During April 17th-20th of next year, I'm travelling to California for 3 (possibly 3.5 days). I'm going to be in San Francisco and I don't want to be that rushed. For the Friday & Saturday, I'm likely going to San Diego Zoo (any layout/paths for each day?) and then on Sunday, I'm going to another facility (or a non-zoo place), maybe SeaWorld San Diego. What would be the best layout/path to go in, any additional facilities I should go to, and any advice for visting them?
This is my personal favorite route to do the Zoo all in one day; however, if you have two days (which is not unadvisable for a first time visit or a visit for the first time in a long time), you will have more flexibility in your route.
I do Wildlife Explorers Basecamp and the Reptile House/Walk area first, as this area become much more congested the later in the day it gets.
From there, I personally go back across the entrance and start in the Australian Outback and Urban Jungle areas before going down through Africa Rocks. Once I get to the bottom of Africa Rocks, I go through the Panda Canyon and adjacent leopard exhibits before doing a slight detour to the Ituri Forest and the lower waterfowl ponds. I then go up Eagle Canyon, around the remnants of Horn and Hoof Mesa, through Polar Bear Plunge, and on to Elephant Odyssey. Upon exiting Elephant Odyssey, I go through the Kopje area and then back to the Koalifornia Boardwalk to go down Bear Canyon and Sun Bear Forest. From there, I'll go back up Fern Canyon and hang a right to go past the silvery lutungs and orangutans/siamangs. From there, it is through the Parker Aviary to then go through the Aviary Trail. After completing Aviary Trail, I hang a right, go around the gorilla exhibit and then up through Hippo Trail before going down and through the Scripps Aviary. From there, I go down past the bonobos, vervets, and hornbills, make a U-turn, and then go back to go all the way down to Tiger Trail. Then you can take Tiger Trail all the way up to Monkey Trails and Forest Tales and explore the multiple level viewing of the primate and babirusa habitats at your leisure before heading out past the flamingo lagoon. I always finish with a quick jaunt over to the aviary at the bus loading station and then call it a day!
Take the tiger trail first thing if you're going right in the morning or some time in the early afternoon, as that's typically when the new okapi calf nurses/comes out of hiding. She's the first to be born specifically in the SD Zoo (as there has been more success in okapi breeding at the Safari Park)
For what it is worth, she is the first
female okapi calf to be born at the Zoo. The Zoo has a very long standing history of producing okapi calves (as well as the Park), but they had just not yet had a female born.
Otherwise, I would agree that the Safari Park should absolutely be your second major facility for the trip. If that leaves you with only a half day, the Birch Aquarium is easily done in a few hours and always makes for an enjoyable visit! The recent renovations are really well done. If you only do the animal parts of SeaWorld, you could also probably do it in a half day, but it much more expensive than the Birch, and you might be a little rushed depending on show times.
The shark exhibit has been undergoing a total remodel since Summer and it seems like there will be more species added, so if you do choose Seaworld that's something to look out for.
