a wide variety of exhibits on nature and local history, including the Calusa Indians. We loved the raptor aviary and the reptiles. Our son enjoyed the planetarium and the show From Earth to the Universe.We really need to support local treasures like the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium!

What a wonderful time had at the center. The facilities, staff and offerings were awesome and unique. I highly recommend to all, especially families and nature lovers. My daughter and I watched Halloween films at the planetarium and just loved the experience! What a unique setting to watch 50s pulp films. The executive director was so welcoming and made us feel at home. Bravo Calusa Nature Center!! I hope to visit soon again!!

Expected a lot more. I know Covid is going on, but thought we would be able to see other animals. Also, masks are required, but the man at the front desk had his mask completely down and others weren’t wearing theirs.Mostly reptiles with two owls.

We attended the Boos and Brews event as vendors and we were blown away by the hospitality and professionalism. Kaitlin and her team of volunteers made us feel at home. The event was well organized and a lot of fun. The actual center itself is meticulously clean, fun and educational!

The Calusa Nature canter amd planetarium is a wonderful place to learn about nature and space. You will love this place. Fun for the whole family young and old.

Fun for the kids for quick peaceful enjoyment. Animals, trail, the planetarium is great. Very affordable, donate if you want, to keep the fort myers center going ! All good things. Fun shows when the animals come out for live demonstrations.

The nature center is a hidden gem in Fort Myers. So nice to have this much nature in the middle of a city. The trails are great and easy. The nature center is fun to bring kids to and see all the turtles and snakes they care for. My favorite exhibit is outside with the alligators and bald eagle. We need more places like this in the city! I’d highly recommend bringing your young children here for a fun afternoon!

Fantastic. Absolutely love this place. Cant recommended it highly enough! Recently attended for their Halloween Led Zeppelin laser show and it was wonderful. I will be back very soon for more planetarium shows!

My family loves it here. Over the years my kids grew up visiting the animals, going on nature hikes and enjoying shows at the planetarium. From special Halloween and Christmas events to birthday parties and picnics we’ve appreciated the center for years and hope it sticks around for years to come! Please donate to help a local educational cause!

Laser Light Show was great.Pink Floyd. I havent wasted an hour that fast in years. Good price. A nice evening starter.

Nature museum was super awesome to explore. The planetarium as cool as well with a newly updated sound system. They should get the chairs that lean back for the planetarium but other than that it was definitely a fun adventure and the planetarium guy was super fun, knowledgeable, patient, and easy to understand.

Such a fabulous peaceful walk. There is a small dirt trail that is the closest thing to natural Florida you can find. This path is uneven and has roots and other obstacles though, so it is for a person who is a regular walker. The path with the crushed shells is flat, level, and for anyone. The museum has interesting displays. The butterfly screened in area was FANTASTIC! Really worth visiting. Conveniently located, plenty of parking. I became a member, to support it.

The experience I just had at the calusa nature center, was down right traumatizing, to say the least. I am a homeschooling single mother who decided to take her daughter for a day of learning at the center. Due to medical conditions, we are both exempt from wearing masks, which was said to be respected in their policy. Upon arriving I expressed our situation to the woman at the front desk. She immediately began pressing me on political views, and laughing manically when I told her I believe everything will soon be okay in the world, giving out the notion that I was insane for believing so, in front of my 6 year old daughter..she proceeded to insinuate that she didnt believe I sounded like I have asthma, which is immensely unprofessional + completely illegal when it comes to medical rights in this country. When I told her I felt uncomfortable with her actions + that we were just going to leave, but that I first wanted her name to carry out legal measures, she immediately starting manically laughing + screaming that she was now afraid of me! entirely flipping the script..she proceeded to frantically jump up + down, grabbing her neck and face like a lunatic, screaming to the other side of the building that she is scared of me and that I am a pyscho. To the extreme point where her employees had to calm her down and pull her aside. This experience was terrifying to not only myself, but more importantly my impressionable 6 year old daughter who was so excited to spend a day at the center learning about Nature. To bring up political views + insinuate that I was lying about medical conditions is something that should be taking extremely seriously by any establishment. As a being of that nature has no buisness handling visitors during this extremely trying time in the world, where with diversity, some people truly have underlying health issues, it is down right sinister to bully them out of an experience. This woman had blond long curly hair, and I belive her name is susan...though Im not sure as they unprofessionally wouldnt disclose her information, it is vital for mothers like me to be informed of her atrocious pyschotic episode, to prevent this awful experience to ever repeat to innocent beings who are merely trying to enjoy their day. Through the entire episode I remained cool calm + collected, although internally terrifed, as it was highly apparent she is suffering with extreme psychosis. Be warned, this establishment does not value your medical rights + are liable to bully you out of pressure + ridicule. My 6 year old child left with tears in her eyes, as all she wanted to do was learn about animals for her day, in turn the lesson ended up being that, unfortunately, some humans too, have tendencies to act like rabid animals.

The staff was so kind and informative! They took so much time sharing with us. You can tell they love what they do.

Nice place. Vthere are some animals to see such as gators, a large birds, and lizards. There is also a nice butterfly enclosure with lots of butterflies in it. There is a planetarium with shows and animal demonstrations as well. There are some hiking trails but unfortunately right now the best part of the cypress trail is closed.

Great to see rescue animals being well taken care of. We saw an eagle up close. Staff was knowledgeable and very friendly!

My wife Rebecca Gammey Theis and I saw two different Laser shows. One was to the music of Pink Floyd and the other was to the music of the Beatles. Both were awesome shows. The Refractive glasses are worth it at a $1 upcharge. Trust me.

Very poorly maintained. Aviary sad. Birds in distress. Please, do anything and everything to make this better or close it.

Love this place, went to the planetarium show at 2 with my daughter. Was a blast and very socially distant spaces.

I used to come here a lot when I was a kid and I havent been here in many years, it was nice to see that they are still here and its still a fun place to come. The staff here are amazing, lots of fun stuff to see and do! The planetarium is enjoyable as well as the many different nature exhibits. Im so happy to see this place is still up and going.

I wanted to see more rescue animals than I did. I think that overall the experience was fun and I loved the live show with the animals. Great place to bring young children to but adults not so much.

We had a great time at the fall festival hosted here!

Am I the only one who thinks this place is a cult....?... literally weirdest experience of my life.

We visited the park and had a very enjoyable time. The employees were very kind and helpful

A diamond in the rough... Awesome place to escape from the crazy city life...

Awesome experience! Super awesome and knowledgeable staff!

Great place to enjoy animals and nature!

Beautiful and peaceful but need some paint work and more things to do.

Not worth a 1 star rating and definitely not worth your money or time. Nature center had a few reptiles, fish, and turtles. Birds were in small cages in disrepair, as were a few mammals. There were no guides, and many exhibits were without any descriptive info to know what we were seeing. The 30 minute planetarium show was BORING and ran on for an hour. Stairs were poorly marked making it difficult to find seats and exit the show. After being thoroughly disappointed with the facilities and program, we opted for a nature walk through the grounds. Trails were very poorly marked causing confusion as to where we were. With only 15 minutes to closing we attempted to call the center to alert them to our still being on the trails, but they did not answer. When we finally came to a clearing on the trail, we found ourselves at a golf course. When we finally returned to the nature center and complained about the poorly marked trails, they simply replied it is our responsibility to find our way back and they would have locked our car in the lot without searching the grounds for missing visitors on the trails. This could have ended very badly. I have never experienced such disregard for visitor safety and animal welfare!

To be filled in

My kids d s had a great time. They enjoyed the alligators and butterflies

Nature & astronomy combined....something interesting to do for a couple hours. Laser light shows like Dark Side of the Moon,Pink Floyd, play periodically. Go and support local wildlife centers. The price is right!

@Calusa Nature & Preserve..BEWARERegular 3/4 mile walk vs 1.34 wildlife walk.No mention at all of female nesting ALLIGATORS. UNTIL HALFWAY INTO that 1.34 miles!!This should be posted AT THE ENTRANCE OF THAT AREA!! NOT in the middle!I walked as quickly and QUIETLY as possible after and during special prayer to God to please protect me, keep me safe!The fool at the desk (who bragged of being there 15 years) was oblivious of the importance of a warning sign-a big one-with the one here at the entrance.Girl at Lowes also said she will never go back..saw a 20 footer before it saw her!

Such a fun an educational experience! Up close and person would some beautiful animals, the workers are extremely knowledgeable and even checked out a plantetarium show which was an awesome experience! The guy who runs the planetarium show was really nice and knew so much! Definitely recommend this place

Very Clean nature center. Great people. Very knowledgeable. Also planetarium puts on a nice show

Loved walking on the boardwalk. The Cypress trees are beautiful to be surrounded by and getting to see different animals is great also!

Great little science center tucked into the area off Ortiz and the 6 mile. At $10 entry its money well spent for a couple hours of exhibits and trails.

10 dollars per person and not worth it. Very run down place. All animals look sad and enclosed. Not sure if they were rescued. Nature Trails aren’t really trails. On the trail we came next to a school which is private property but how would we know. Go to 6 mile cypress preserve to see animals in their natural habitat and you won’t get lost.

Theater not working. Trails flooded.

Im conflicted. Its a good place for a childs nature day camp maybe? But as a visitor it seemed very run down and dilapidated.Felt right to pay...to help the cause.Didnt notice any scientist on staff to perhaps ask questions.

Very dirty! The trail is creepy, and the grass needs to be cut for sure!

After we paid, we walked around inside. There were just turtles in aquariums. We walked outside and there wasnt much either. There was an alligater in a pond. Then there was a Raccoon, a few iguanas, and an eagle. The butterfly house was ok but very few butterflys. The planetarium was closed so we werent able to go there. Overall, the kids were very disappointed.

Their haunted walk is so scary! I’ve been two years in a row and extremely satisfied each time ! It’s intimate, pitch black, and the actors are great ‘m! Pretty sure I had forty minute heart attacks tonight

I love coming here to blow off steam from nursing school. It is proven that even 20 minutes in a green space can lower your blood pressure significantly. I enjoy seeing Erica the bald eagle and adventuring out to the wild lands trail where I have been able to spot hawks, animal tracks and even a wild bobcat! I go to the community events sometimes to support my sister and they are doing better and better with each event!

Enjoyed the haunted hike for Halloween. Got spooked by the creepy clowns and cannibals! Will be visiting again for next years haunted hike

Planetarium was the best part of the park. Outside areas are in disrepair. Very disappointing.

This is a fine place to spend three hours or so. The animal talks are informative. The planetarium show was fabulous (Stars) thanks to Charlie, who is quite knowledgeable. My daughter and I walked on the Cypress Trail for only a short ways, and my suggestion would be to have many more informative signs about the species of trees and bushes and to also have informative signs about the ecosystems and the part humans play in the altering and destruction of such ecosystems. Maybe there are more signs as you get into the longer trail, and if so, I am very glad. The animal exhibits and the signs posted were very interesting-especially about Erica. Thanks to all the volunteers!

Great place to spend an afternoon. Lots to see and do. Would be a fun place with kids. Nice trails to walk on. Not too long!

Perfect venue for a memorable baby shower! We rented the planetarium for a private showing and then held the baby shower at the Iona house. Our guests loved the show and the house was a perfect location for the special day. We heard so much positive feedback all day about the location and how special it was! Bonus, very affordable too. Thank you Calusa Nature Center!

A great little getaway in Fort Myers! It was only 10$ a person and that let you have access to everything they have. Reptile/snake room, turtles and tortoises, gators and caimans etc and a small planetarium with a dome and three different shows! We saw two shows at the planetarium which were both pretty cool but their projector was pretty worthless. The images on the screen were very dim and blurry. We will probably come back next time we’re in Florida!

This pace need money., or it should just be shut down.the planetarium was was the burliest show ever.

This place wound up being a complete disappointment.

I love it! its so peaceful and the people there are great!

They advertised their Christmas Nights of Lights event hard and heavy on the internet, so of course there was a huge turnout, just as they said there was last weekend.There wasnt enough parking. People were practically fist fighting over parking spaces and then unable to turn their cars around in the narrow lot. For events that big, they should have a parking attendant and CLOSE the gate when all of the spaces are full. Why keep letting cars in when there is NO room for them? I guess none of the employees or volunteers wanted to deal with that.It started at 6:30 and by 7:30, they were already totally out of marshmallows and hot cocoa for the kids. They should have known how big of a turn out it was going to be and planned accordingly.For $5 per person and $3 extra if you wanted your child to sit on Santas lap, they should have been able to afford enough marshmallows and cocoa.It was a little disappointing to say the least. Better planning and organization would have greatly helped.

Ever since visiting this location, here in florida, it stayed on my mind for months. I felt this place was run down and neglected. The raccoons paced and the foxes looked like they had mange. And that huge alligator had a tiny green water pond..I am a huge animal lover, so this saddened me greatly. They really need to raise more money, to improve it.

Very kind inviting staff. The animal presentations are a great experience for kids

Wow. I cant believe this place even rates one star! We took our grandson to their advertised Family Fall Festival. ??Really ?? It was absolutely horrible. Very disorganized with nothing to do! No games as advertised and the decorated trail consisted of some tiny plastic pumpkins hanging from a tree and same crayon-colored cardboard animals placed here and there. Craft tables were a joke. Extremely poorly planned and looked like it was thrown together last minute with zero effort. Planetarium shows were terrible. They did have a pie eating contest and luckily we were in line before they ran out of pies. This was an absolute insult to the public and a rip-off!! Wont be coming back ever!

This is a very nice place, and I love the planetarium shows! Regarding certain comments posted by reviewers, the planetarium has perfectly fine quality, and you cant, barely even tell whats going on, thats a bunch of baloney. The habitats are somewhat small, but a lot of these animals are injured. The volunteers have a passion for this and it shows.

Love The Nature Center, have been going for several years and enjoy it every time!

As a volunteer yesterday I saw children enjoyed the low tech crafts, all were hands on and easy for family participation, not at all slick Disney time crafts. The trails for some children is one of the few times they walk in nature and the minimal decorations gave them a peaceful way to enjoy the shaded walk.The experience at CNCP is deliberately is low key to allow adults and children to curate their own participation and pleasures.

Very friendly staff, took extra time to answer the kids questions. Great walking paths. Awesome snake room, rattle snake even rattles when you get close.

Enjoyed going through the nature center and seeing the different animals, very interesting. the butterfly house and several different species to view. The price of admission was very reasonable, it was an enjoyable morning for the entire family, grandkids to grandparents, there is a little something for all age groups,

The place was very small. Animals cages were small and not a lot of variety. In the butterfly exhibit there was no more than 6 butterflies. The nature trail was closed due to damage from a hurricane that happened last year. The planetarium exhibit was informative. When I arrived there was a dead fox in the parking lot. It has the basic bones. It has room for improvement.

I love what they do there. The people are passionate and caring. The shows and education are great and really help to tell the story about old world Florida. They need more help! If you can spare some time, volunteer. You will feel better for it (I sure do.)

My girlfriend took me here on a date and within a week I was volunteering here. The staff are nothing but friendly and cool people. The place is like a Disney film from the 90’s! I have yet to have a day where I’ve come here and thought any less of this facility and faculty. It’s a wonderful and necessary education center that I hope to see prosper and stay for years to come!

Very nice employees but when it came down to the volunteers they were very Judgmental and it made the haunted walk not as fun.

I don’t usually leave reviews but after seeing this place I have to. The bald eagle they have is in such a small cage that I don’t even think it can fully spread it’s wings let alone FLY. It just looks depressed and hasn’t changed it’s position for an hour since I’ve been here. Are bald eagles meant to sit down for their entire lives and stare at walls? It’s saddening to see what they are doing to this majestic creature.

Great place to spend an afternoon. Tons of rescue animals including a bald eagle!

The Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium is a private, not for profit, environmental education organization located in Fort Myers, Florida. Our 105 acre site has a museum, three nature trails, a Planetarium, butterfly and bird aviaries, a gift shop and meeting and picnic areas.Hours:Monday – Saturday 10:00am-4:00pmSunday 11:00am-4:00pmAdmission:Adult: $10.00Children (3-12): $5.00Free for children age 2 and youngerDiscounts:We offer discounted admission for the following:Seniors :$1.00 off standard admissionMilitary: $1.00 off standard admissionSchool/Scout/Camp Groups: special group rates, please call for more information.College Students (Florida Southwestern College or Florida Gulf Coast University): $1.00 off standard admissionAAA members : $0.50 off standard admissionMembers of the Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA): Free admission through the reciprocal membership program!To receive any of these discounts, please provide ID or proof of statusTo find accommodation in Fort Myers, visit HotelsCombined.

I have lived in Fort Myers for over 30 years. Both my daughter and grandkids really enjoy this nature Center. Theyre is also a planetarium which has laser light shows located on site. If you are going to walk the trails plan on spending at least two hours there. If not at least an hour. They have nice exhibits and even some regarding local items and subjects. They provide homes for a number of injured animals that could not be returned to the wild. Nice friendly staff and volunteers.

I used to go to the caloosa nature center When I was a kid. I was also a high school student in their environmental studies program. This place for hold great memory for me for the rest of my Life. As well as the planetarium.

I loved visiting here as a child and now 30 years later Im bringing my two boys back to enjoy it as well.

I saw very good ratings & a discount on groupon so I decided to bring my family. We thought it would be an enjoyable family time but unfortunately we had to cut it REAL short. No more than 45 minutes. The butterly world is great & beautiful. You can identify almost any butterfly in the model. Some encounters were closed for remodeling or waiting for new habitants (understandable). The biggest disappointment we encountered were the trails because the paths were not stroller approved. We struggled so much through the trails (shells, dirt, trees, grass), we ended up leaving. If they were wooden walkways (like the path from the parking lot to the museum), Id definitely raise stars. There are no changing stations for the little ones, just huts. Seems like this family fun is for kids ages 7 and up. P.s the groupon tickets were not specific at time of purchase, after purchase you will encounter the restrictions.

If you come to Southwest Florida this should be on your list of places to visit. Theyve got lots of local animals, daily events, and miles of walking trails. Its great for families or nature lovers .The staff are super friendly and helpful and there are plenty of things to look at and learn. You can tell the people who workand volunteer really believe in nature preservation and respecting the environment .Im looking forward to my next visit already .

Its an important resouce for understanding the area-yes the facility needs some donations asap to make repairs, but what is not lacking is passion by the folks here and I left impressed. the Planetarium was educational and fun too. So come here, buy a tshirt and love the place...

Had a lovely afternoon learning and taking a stroll. A smaller place but you can tell its run by people who care. Loved all the animals, great experience. Super friendly volunteers as well, one man told us all about the local furry and feathered residents and how they hope to improve and expand the park!

My family loves this place! It’s very educational and lots of fun-for all ages!!!!!!

The Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium was a perfect day trip for my daughter and I. The staff is very friendly and educational/entertainment factor was balanced keeping even the youngest in the audience interested and attentive. Course anytime theres a live snack in the room most people are!!The Planetarium shows were great. Then theres the trails to walk and all the animals outdoors and in to view.We will definitely visit this affordable place again.

The staff was super friendly and shared in a way that made learning fun! We took our almost 3 and 5 year old grandkids and had a great time. The hilight was Erica the eagle! We highly recommend it!

It is peaceful and beautiful and brings visitors and locals together with the animals and Floridas natural habitat. A place for all to enjoy and care for.

We had a great time!

Great place to view wildlife

Awesome museum for local fish and the history of the area. I didnt particularly like the zoo portion they had. The trails were gorgeous and the planetarium was awesome!

Had the children there it was very educational for them. They enjoyed the planetarium as well as I did. There was a young boy in his early teens that demonstrated what not to do with the reptiles. Walk the whole boardwalk very peaceful got some great photos of the children. Looking forward to the Halloween hopefully the ghost of orchids will be in bloom.

Informative staff. It was a slow Sunday. We only anticipated a 2 hour stay but we spent 5 hours there. The staff is friendly and gave us some hands-on with feeding and holding some of the animals. We were so busy we completely forgot about the planetarium.

Interesting place, especially the Planetarium. You can see the animals quite close. Good to visit with children.

My husband and I loved this small nature center and planetarium. Well be back. They have nature trails, reptile tanks, alligators, large birds, and small mammals, and they offer reptile feeding shows. Among the animals are rescued animals. The planetarium sports some interesting sky shows. You can learn quite a lot there about nature. Everything is well documented, and potentially of interest for both kids and adults. The three staff members we talked to were nice and had informative responses. Judging from the state of some of the cages/tanks, and description signs, they do seem, however, to need some donations/funding. But the place is definitely worth seeing, and worth our support.

We loved the visit. Cages were cleaned and animals seemed well taken care of. The nature trails were great and easy to walk along. Very educational.

The center is pretty decent but the planetarium is extremely outdated. The quality of the video is so low that you can barely tell whats going on. The commentary crawls at a snails pace and it is really boring.

Place is awesome with kids. The walk isnt as nice as the slough down the street, but the programs kept the kids focused for hours.

The sad thing about a lot of the negative reviews is people fail to realize that the nature center is barely able to stay open a good percent of their staff are volunteers.You pay a small amount of money that isnt much and complain about small things.Yes, the projector that the shows are seen on is really outdated but you do realize that them things cost almost more then a house... Im pretty sure over $10,000 easy.With a non-profit place like this not even possible to get. Their only income is from donations and you coming to visit.They dont get Government handouts in fact some of the higher ups would rather shut the place down and sell the land then to keep the place open.Days like this I wish a could win the lottery because Id end up buying the place. To secure the future of it for future generations.Sad thing is kids these days have lost touch with the interest of nature and would rather sit at home playing video games rather then out being with nature catching lizards, frogs, ect and enjoying something that is a dying thing in todays world.Personally if I had transportation Id Volunteer as much as I was allowed, Im only about 5 minute drive up from there.Being on disability with no car makes it a bit hard to get up there.If it wasnt for my astronomy club vice president I wouldnt always be able to make it to club meetings.I wish people would realize that this place is really doing the best it can under the circumstances. Its like what $10 dollars a person? They would be lucky on a good day to make around $500 give or take.

We went here for a tour and fed the raptors mice. We also went to the haunted walk they did. It was very fun! And we loved it and will be going back again!

The cages for these animals are far too small.. I understand helping animals to stay safe but this place does not seem to have the funds to make the animals quality of life good enough.Also, they allowed breeding of two alligators and now hold their babies captive in a tiny glass aquarium for fish. Maybe I just dont understand why they would breed alligators? From what Ive learned Sanctuarys typically dont breed animals..Roadside zoos do.

Very enjoyable trails (one was under construction when I visited, but it was still pleasant) fun exhibits and it was interesting seeing the animals in rehabilitation. I loved the planetarium and the butterfly garden!

Welcoming, Friendly, Knowledgeable staff! Great place for a relaxing day.

I attended the annual hauntedwalk they hold and was very very disappointed. I was in a group of 6 and one of our group members was a tad excessive with complaining about not going in, so they tried splitting our group up which would have been okay. But instead let us all go through. Now it is a 16 and up, but even then i wouldn’t take a 16 year old to it. The “actors” were very vulgar and used foul language throughout the walk. I was under the impression they weren’t allowed to touch you. But several of my group members were touched. One girl even had the audacity to wrap a plastic chain around a girl in my groups neck which I didn’t notice. I was only told at the end. They then chose to separate my girlfriend and I. For an interview and told us that she wouldn’t have to walk through this dark labyrinth thing alone. But then sent her through anyway. It got to the point where I had to physically threaten a man to let me go back through into this pitch black maze to help her find her way out. Overall not worth it.

Love it place was great