Last Updated on June 5, 2025 by PorchLightReading
Family day trip to Bee City Zoo, South Carolina. Animal encounters with lemurs, kangaroos, giraffes, camels, and more!
“Happy birthday dear daughter, happy birthday to you!” For our daughter’s birthday we decided to experience something new in the area. Bee City Zoo has come up a few times among places to visit but we were still holding back.
The dirt road from Google street view, along with the wooden fence surrounding it, had us fooled into thinking that this small zoo might not be for us. First and foremost, the happiness and well being of the animals is top priority for our family while visiting zoos and petting zoos, and past experiences at other tourist destinations had us being a little cautious.
Of course you should never judge too quickly and this family zoo day was one of the best adventures we’ve had in a long time!
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- Table of contents: Bee City Zoo Family Guide
- What to expect
- Hands on interactive zoo
- Private animal encounters
- Safari tour
- Admission and hours
- Frequently asked question
- Tips for a great visit
Sunscreen, mosquito spray, tennis shoes, hat, and picnic. The car was packed and we were ready to have an adventure. From the website, we knew that they offered certain animal encounters. Up close experiences with lemurs, kangaroos, a sloth, and more!
But for our first visit we decided to keep it simple and see what this little zoo was all about.
Bee City Zoo Family Guide
Just an hour from downtown Charleston, South Carolina, Bee City Zoo has been family owned an operated for over 30 years! It started with the love of bees and educating people on how important bees are to our environment. Over the years it’s grown into what you see today and is a full interactive experience with hands on encounters.
What To Expect
Driving down the dirt road to the parking lot we quickly applied some suntan lotion and made our way over to the ticket counter. There they asked if we’d like tokens for animal food and/or the safari tour. We said yes to both and I would highly recommend doing the same.
Since they advertise private animal encounters as a separate experience on the website, I didn’t realize they offered smaller encounters for just the price of animal feed. These tokens and feed allowed us into the parakeet enclosure, the kangaroo enclosure, feeding the monkeys, barnyard animals, and zebra.
Buy the tokens and animal feed for the full interactive zoo experience!
- Hands on interactive experience
- Parakeets
- Kangaroos
- Ponies
- Monkeys
- Zebras
- Giraffes
- Barnyard animals and more!
- Safari tour
- Private animal encounters
- Nature center
- Cafe and picnic tables
- Gift shop with pure raw honey and honey products
Hands On Interactive Zoo
Purchasing tokens and animal feed at the ticket counter will give you a hands on experience everyone of all ages will enjoy. It’s what sets this zoo apart from others we’ve visited and really allowed us to take our time while exploring.
Animal’s well being- When it comes to petting zoos and close encounters, one of my personal fears is the animals being over touched. Kids and adults alike can get grabby on accident, or while overexcited, and this experience goes from cute to overwhelming.
In my opinion, it is clear by how they’ve arranged things that Bee City Zoo puts animals and their well being first. Each enclosure has designated open and close times so that they all have a break. When one enclosure is closed you simple move on to the one that just opened.
They also have designated paths within the enclosure allowing the animals, such as the kangaroos, a nice, large, shaded area where they can hang back if they want some quiet time. After seeing how they operate I have no doubt that the animal’s well being is top priority.
Parakeets
Our first encounter was with the parakeets. This large enclosure has roughly a hundred happy little budgies all flying around and singing to one another. Walking in the attendant handed us some parakeet food and we followed the path while holding out the food.
Eventually the birds flew over to us and we had several on our arms and around our toes!
Kangaroos
After visiting the parakeets, we made our way over to the kangaroos. Inside we were given another handful of feed and took the path into the enclosure. This path has a small wooden fence that separates you from the kangaroos and allows them to hang back if they want to take a rest.
It took a few minutes, but after sitting patiently the kangaroos started to make their way over to us. These happy little guys would gently hold our fingers while eating from our cupped hands. Softly we would pet them until they decided they had enough of a snack and made their way over to the waterfall for a quick drink.
Monkeys
With a cup of Monkey-O’s and a few creative contraptions, you can feed the monkeys! In front of the different monkey enclosures you’ll find a bowl and pulley system. When you place a Monkey-O into the bowl the monkeys will pull it back to them! It was an incredibly fun and engaging way to feed them while we worked together to get them their special treats.
Lemurs
The lemurs by far had the cutest little hands and instead of using the pulley system, you place your hand out in front of them and they will come over and take the snack from you. We even spotted a mama lemur with her baby attached right at her hip!
The adventure continues on like that, with little pulley systems, PCV pipes, slides, and waterwheels. All throughout the zoo you’ll find those fun little interactive things that make this zoo extra special. Be sure to save some food for the zebras on the other side of the park!
Private Animal Encounters
This experience is separate from purchasing animal feed and tokens and is for those hoping for a bit more time with your favorite animal. Here they offer time slots ranging from 15 minutes up to 60 minutes of visiting your favorite little friend! From one on one time with a ring tailed lemur, kangaroo, sloth and more!
Safari Tour
Be sure to arrive early and book your safari ride time slot! After wandering the zoo, and feeding the animals, it was time for our safari ride. As we made our way to the wagons we were each given a cup of animal feed before making our way to our seats.
The outside seats offer a more up close and personal experience, while the middle gives you a bit of a buffer from the animals that decided to pop their head into the wagon. Either place you choose fellow guests are friendly and willing to squeeze left or right to make sure everyone has a chance to feed these big zoo residents.
Our tour guide gave a brief overview with guidelines and we were on our way. The first animal that came for a visit was an ostrich, followed by a very polite camel.
Polite camel- This incredibly tall camel must have known his job title because he did it so well! Slowly he made his way down the first wagon, saying hi to each guest and hoping for a carrot treat. Finally he made it to our wagon and was sure to greet us, all while taking his time. Hands were held out to give him a soft touch and his big head even made it into the middle of our wagon looking for treats and smiling guests.
The Swiss Cow- The tour continued into another section where we were met by another camel and barnyard animals. By far the Swiss cow stole the show. This massive cow was the tallest cow I’ve ever seen! He too knew his job and said hi to each one of us, although you could tell he was in it for the carrots.
By the end of the tour everyone walked away knowing each other a little better and loving the experience we just had together.
Admission and Hours
Bee City Zoo is located just a short hour from downtown Charleston at 1066 Holly Ridge Ln, Cottageville, SC 29435. They are open Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9am-5pm. Saturday from 9am-6pm, and Sunday from 11am-6pm. They are open on some holidays that fall on a Monday, such as Memorial Day and Labor Day, so be sure to check their website for the most up to date information on hours and prices!
- Admission
- General admisson $19
- General admission with safari ride $24
- Military and senior admission $17
- Military and senior with safari ride $22
- Memberships are available
- Coupons and discounts!
- Be sure to check there website for any special promotions. For this Mother’s Day they are offering mothers and grandmothers free admission!
- They also offer one free admission to students who receive the Terrific Kid award from school! (must present coupon at front desk)
- Be sure to purchase tokens and animal feed for each family member for the full zoo experience.
Friendly reminder- All animal food must be purchased at the zoo. It is a federal violation to bring food from home to the animals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Expect to spend about 1.5-2.5 hours exploring the zoo. This can very depending on if you’ve purchased animal feed since you’ll be spending more time within the enclosures.
Yes! This zoo offers wide walking paths and ramps making it easy for strollers and wheelchairs. The only exception is the safari ride where you’ll be asked to park your stroller in a designated area before making your way to the wagon. For additional questions, be sure to ask the friendly staff at the front counter.
Yes! The enclosures, walking path, and most of the safari is completely under shade.
They do have a cafe on the premises where you can purchase hot dogs, chicken, drinks and a few other items. They also have picnic tables.
Tips For a Great Visit
- Go early- Animals are most active in the morning, and you’ll avoid the midday heat and humidity.
- Hand sanitizer and wipes- They do offer a couple of hand washing stations, but bringing your own hand sanitizer is never a bad idea.
- Water and snacks- Bring plenty of water to stay hydrated! The cafe also offers water and snacks to keep everyone fed and happy.
- Don’t skip the gift shop- Visiting the gift shop is a must! Their pure raw honey is wonderful and a must have for the home.
- Dress comfortable- Dress for the weather. Comfortable shoes, shorts, and hat.
Of course everyones experience will be different but for us, this was by far the best small zoo our family has been to. The staff was incredibly friendly and by purchasing animal feed from the front, we were able to have a unique and up close family experience. The tokens for the animal feed is something I highly recommend as it allowed us to interact with the animals on a more personal note, and in doing so we were able to slow down and take our time.
The night ended with our daughter blowing out the candles on another great birthday year and a special day we won’t soon forget. We’ll see you on our next adventure.
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