Feb 28, 2025
Australia zoo - Collected from hotel in Surfers Paradise and made our way to the zoo in Beerwah via Brisbaine. Please note that the journey is approx 2.5 hours.
On arrival the driver took us straight to the turnstiles where we walked straight into the zoo, no queueing for tickets.
The zoo is not huge but definitely plenty to see and do. We spent 6 hours there prior to our coach journey back.
We had the pleasure of watching Robert Irwin perform the crocodile show (please note he's not there daily). He was a great entertainer, as he departed on his own in his 4x4 he saw us still standing so stopped his car, opened the window and chatted to us, we got a few photos too. He was happy to chat and had no security.
I also booked an animal encounter where I fed the Giraffes. One of the zoo keepers takes photos of your experience and emails you the lot, I think I had 12 photos. They print one for you too and you have option to buy more but they have already been emailed to you.
If booking an encounter, ensure it's after 1030 incase the bus is delayed in traffic.
A dedicated area is also on display of Steve Irwins life.
Review provided by Viator
Jan 17, 2025
Air conditioned and very... - Air conditioned and very clean bus. Arrived on time. Smooth and easy process to book and travel. Pleasant driver.
Review provided by Viator
Jan 4, 2025
Put it on the to do List - A long drive from Surfers Paradise , but worth the drive . Beautiful , clean & the animals are well cared for . By far the best Zoo in Australia .
Review provided by Viator
Dec 23, 2024
Australia Zoo is incredible! - This experience was so great! It seemed a little unorganized at first because the van showed up a few minutes late and the drive didn’t know who was on the wine tour and who was on the other glow worm tour, but it ended up being so great! Andy and Anthony were both so nice and sweet and told us all about the questions we had, and the bus ride back everyone slept so we also slept. lol the zoo was amazing. 10/10 recommend!!!
Review provided by Viator
Oct 7, 2024
An Awesome Day at Australia Zoo - Seeing all the pics of Steve Irwin was very emotional….he was so inspirational and such an awesome legend/wildlife warrior.
We loved it all and everything that we experienced at Australia Zoo including the Croc Show at the Crocaseum and the gorgeous Tiger at the Tiger Area. Also, all the awesome friendly welcoming staff. The merchandise options are terrific and plenty and very reasonably priced.
Thank you Irwin Family and the well kept and well maintained beautiful Australia Zoo xox
Review provided by Viator
Sep 29, 2024
Unforgettable - Okay, I was extremely worried about the bad reviews I was reading prior to booking, but I had a very limited time on the Gold Coast and just Australia in general. I thought when am I going to ever get the opportunity to visit THE Australia Zoo again as I was visiting all the way from Los Angeles. I’ve been obsessed with the Irwin Family since I was a little girl and Australia Zoo had always been on my bucket list. So I went ahead and booked this hoping for the best. The main concerns I’d seen with the bad reviews were the reliability of the bus company failing to communicate when/if the bus was cancelled for the day if they didn’t reach the minimum amount of people required to make the trek to the zoo for the day. Because of this, I messaged the tour operator the night before to confirm the meetup time and place. The tour operator confirmed with me and so that put me at ease. The next morning, the bus picked me up and a few other people at our meeting point in front of Mantra Legends right on time. The bus ride from Gold Coast is a total of about 3 hours one way so 6 hours round trip. Sounds agonizingly long when coming from Gold Coast especially as the bus has no bathroom facilities and doesn’t make a stop for passengers to use the bathroom. Does stop in Brisbane to get more passengers but no one is to get off the bus for any reason during the stops. So just make sure you go beforehand and refrain from drinking too much liquids. Surprisingly the length of time flew by for me both ways as I was chatting with a few local passengers. Bus is clean and modern.
Now, for the zoo. INCREDIBLE. Never been to a zoo so interactive and educational. I had the time of my life seeing all the different species of animal. Was super excited for the Crocoseum show. It was amazingly entertaining and the cherry on top to this whole excursion was the Irwin’s coming out to feed the crocs during the show!!! It was a dream come true for this lifelong Irwin family fan. It was beautiful and emotional seeing how the family has continued on Steve’s legacy. Their passion for animals and conservation is inspiring. So yes overall great experience! The bus gets there around 10am and you are directed to meetup back at the drop off point at 4pm. So u have about 6hours to enjoy the zoo which I felt was a good amount. I believe those who have had a negative experience with this booking, but I just think I happened to go on a day where everything went right. Hopefully with the bad reviews the bus company has seen, they’ve made it a point to be better and more communicative if the bus needs to be canceled for the day. With my experience however, I would recommend
Review provided by Viator
Jan 5, 2025
A super day out despite some dodgy coach driving. - I had read previous reviews before booking and was fully aware of the 6 hour round coach trip from Surfers Parsdise, which in my opinion was well worth it for a fabulous day at Australia Zoo. My only criticism is the driver who barely spoke, only to bark a few instructions. Perhaps more worrying was their driving which left a lot to be desired and was pretty questionable at times with numerous suddenly braking at which I often had to close my eyes, thinking we were going to hit the car in front. Australia Zoo though was an incredible experience and we were fortunate to have Robert and Terri Irwin in the Crocosseum.
Review provided by Viator
Nov 11, 2024
It was a wonderful... - It was a wonderful experience but the bus ride there and back is very long and having a child that gets carsick made it a very long journey
Review provided by Viator
Jan 27, 2025
The zoo ticket is not expensive and there are less expensive, better ways to get there!! - Buyer beware with this company. The Zoo is fantastic and a must do, but find another way to get there. We were told what time to be downstairs at our hotel (and had booked this tour months before). We called the night before and were still told the same time. We were outside the hotel a few minutes prior, only to watch the bus drive away. My daughter tried, but the driver did not stop! We called the company right away, and they were not helpful at all . They expected us to get to another hotel and leave an hour later. I am a senior and it was very hot, we ended up calling an Uber-ironically it was faster and cheaper. Then to add insult to injury, they felt no need to offer us any discount or refund. The time they allowed at the zoo was far to short, and even more shocking, the shuttle back left a half hour earlier than originally stated, as they had a new booking that involved an airport drop off. Many people were very upset when they realised this as well. The zoo ticket is not expensive and there are other transportation options- no need to book this company!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 21, 2024
Company not to be trusted - I wouldn’t book this company at all. We were booked in a nearby by hotel 10mins walk to the pickup location. The schedule to depart was 6:50am but we were late by 5mins as we could not find the place immediately. I have a feeling that they didn’t arrive at the pick up location or didn’t wait for us a minute.
They have our email as well as our contact number so at least they should have tried to contact us immediately since we were just around the corner.
We tried to contact them to the telephone listed on the booking invoice. But there was no response saying line is disconnected. Their telephone listed on the booking was dead.
I had to return back to our Hotel to look for another contact number, eventually found one but the lady on the phone was rude snd unprofessional sympathetic and said she couldn’t help us. No mention about refund
Not a happy customer. Lost a lot of money and then we had to find another activity to fill the day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor