This was our first time here. My two young children were able to enjoy seeing all the animals at the zoo. They managed to walk the whole time and we were stroller free for this trip, which was exciting. It was not very busy, which we liked and we took our time walking through the park. An observation for future visitors- food was not allowed and tables were closed off.

This place had more animals than I thought. Its small but worth the money. The handlers are knowledgable and seem to enjoy what they do. I will be back! I loved hearing the lions roar and the hyena sounds. The gift shop is cute and has a lot of different souvenirs.

This is a cute and clean Zoo, and the staff is friendly! This Zoo has a great variety of animals. Low key place to spend a day with the family, without the big crowds and drive out to the city! A quick last minute stay local but do something great for a family day!

OMG, where have you been hiding? White tiger? White tiger. White tiger. Honestly, for some reason I felt closest to the badger. He just came out and looked right at me. You can see clearly and the young staff are surprisingly friendly and informative. Brought both kids and grandma. Parking is up top and not that much of a walk. If my grandma can do it, you should be able to as well. Totally making this a go to periodically. Take Laurel exit and go around city to skip traffic and enjoy scenery.

First time here and I loved it ! They have a little bit of everything and its very nice calm and you can walk on your own pace loved seeing big animals up close !!! Will visit again

We loved our day trip and meeting Butch the Elephant was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The staff was beyond kind and helpful. My grandson and I will never forget what we learned and the special time we spent there. Thank you for existing and for loving those beautiful animals, the world is a better place because of you all! We cant wait to go back! Blessings to you all!

Our first time here. Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The feeding of the elephant was awesome!

Great little zoo! They have a good amount of animals and a wonderful staff. The prices are a little high but we will be going back. The Elephants and baboons are very social! A good variety of lions and tigers too.

Great grass roots experience and very personal. The guides were very knowledgeable and helpful. Good to know this non profit does everything for the animals. Impeccably clean facility too.

Super quick zoo! But rarely do my kids see elephants, so completely worth it.

This was our first time here. We did the pachyderm and butchs bedtime tours. Highly recommend this place. It is clean, well kept and the staff was outstanding

This is my first time coming bay since the renovation and I have to say the enclosures are good in since, each enclosure have their own water feature and designed so well. It was a lovely stroll.

Great experience my son had a blast although due to the covid-19 there was a lot of restrictions there for my experience was less exciting as for my son he loved it as far as the crowd it was kind of nice being able to have space and not as many people in one area. one last thing as an adult I personally got really sad seeing the animals because theyre not really enthusiastic theyre just laying there and they look miserable which kind of makes you really think what kind of place is you is but I guess theres a lot of controversy to that conversation but in my opinion I couldnt help but think of how hopeless the animals were in my son just kept asking me Mommy why are they sad and thats coming from a 4 year old

Wow!!! I never write reviews, but I am absolutely compelled to write about one of the most awesome experiences I recently had at the Monterey Zoo. What an AMAZING experience. My boyfriend and I did the V.I.P tour which was one of the most enriching, worthy experiences of our lives. Upon our arrival, the sweet woman in the gift shop had exceptional interpersonal skills and made us feel so welcomed and wanted. The VIP tour was a private tour that consisted of just myself, my boyfriend, and our tour guide-- such an intimate experience with the animals--and two encounters with very well trained, docile animals there. Our tour guide, Lanier, was extremely knowledgeable, funny, entertaining, and passionate about the animals. She provided thorough detail of all the animals background, thus substantially increasing our knowledgebase-- a very fun, educational, interactive experience! She was wonderful. The other keeper, minor TIA on her name, who also accompanied us on our guided tour, was phenomenal and personable as well... We all shared many ideas, thoughts, facts, and laughs with one another. We got to bathe, feed, and love on an elephant-- a dream come true! The animals are all very much at peace with their environment, everything is in very PRISTINE condition; and everyone that devouts their time caring for the animals are more passionate about their work than most humans are about nurturing and upbringing their own children. We were astonished with the cleanliness, intactness, calmness, and spacious well put together enclosures for all the animals. Everything was clearly well mapped out and well thought out with the obvious priority being all creatures comforts! The lunch provided was very, very good! The layout of the Monterey Zoo is beautiful--nestled in a quiet, comfortable, vast area free from loud, disruptive people and noises. Just a smaller, very intimate place where you can really enjoy, safely but closely, the beauty of these animals we share this Earth with, and what we can do to preserve their habitats as humans.This was just hands down the best tour and best day we could have asked for. I cannot sing enough praises. Thank you so much to all staff! Much love to all of the wonderful staff and animals. Ian and I will 100% definitely be back!!In response to what I have seen negatively reviewed: The only downside is wearing masks. However, it is 2020 and that is our reality anywhere to protect ourselves and others--including animals. Be diligent as a human being in keeping yourself, your children, and all of the animals safe. I do believe it is common knowledge to not allow your child to walk around and grab onto things, hang on things, and allow them to act like Bebes kids.The pace was just fine--coming from someone who wears a knee brace day in and day out. We were just as eager to see everything and all the animals as much as our tour guide was excited to show us their kids (all the wonderful animals). Loved her sense of excitement.Sidenote: we are not disabled, but we made note of how easily accessible it is for people that are. The walkways are wide and their is a ramp to go to the top overlook to see lions, tigers, and bears... oh my!

Nice place for children.

They let u pet the tigers if u ask nicely

No place like it to really experience elephants, very nicely set up. Im so happy they made it thru the fires

Really clean and lots of animals to see! Due to COVID we werent able to the elephant feeding though.

Loved it. The animals are cared for and theres a great variety too. The zoo (in summer of 2018) was under construction so you had to take the your, which was fine.

Nice clean facility. Great family fun. Information on tours about animals was fantastic

What a fun experience! Tent bungalows are very nice and very clean. The breakfast delivered by elephants is something very special! You get to feed the Elephants too! They come right up to your deck. Also you have some animal meet and greets during the day! Fun to hear the lions roar during the night!

First time there will love to stay at the B&B someday.

I loved it. An employer was nice to tell us about the animals. The employers seem to care for the animals and when they pass by the animals seem to recognize them.

Nice zoo!! Very quaint, but with great exhibits. Not cheap, but worth it.

Beautiful animals, I only wish they were in more of their natural habitat! Also, need more signage as to what the animals are. Too hurried of a pace with the tour. Looking forward to the finished product!

I came to the zoo early morning. And I honestly did not like the vibe as soon as we came there. The gift shop was pretty rude..Me and my bf were the only ones walking around early morning, they make u wear masks even when you are outside. I took my mask off my nose to breath and the worker their said put ur mask back on we dont need covid passing on to the animals, pretty much saying I have covid. That was pretty rude of her to say and harassment. The animals look very scared and miserable like they want to escape, usually as zoos animals do not look like that. there was a girl letting out a cheetah and it was so scared she was yelling at him and. being sorta abusive and he walked out and looked very scared. some Animals were hitting against the gates and making nonstop circles like they are lost. it does not look like they have enough space for them to run or fly and etc. I just feel super bad for these animals. I was very disappointed paying $70 for 40 min to walk around the zoo. There was nothing to look at then leaving with a feeling how could I help these animals if only there was a way. I would not recommend to visit this place. I have paid better at different zoo and stayed there for half the day and animals looking happy. But these animals do not deserve to be treated like this.

Great for toddlers small but cute

A quaint and unique experience. Recommend to everyone for a more personal encounter with the animals.

This is an intimate setting not a huge expansive zoo like Oakland or San Diego. You dont have to compete with throngs of people. I love this zoo. Most importantly, my kids love it and want to come back with their friends and host birthday parties there.The animals here are either retired show animals or rescues -- such as from illegal homes or injuries that prevent them from being released back into the wild. The staff is young, friendly, knowledgeable. The animals are amazing.We spent the night at the VQ B&B. Lions and tigers roared much of the night. 5 a.m. wake up call from the hyena. Some tours and activities were included in our stay, including continental breakfast delivered to our glamping tent. For extra charge, we got closer to some of the animals. We fed the lynx, tigers and elephants. My kids were beside themselves excited at the opportunity and education.AMAZING. BUCKET LIST ITEM DEFINITELY GOING TO BE REPEATED.Totally awesome. So munsch so, my 14-year-old purposefully stayed awake all night to hear the roars and other sounds.Yep. This place is a winner.

Amazing unforgettable experience. IWill never forget the sight ofPaula bringing breakfast

Very nice little zoo. the staff is very engaged and the animals seem to be well cared for. The Safari B&B is cool as well

I dont hate the place. I just drove past it.

This zoo is amazing! You will love it!

Wonderful to spend a night so close to the animals. The tiger feeding experience is a must add on. In the afternoon, they also walk 2 different animals to your door step for a close-up experience. Make sure you check the “animal walk” with the front desk so you won’t miss it.

There service was great! Very approachable staff.Very clean and staff has a lot of knowledge I highly recommend familys going for a visit.The only down side to the visit was the hours are very short.

Employees wasnt very friendly when we visited. we never went back..we love the animals..

Great way better than L.A zoo thats real talk. This place was well organized the people were very polite and helpful. The entire staff was on top of there game. We appreciate the dupruse visit. Thank you guys.

Really wonderful place. They take real good care of the property and animals

It was a beautiful day and I was really surprised with the facilities. Very clean and organized. Not a big area but enough for an hour guided tour. General admission does not include feeding the elephants. Kind of disappointed because the websites makes it sound like all general admissions come with feeding the elephant. Another downside is that even for infants under 1 year you have to pay. Our tour guide was ok but my family and I felt really rushed, my kids didnt get to see all the animals. Richard, one of the tour guides, is great. I recommend the tour with him. He makes it fun and upbeat. You can hear everything clearly. We had him for the last part of the tour.

Great experience. Small but intimate zoo outing. Awesome tours available! Beyond happy with my experience!

Nice little zoo. Love the guided tour. My kids are runing after and pay attention the whole time. Feeding elephant is interesting experience.Down side on the zoo. Open time is short. Small and most are aged animal.Great experience for the frist time visit . But No sure will go back anytime soon maybe in few years.

Had a lot of fun bring my family to your zoo. I was surprised by the large amount of animals.

Nice little place with rarely seen species.. elephant feeding was fun. Open only for 3hrs a day is the hard part

Pachyderm adventure was awesome!

Very informative and fun place to visit for people of all ages!!

This started out as a Groupon but became one of the best trips/memories that I have/have had with my family. We signed up for all the extra tours/activities they offered and I can say it was not disappointing in the least. My children fed tigers that looked at them like they were nuggets of yumminess, we were served breakfast on our porch by the elephants and you could hear the lion and other wildlife throughout the night that led to great bedtime stories and a feeling that we were on safari the entire time we stayed.

I use the AAA Tour Book and got the impression that the tour would in part be exhibitions of how the animals are trained for movies and television. So we were disappointed to find out that it was a home for old exotic and injured animals; not animal actors or, at least the tour guide did not identify any of them as so. It is, however, an opportunity to see some animals up close that many other zoos do not have. Although what they are doing is great and noble - providing care for animals in the last years of their lives, the tour is not worth the price of admission.

Amazing! Jewel of a zoo right in Salinas. Took tour which was very informative. Great place to spend time with kids.

Good collection of animals, lovely setting and worth the admission. A gem for the Monterey area.

Let’s start with the good. I was extremely hesitant about this place because they received some bad reviews, which I understand but I’ll get to that later. I surprised my gf for our anniversary. Check in was super easy and they were pretty pleasant. I got the giraffe bungalow which is directly next to the elephants. You could literally sit on your porch and watch them interact with each other. We drove to Black Bear Diner for dinner and then returned and watched a couple of dvds (no cable) that we brought with us. One thing I respect enjoyed was hearing the lions roar all night. It was super relaxing. The next morning the elephants brought us breakfast, in which we were able to feed them carrots and had our picture taken with them. The following day we were able to take a guided tour around the zoo.This is the downside: The tour itself was really good and informative, however the enclosures we INCREDIBLY small. The area for the Hyena was so small it hurt my feelings. I wish I had taken a picture. Most enclosures were the same. The lions had a newly built enclosure which was extremely nice but in reality too small for them. I only give this place a pas because they function off of donations and the money spent on their bed & breakfast.Also, if you go during warmer seasons know that your bungalow will be hot night & day but in the chillier parts of the year it’ll be hot in the day but cold overnight. They provide a heater but ours didn’t work. Thankfully we had brought hoodies to sleep in. They also provide heated blankets.

This was such an amazing experience! You have to do all of the activities that they offer. Being up close to the Bengal Tigers is truly a one of a kind expeience. Sleeping in the bungalows and hearing the Lions and Tigers roar throughout the night is awesome.

So clean and cutest animals

This is our one of the favorite zoo places. Very unique animals and very nicely maintained. They only have guided tours but its worth it. My sons favorite part is lion & tiger area. The glass partition allows us to be super close to them and feel the fear.

There is an amazing array of animals. Very impressive. Plus my grandchildren got to feed the elephants carrots up close. It was a great experience and will definitely go again.

Nice little zoo! We stayed at the affiliated bed and breakfast and did the elephant tour..the private tour of the zoo was lovely and they are working hard to improve the enclosures.

Awesome place for young and old. Very nice Zoo. We will go again. To spend the night is a little pricey but I would go again.

Bought 2 lions from joe exotic

Monterey Zoo, what do I have to say about Monterey Zoo? Well, its not Monterey. LOL its in Salinas. They have lions and tigers and bears.It seems that everybody that visits this place when they have the bed and breakfast tour are the only ones that get to really interact with the animals. I guess the more money you have the better privilege you have when you come here. And when I finally went on a tour about a month ago I was rushed through this tour. The tour guide was a very informative and she rushed just threw like she had an appointment or didnt care to cater to our interests of the animals.

Would be great to see you all stop abusing elephants!

Really good place to have fun. They have a variety of animals and also have a motel near by witch comes with in bed breackfast :)

Took my dog to the kennel here and she loved it. So beautiful and peaceful I didnt feel bad leaving pup while I was on vacation when she was staying at this Oasis.

After reading some reviews I wasnt sure what to expect so I went with no expectations and an open mind. My family and I really enjoyed ourselves. If you read all the directions and follow the rules there is no reason you cant have an enjoyable time. They are still building the zoo but what is done so far is very nice. We fed tigers and elephants and its something we will always remember. We stayed the night in a bungalow which was interesting and we enjoyed it. Thank you so much Vision quest we had a great time

This zoo is beautiful although small, they are efficient and very knowledgeable. We had a great time and we really appreciate everyone who works at the zoo

Just found out about this gem of a zoo! I’ve lived near to Salinas my entire life and never heard of it before a few days ago, and when I heard they had elephants I had to go! Hubs and I just got back and we had a great time. Jordy(Jody?) was our guide and she was very knowledgeable and personable about the animals. The guided tour was about half an hour and then they let us walk at our own speed up top with the lions, tigers and bears oh my. They have a great collection of all kinds of animals. The big kitties have a glass partition, so if they walk by you can see them up close. Pretty sure my husband ticked off one of the lady lions, he thinks he was just entertaining her.... siiigh, men. She was chasing him back and forth. I will definitely be back, especially to see the finished remodel! I GOT TO FEED AN ELLYFANT!!! $42 total for hubs and I on the regular tour plus feeding Butch the magnificent African elephant! Wish I could afford the bath package, maybe I’ll save up

Vision Quest zoo and bed and breakfast we just fed the lion and the Elephant help the elephants ready for bed and in the morning the elephant brought us breakfast it was a real good time

We stayed at the bed and breakfast. I loved listening to the animals (the Lions) all night. Awesome experience.

Very nice small zoo. The new exhibits are nicely done.

Great place to take the family. Dont forget feeding the elephant. Every trip was worth it!

This is an interesting type of Zoo that was a lot of fun. Its small, but they have all the best animals and you get closer to them than you usually can at the bigger zoos. You can see everything in about 2 hours, which is great if you have small kids. I loved touring with a small group and the opportunity to feed an elephant! One of my favorite zoos.

Cool tour of the zoo while under construction. Kind of small, and a lot of sales pitching to support the zoo during the tour, but overall a fun experience for anyone traveling near santa cruz/monterey

Cant speak for the zoo itself although it looks very clean and well-kept and the animals look healthy. We use oxton kennels which is attached to the zoo to board our two dogs when we go on trips. The kennels are fantastic. Clean staffed all the time and they love dogs there. I highly recommend it.

Dont visit this zoo. They use Bullhooks on elephants. Cruel, horrible place. So called personal encounter with animals is enabled by barbaric training methods.

The animals seemed great and were pretty lively. The staff was awful. DO NOT GO IF ONLY DURING TOURS! Our tour leader rushed our group sooo fast you couldnt even bend down to tie your shoe. She was constantly yelling at group members to keep up. She zig-zagged through exhibits and the tour portion was over in 35 minutes.The Zoo also doesnt seem very child friendly. We had to pay for our 3 month old and kids around us were being yelled at every 2 minutes to not touch the wooden posts or go on the benches.

This place is awesome. Best Safari bed and breakfast without the cost of going to Africa.

Awesome place! Loved our tour.

Absolutely awesome. All types of tours. Take comfortable walking shoes. Excellent variety of animals. They have B&B. Handicap accessible. You wont be disappointed.

The staff are great and exhibits are beautiful. The animals all seem to love lounging and playing in their enclosures. Great time.

A very special place to visit. The people working here care very much about the animals they keep. They offer so many interactive tours. I recommend Crunch Time. They take you around to all of the different big cats and you get to feed them. Feeding a 600 lbs tiger is a truly wonderful experience. We stayed overnight in one of their bungalows. Falling asleep listening to the lions and tigers calling to each other made it one of the most unique stays I can remember.

Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and fun.

Pros:Up-close with animals - you can get really close to many big animalsGreat variety of animals - elephants, bears, many big cats, etc.Small place - easy to cover with young kidsCons:Rude staff - It costs a bomb to maintain those animals, but it costs nothing to be nice to people.Specialty tours not worth it - Like the bedtime tour was supposed to last 30-40mins as per the description, it hardly lasted 10-15mins and its not really a bedtime tour, you just feed the same carrots in the barn instead of feeding them outside. But still feeding elephants is an awesome experience!Overall, it was a nice and small zoo with a great variety of animals. And one of a kind experience to feed the animals. Elephants are beautiful!

Lovely zoo. Well taken care of animals. CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!

Really enjoyed the vip tour! Strongly encourage more people to come to Monterey zoo as the animals benefit from our purchases! Absolutely love how we get to be hands on with some of the animals. I do wish they would give us more time to socialize with the elephants but I do understand as it may be a saftey risk. The staff are willing to take pictures for you which is awesome. Just wish they would let us have more freedom taking photos with the elephants..staff tells you how to pose and only takes about 5 pics with the elephant in that pose. Other than that, I really enjoyed coming here. Everyone buy tickets!!

This is a great place to enjoy the animals at the Zoo

I went on the guided tour, it was nice to get information from the tour guide about all the animals. Because it’s guided you have to stay with the group, take pictures while the guide is talking and then move on. So unfortunately you can’t linger and watch your favorite critter for however long you want. But our guide said they hope to have construction down at the end of 2019 then it will be a normal zoo that guests can wander through at their own pace. Nice variety of animals, the lemurs were my favorite!

My dog is well taken care of at the pet resort. Staff really cares about the animals.

Excellent small zoo, very well maintained and great staff. The overnight experience will do next time.

Small zoo but very nice. As of now they only do guided tours.

The Prices seem higher than when we last stayed the night, but still not horrible, kinda bummed they seem so restricted now, no elephant breakfasts, when you do the elephant wash there is a giant cage in between you now instead of before he just sat on the grass like a good boy. overall a great place and twice as big as the last time we came, glad to see they are growing!

Fist, the lady giving us a tour was rude. I am not sure what her name was but she was tall, thick and blond. They didn’t give us enough time to see the animals before she said let’s go move on. Totally not worth what we payed, they charged me for a 1 year old that didn’t see any of the animals and slept half of the way, not one place that I’ve been too charged for a 1 year old! Lastly, the poor animals were in small cages, no space to run around more than like 10 feet it was sad to see. They were sad most of the time just laying there sad! Will never go again.

Its so fun specially for the kids. Many exotic animals over there like Lions, Siberian tigers, other large cats. The other exciting activity though its feeding the elephants. The cons is it just opens at 1:00pm and tours are only available at 1:00 and 3:00. Its good if you have other plans like visiting Monterrey or Carmel in the afternoon.

Wonderful experience! Small, quiet (extremely important to me) & our guide Chandler was so knowledgeable. 1/2 hour guided tour & then about 1/2 hour on our own. So peaceful. Looking forward to going again soon.

The scenery and animals Exceeded my expectations, tour guide was funny, knowledgeable, and efficient. I was sad I didnt know until the end that we werent making a loop back and wouldnt get a chance to see the adorable animals again. Will definitely recommend, worth every penny. I do wish we got to look at the elephants even though we chose not to pay to feed them I didnt realize that meant we couldnt stop to admire them. Love this place and will be back soon to feed those hungry elephants!

Great little zoo that is helping/saving animals that cannot go back into their natural habitat. Really fun to see, clean and well kept.

Little small, good healthy animals and spaces. No longer doing tours tho.

After visiting the Monterey Zoo, I found the experience very rewarding, and I was very impressed with the owner, staff, and the obvious love, and care provided to the animals! There is a bed and breakfast that could only be amazing, and I will be returning to one day experience this special zoo and stay. As far as the negative comments, I think there will always be people that cannot be made happy. The animals were healthy and happy, and I say see for yourself...you wont be disappointed! Highly suggest such a good cause, and a place that clearly cares about animals!

Short tour as they are still expanding . Energetic tour guides . All in all good experience.

Quite expensive, but definitely worth an over night stay. Hearing the lions from your tent cabin was fantastic. Sitting on the deck, having some wine and cheese, watching the elephants in their enclosure... Such a great experience. The tent cabin was surprisingly nice and comfortable. Id recommend the putting Butch to bed (basically feeding the elephants). Didnt think feeding the big cats was worth it. I didnt like the small enclosures for most the animals in the zoo part. I think theyre remodeling though. But they should relocate the the animals until their enclosures are more humane.

Great little zoo. Deserves more notice.

We stayed the night in a bungalow and fed the elephants. Great experience. Highly recommended

Great tour, fun to see the animals, up close. They were very active. Easy walking on paved paths. Very nice front desk staff and informative tour guides. My 5 & 8 yr old grandsons asked when they get to go back, even before we left. Just the right size to keep their attention. Needed more time with the Elephants, my only disappointment.