Updated for September 2026
The Best Zoos in Honolulu
How this list is ordered: by how complete our listing is — how much we hold on opening hours, ticket prices, accreditation, photographs, animals and facilities. It is a measure of our own coverage, not a judgement of the venue. We hold no visitor scores or conservation assessments, so “best” here means every zoo in Honolulu that qualifies for the list, fullest entry first.
Listed alphabetically
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Keeper talk or showGuided tourParking
Honolulu Zoo
Zoo in Honolulu
Set within the 300-acre royal Queen Kapiʻolani Park, it is the only American zoo founded on grants from a reigning monarch. More than 1,230 animals are held in purpose-built habitats, and annual visitors exceed 750,000. The Department of Enterprise Services runs it for the combined city and county government.
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Guided tour
Waikiki Aquarium
Zoo & Aquarium in Honolulu
Dating from 1904, it has belonged to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for over a century, that link having been formed in 1919. Only the New York Aquarium is older among American public aquariums still operating. It stands on the shore next to a living coral reef, with more than 3,500 organisms representing 490 species of marine plant and animal.
Our ranking methodology
This is not a ranking. The 2 venues above are listed alphabetically by name, the same order used throughout this site. We do not collect visitor reviews, star ratings, ticket-sales figures or a conservation-impact score, so none of those exist here to rank by — “best” in this page’s title means every venue that qualifies for this list, not first-to-last by quality. If we ever add a data source robust enough to support an honest ranking, this note and the order above will change together.