ZooTampa at Lowry Park keeps winning “best zoo” honors for a reason families feel by noon: Florida wildlife up close, splash zones for hot afternoons, rides for wiggly legs and keepers who clearly adore their animals.
Start in the Florida Wildlife section, where the new Florida Waters area celebrates the state’s springs and swamps, meet the manatees recovering at the David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center, then head for the Asian alligators of Sulawesi and the African savanna’s giraffes and rhinos. The Macaw Flyover — birds swooping overhead at scheduled shows — is a core-memory maker.
Free-flight aviaries, a carousel and the Tasmanian Tiger family coaster pace the day kindly for little legs.
It’s Tampa’s wildest classroom, and class is delightfully in session year-round.
