Wildlife Experiences in San Diego

This Balboa Park gem is one of the world’s best-loved zoos, and with good reason. Known for its conservation efforts and spacious, naturalistic enclosures, the zoo is home to some 12,000 critters representing nearly 700 species. Board the Skyfari Aerial Tram, which soars high above the treetops, affording a unique perspective on the zoo’s residents and surrounding flora (the zoo also happens to be a designated botanic garden with over half a million exotic plants, fact fans). Don’t miss the cheeky baboons in the Africa Rocks exhibit and majestic California condors, lions and elephants at Elephant Odyssey.

Read our full guide to Balboa Park here.

Nestled between sandstone bluffs, this cute little beach is one of San Diego’s most photogenic. It’s also where you can ogle the greatest abundance of marine wildlife outside of the city’s aquariums. Spot colonies of harbor seals basking in the sun, say ‘hey’ to moray eels and California spiny lobsters on a scuba dive to the kelp forests, or kayak over La Jolla Underwater Park, where sea turtles and stingrays glide gracefully through the gin-clear waters.

Read our full guide to La Jolla here.

With something like 70,000 marine animals across its sprawling complex of reefs and aquariums, SeaWorld San Diego offers plenty of opportunities to get up close and personal with your favorite creatures of the deep. Stroll through the underwater tunnel as reef sharks cruise silently overhead, meet the all-shapes-and-sizes residents of Turtle Reef, get your cuteness fix at the Penguin Encounter, and see high-flying bottlenose dolphins in action at Dolphin Adventures.

San Diego is one of California’s best whale-watching spots, thanks to its location along the Alaska–Baja migration route used by thousands of gray whales in the breeding season between December and April. Majestic blue whales can also often be spotted basking in the bay during the summer months. But it’s not all just whales, whales, whales. It’s also likely you’ll see pods of dolphins frolicking in the surf, and native harbor seals diving for their dinner. Boat tours depart daily from Downtown, Mission Bay, and several other locations along the coast.

Top tip: whale-watching excursions are included with the Go City San Diego pass, which can save you up to 50% off across dozens of tours, activities and attractions including San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and more.

Feather fanciers have been known to refer to spring in San Diego as ‘the superbowl of birding’, when hundreds of thousands of migrating species – swallows, egrets, hawks, herons and more – pass through the region, and you can join expert-led bird-spotting tours as part of the San Diego Bird Festival. But there are also plenty more feathered friends here year-round. Watch pelicans swooping for their supper from the cliffs at La Jolla and Point Loma, or make for Sweetwater Marsh in the South Bay's epic San Diego National Wildlife Refuge, home to snowy plovers, Ridgway’s rails, long-billed curlews, red knots and many other wetland wonders.

Two-thousand acres of wild cliff-top parkland north of La Jolla, Torrey Pines is named for the rare tree that grows here and only here. As well as the fascinating flora, opportunities for wildlife-spotting abound. You’ll see gulls aplenty, and might even catch a glimpse of those migrating whales from the panoramic viewpoint at Yucca Point Overlook. Wander the many marked trails among cacti, wildflowers and crazy rock formations, and keep your eyes peeled for lizards, raccoons, mule deer and even the occasional bobcat or coyote skulking in the shrubbery.

Part of the prestigious Scripps Institution of Oceanography, this low-key alternative to SeaWorld sits on a La Jolla hilltop and boasts residents including leopard sharks, a loggerhead sea turtle and a giant Pacific octopus that more than lives up to its name. Experience the world’s most extensive collection of seahorses, get hands-on with lobsters, anemones, sea cucumbers and more at Tidepool Plaza, and don’t miss the two-story kelp forest, where Garibaldi fish flash bright orange between the enormous swaying green tendrils.

Affiliated with (but not to be confused with) San Diego Zoo, this sprawling safari park lies in the San Pasqual Valley north of the city. Among the thousands of residents here, you can expect to see – deep breath – rhinos, giraffes, ostriches, Cape buffalo, lions, gorillas, kangaroos and elephants (though not, of course, all in the same enclosure!). Enjoy close encounters with some of the friendlier residents on the Africa Tram Safari, whiz through the canopy on a zipline, and get a more sedate aerial view from the tethered helium balloon that rises 400 feet for panoramic views across the park and beyond.

Tide-pooling is practically an Olympic sport in San Diego, where the rich marine life, geology and occasional ultra-low tides combine for some of the best critter-hunting conditions along the SoCal coastline (particularly during winter when one of the two daily low tides occurs during daylight hours). So grab your kids and your camera and hit up tide-pooling hotspots including Dike Rock and Shell Beach in La Jolla, the rocks just south of the iconic Hotel del Coronado, the Cabrillo tide pools at Point Loma, and Sunset Cliffs Natural Park at Ocean Beach. It’s fun, it’s free, and you’re highly likely to encounter sea stars, anemones, crabs, California mussels and other such fascinating mini beasts. Just remember to look but not touch! You can check daily tide times here.

For those who prefer their wildlife a little less, um, wild… Balboa Park throws up a couple of fun options. Check out the Natural History Museum – a mesmerizing menagerie of dinosaur fossils, animal skulls big and small, and taxidermy beasts of land, air and sea – then make for the famous Balboa Park Carousel. This traditional merry-go-round is a charming old-school favorite, complete with beautifully painted horses, giraffes, cats, pigs and lions, plus at least one dragon. Saddle up!