Gulf Breeze Zoo

If you are in the Destin / Pensacola area a visit to the Gulf Breeze Zoo is worth the price of admission ($20.95 adult, discounted for seniors and retirees).  Gulf Breeze Zoo was originally The Zoo of Northwest Florida.  It was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan and closed in 2009.  The zoo was rescued by a team of zoological professionals from Virginia Safari Park who bought the zoo in December of the same year.  The Zoo was renovated and reopened on February 18, 2010, as Gulf Breeze Zoo. On January 20, 2018 the first baby White Rhino was born at Gulf Breeze Zoo. The first ever rhino calf to be born in its 34 year history.  

This guy was very curious

The zoo is divided into 20 acres of walking exhibits and a 30 acres of free roaming preserve area that guests take a guided train ride through. The walking portion includes many animals including primates, lions, tigers, marsupials, bears, tortoises, and a large variety of exotic birds. The zoo has several interactive feeding areas including a large petting area, a giraffe feeding area, 

Giraffe feeding area

and a walk-through budgie enclosure. Other highlighted exhibits throughout the park include red river hogs, otters, alligators, camels and primate exhibits. Another unique area of the walking portion of the Zoo includes a large raised boardwalk that allows visitors see herds of deer, antelope, capybara, kudu, rhino and the Gorilla Islands.  The walking area is well laid out allowing for easily navigating the exhibits.  You do not spend a lot of time staring at the park map wondering if you missed anything.  The layout is very simple and efficient. 

The train

Additionally as you near the end of the walking path it places you near the “train station”.  A C.P. Huntington locomotive train will take you on a 20-minute narrated tour, where you will see many different types of deer, antelope, zebras, and white rhinos roaming in a 30-acre free-roaming preserve to get a close view of gorillas and Nile hippos.