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Your Guide to Navigating the Sarasota Jungle Gardens
For generations, the Sarasota Jungle Gardens has been wowing visitors of all ages with their exciting, educational, and exotic animal exhibits and live shows. This family-owned and operated Sarasota attraction opened in 1939 and is rich in history with an “old Florida” look and feel. Kids and those young at heart will create the best memories among Florida’s native and exotic wildlife while getting up close to favorite animals, watching them perform, and asking the experts all of the burning questions. The locals here at Best Western Siesta Key have put together a guide so you can navigate the Sarasota Jungle Gardens like a pro.
How to Get to the Sarasota Jungle Gardens
For visitors staying with us here at Best Western Siesta Key, the Sarasota Jungle Gardens is just under nine miles from your hotel. From Tamiami Trail/US-41, keep straight for about 5 miles before using the two left lanes to turn onto Mound St./N Tamiami Trail. Then, follow the signs to make a right onto S. Palm Ave. At the traffic circle, take the second exit to continue straight on S. Palm Ave, then at the second traffic circle, continue straight onto N. Palm Ave. Following N. Tamiami Trail to Myrtle St., make a right onto Marina View Dr./N Tamiami Trail. Take the second exit at the following three roundabouts to stay on N. Tamiami Trail. Then, make the left onto Myrtle St., and a right onto Bay Shore Rd. The Sarasota Jungle Gardens will be 246 ft away on your left.
Favorite Exhibits
The Sarasota Jungle Gardens is home to over 200 exotic and Florida native animals! With so many animals to encounter around the gardens, from birds of prey to macaws and parrots and primates to reptiles, including alligators, snakes, iguanas, and lizards, it is hard to choose our favorite exhibits. However, a few must-sees are the flamingo feeding, where kids can get up close to these long-legged pink beauties, animal interactions, which allow children and families to hold live alligators and parrots while they smile for a photograph, and the petting zoo, so the little ones can pet and feed small mammals like goats.
Live Shows
A trip to the Sarasota Jungle Gardens is incomplete without attending a few live shows. Visitors can catch three live shows every day: Reptile Encounter, Jungle Bird Show, and Wildlife Wonder. Each live performance is 20 minutes long, but we recommend finding your seats in the outdoor pavilion about 15 minutes prior to ensure you have a good view. Each show ends with a Q&A, so raise your hands high and speak loudly to get your questions answered by the experts. After learning about your favorite animals and watching them perform neat tricks, like the roller-skating parrots, you’ll have a chance to interact, pet, or even hold them for a picture.
Jungle Trails
Since you’ll be visiting a “jungle garden,” you will have the opportunity to marvel at Florida’s most exquisite, exotic, and eye-catching vegetation. Paths wind and meander throughout the 10 acres of lush, tropical landscaping that makes up the Sarasota Jungle Gardens, and animal friends often enjoy taking a stroll through the jungle trails, too. Keep your eyes open for free-roaming flamingos, ducks, swans, egrets, and pelicans passing through the gorgeous trails.
The Sarasota Jungle Gardens is unlike any other garden or zoo you can visit. Where else can you feed flamingos, watch parrots ride a bicycle, hold alligators, and pet goats while exploring the miraculous tropical Florida vegetation? After a day of excitement at the Sarasota Jungle Gardens, coming back to Best Western Siesta Key is the perfect way to unwind, whether chilling poolside or napping in your comfy room.