Does South Florida have any visitor attractions left? Take a look at where to go

The Miami Seaquarium is no more. Jungle Island’s days may be numbered. Wannado City closed years ago.

Are there any theme park attractions still left in South Florida?

Sure. South Florida has the beach. And the Art Deco district. And Calle Ocho. And lots of others things to see and do.

But what about those classic places where you pay an entrance fee at a gate and see the sights and ride the rides?

Hmm. We have to think for a moment. After all, many of these places are now gone: Blockbuster Golf & Games. Six Flags Atlantis. Pirate’s World. The Serpentarium.

MORE: The life and times of the Miami Seaquarium: Star attraction to troubled landmark

Yes, South Florida still has museum attractions, including those for art and history. And there’s the Vizcaya mansion and grounds. But what about the theme park experience, a place to visit here and there or take your visiting cousins?

Take a look at some of what’s left in Miami-Dade, Broward Palm Beach and the Keys:

Jungle Island

Jungle Island on Miami’s Watson Island is the offspring of the former Pinecrest landmark Parrot Jungle, an institution off Red Road for nearly 70 years. That is, until 2003, when its birds flew — or, more accurately, were carefully moved — and ushered about 16 miles northeast to the newer attraction.

The new Jungle Island is an eco park with attractions like Animal Encounters where you can meet the two-toed sloth, the capybara, and birds including a black palm cockatoo, blue and gold macaw and parrots.

There’s also a replica of the Florida Everglades, The Treewalk Village, a playground and a holiday season visual show, Luminosa, where lanterns light 13 acres amid live music, food and cultural offerings.

MORE: Could the Jungle Island parrots return to their old home? Talk has started

Monkey Jungle

Monkey Jungle, established 90 years ago in 1935 in southern Miami-Dade, still touts its slogan, “Where humans are caged and monkeys run wild.”

That’s what guests can expect as the attraction’s monkeys, reptiles and birds get the run of the 30-acre grounds. People are enclosed.

Exhibits and shows include The Wild Monkey Swimming Pool Show featuring the Java macaque. Reptile Review. And the Amazonian Rainforest Show that finds monkeys roaming in the semi-natural tropical rainforest.

PHOTOS: Do you remember these old Miami attractions?

Lion Country Safari

Lion Country Safari, a drive-through safari park in Loxahatchee, about 20 miles west of downtown West Palm Beach, opened its 320 acres in 1967. The attraction once let families see free-roaming lions from the safety of their Chevy Impalas and Ford Fairlanes. That’s the way it was back then. Today, we cruise four miles through seven main habitats in Ford F-Series and Toyota RAV4s to see lions, zebra, giraffes, rhinos, chimpanzees, ostriches and other species. They roam cageless.

There’s also a walk-through adventure park, a Rio Grande Train Ride, and campground.

Curiously, the best time to see the animals, Lion Country Safari says on its website, is when it’s raining. “The animals generally love the cooler, wet weather and tend to be more active during this time.”

Coral Castle

A lovesick Latvian named Edward Leedskalnin, who weighed at most 120 pounds and stood all of five feet, built Homestead’s Coral Castle starting in the 1920s with his own hands, guided, he said, by the same physic forces that helped humans build one of the wonders of the world without modern machinery: the pyramids in Egypt.

Leedskalnin, the Miami Herald wrote in 1989, “spent most of his days and a good part of his nights excavating, chiseling and chipping tons of coral rock into a temple of love to a 16-year-old girl who jilted him on their wedding eve.”

His blocks weighed 6 to 30 tons. Somehow he put his 5,000-pound rocking throne in its place. A 9-ton, 92-inch high gate was balanced so that a small child can coax it open with the touch of a finger. He built a stone table in the shape of Florida. The water in its middle represents Lake Okeechobee. Who knew? Ed did. Supernatural.

Hurricane Andrew visited in 1992 but couldn’t damage his coral castle. His ex reportedly never did. Happier couples can book weddings at his castle of love.

MORE: Coral Castle is Miami’s creepiest coolest roadside attraction. Why haven’t you been there yet?

Flamingo Gardens

Flamingo Gardens offers a taste of old Florida. First, there’s that roadside sign, entrance and snack stand. That sets the tone for that retro experience.

The Davie attraction, a former orange grove from the 1920s, has 60 acres of gardens and a wildlife sanctuary, and features thousands of exotic and native plants.

The botanic garden also has Florida’s largest collection of Champion trees, a flowering tree walk and specialty gardens, tours through a 200-year-old oak hammock, citrus groves, wetlands., and is home to dozens of species of Florida native birds.

The attraction has events through the years, including for the winter holidays.

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens is named for its visionary David Fairchild, who, along with pals like Marjory Stoneman Douglas, opened the 83-acre garden in Coral Gables in 1938 at 10901 Old Cutler Rd.

Since then, millions of members and non-members alike visit to see the annual South Florida Palm Society Show and Sale (running Nov. 8-9, 2025), January’s Chocolate Festival, the ongoing Nightgarden at Fairchild (through Jan. 11) and galas, fashion shows, concerts, educational events and a butterfly garden.

Zoo Miami

Zoo Miami sprung from the old Crandon Park Zoo, an attraction that originally opened in 1948, endured Hurricane Betsy in 1965, and almost made it out of the 1970s. This bigger and better version opened its first phase in 1980 in Kendall and has grown to nearly 750 acres, with four miles of walkways and more than 2,000 animals.

Zoo Miami features 375 different species including jaguars from the Amazon, Asian tigers and tree kangaroos from Australia and some from closer to home: Florida Everglades crocs.

Zoo Miami also boasts Ron Magill, whose Walk on the Wild events featuring educational segments, animal encounters and keen eye for photography continue to draw audiences. Longtime residents can’t forget his iconic image of flamingos huddling in the bathroom for safety against monstrous Hurricane Andrew in August 1992.

Theater of the Sea

Theater of the Sea in Islamorada is one of the few attractions where you can swim with a dolphin and, now, add on a kiss from one of them or a sea lion. You can also swim with sharks (really, for $125 a session) and rays and feed and interact with an alligator.

The Florida Keys attraction, culled from one of Henry Flagler’s rock quarries, was established by the P.F. McKenney family as a marine mammal facility in 1946, predating the Seaquarium by nine years.

The attraction’s lagoons and tropical gardens house dolphins, sea lions, sea turtles, tropical and game fish, sharks, stingrays, crocodiles, alligators, and birds.

Twelve million gallons of ocean water pumped in daily nourishes the three-acre natural salt-water lagoons.

Butterfly World

Founder Robert Boender’s Butterfly World in Coconut Creek turned 37 in March. When the gardens opened in 1988, with three acres within Tradewinds Park, there were butterfly aviaries and a farm and research center.

His venue was recognized as the earliest major butterfly garden in the United States. Since then, Butterfly World expanded to include two aviaries for tropical birds and an interactive lorikeet encounter area.

Unrelated, but perhaps inspired by, The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory followed in 2003. That climate controlled oasis of butterflies, birds and a pair of flamingos named Rhett and Scarlett, is on Duval Street.

Everglades

The Everglades is a real-life attraction, and a must-do during staycations and dragging the relatives around town during their vacations.

Take an airboat ride through the sawgrass. Cycle or walk the trails. Be on the lookout for birds and alligators.

There’s an even a new lodge to stay in at the Flamingo entrance of the River of Grass in South Miami-Dade. It’s a relatively bug-free haven, with rooms made from shipping containers and elevated 13 feet above the ground for good viewing of the surrounding Everglades. The lodge is next to the newly re-constructed Guy Bradley Visitor Center, which boasts interactive exhibits and viewing scopes to better spot wildlife.

Rapids Water Park

Do you miss Six Flags Atlantis, the mega Hollywood water kingdom that opened in 1983 with a seven-story water slide and massive wave pool and closed after almost 10 years?

You can relive those days in Riviera Beach in Palm Beach County with Rapids Water Park, a venue that actually predates Six Flags. Rapids opened in 1979.

Mega Mayhem is the newest slide, opened in 2024. That one lets riders race side-by-side through 873 feet of turns, rises and drops. Think rollercoaster on water. The water coaster, which joins favorites like Brain Drain, Pirates Plunge and Black Thunder, is touted as the largest ride in Rapids’ 46-year history.

This story was originally published November 7, 2025 at 1:24 PM.