Kuranda Koala Gardens
Kuranda Koala Gardens
4
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
About
Kuranda Koala Gardens is situated in the heart of Kuranda and gives you the opportunity to see some of Australia's most unique wildlife up close.We have a variety of wildlife for you to see including:-Koalas: Lots of opportunity to observe our koalas doing what they do best - eating, sleeping and looking adorable. Fossil evidence shows that koalas originally lived in rainforest environments. As Australia became drier, they adapted to eat Eucalypt leaves, which replaced much of the country's rainforests.Koala Photos: Take the opportunity to 'Cuddle a Koala' and receive a great souvenir digital photo (extra cost). Kuranda Koala Gardens is one of only a handful of places in the world where you can actually cuddle a koala. Our adherence to a strict "Government Code Of Practice" ensures the health and wellbeing of our furry friends.Freshwater Crocodiles: Another Australian native - perhaps not as endearing as the Koala but a fascinating part of the eco system, is the Freshwater Crocodile. This is one of the two Australian saurians - the other being the Saltwater Crocodile. The Saltie does not function well in the cooler climes of the mountain regions but is on display at Cairns Tropical Zoo and Hartley's Crocodile Adventures.Kangaroos & Wallabies: Australia has a large variety of these macropods and you will see swamp wallabies, parma wallabies, eastern grey kangaroos and red legged pademelons amongst others. Snakes: Australia is home to many snakes, both deadly and harmless. Enjoy a unique 'up close' experience with pythons when you enter their domain in Australia's first 'Walk Through Snake House'.Wombats: This quaint marsupial is an Australian favourite. They are often playful and quick to learn. However, as they sleep quite a lot, their intelligence is often underestimated! They lay claim to being the world's largest burrowing animal and can dig up to two metres of burrow in one night.Lizards, Monitors and other Reptiles: Australia is home to an amazing selection of reptiles and there are lots on display. See Dragons and Monitors with their long forked tongues, and much more. Many of these creatures have great camouflage techniques - see what you can spot in their enclosure!Kuranda Koala Gardens is part of the Freeman Family owned and operated Wildlife Tropical North Queensland Group. Other wildlife experiences under this banner include Cairns Night Zoo, Hartley's Crocodile Adventures and Cairns Tropical Zoo.
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Admission tickets
from
£10.92
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
The area
Address
Reach out directly

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles970 reviews
Excellent
445
Very good
312
Average
125
Poor
42
Terrible
46

zakia19
Surfers Paradise, Australia69 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2020 • Couples
We're kids at heart and are always keen to see koala's and kangaroos. Staff are very kind and amusing. We spent over an hour so quickly. The habitats were well maintained. We paid (less than $30) for a family portrait with charlie the koala. The care takers let us feed him as well. For the kangaroo's and wallabies you get a bag of food upon entry as well included in your ticket
Written 16 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great to hear you had such a good time with us and enjoyed your photo with Charlie.
Written 17 October 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Jamie p
Greater Melbourne, Australia76 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
Lining up for your Koala photo was tiring. In the end having the Koala sit in your arms was a truly encouraging experience. The keepers care deeply for them and this was evident in their firm instructions on how to hold them. The remainder of the attraction was enjoyable and an up close and personal experience with Australian native fauna was good.
Written 12 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks so much Jamie for this wonderful feedback. We are a small privately owned attraction so your time taken and great comments on the Koala experience and the rest of the part are warmly appreciated.
Written 12 February 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Sue D
Dayton, OH208 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
This was our first and probably only trip to Australia, and you can’t go there and not see and hold a koala. Kuranda Koala Gardens is one of the few places in Australia where you can hold one. We did and it was amazing! Along with koalas, they had wallabies and kangaroos too. If you are in the area, you absolutely have to go there.
Written 15 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks Sue for selecting us for your special memory of Australia.
Written 1 October 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Thomas W
4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022 • Couples
Got to see the Koloas up close, hold them and take a picture. It wasn't long, but Koloas arent cats. The trainers were friendly and showed a lot of concern for the animals. Got to see the kangaroos up close. They didn't eat out of out hand. I guess they weren't hungry.
Written 22 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Many thanks for your feedback Thomas. We can't guarantee that our macropods will feed for everyone. We provide the free food and it is up to the individual to take the time and see who's hungry.
Written 30 December 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Matthew
St. Helena, CA540 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Couples
If you want to be a miserable person, surrounded by miserable animals (and miserable workers, and other miserable people), then this is the place for you!

It is a very small animal park, with very small enclosures for said animals, who seem pretty unhappy overall. There is only so much eating an animal can do, so when the wallabies have had a bunch of food force-fed to them by humans all morning, it is understandable why they go and try to hide (but, sadly, there is no place for them to really get away from the pesky humans)

Then there is the koala photo, which is TERRIBLE. I know you’re thinking “I gotta do it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” DON’T DO IT.

1) It costs an additional fee that is MORE than the already-expensive cost of admission.

2) What do you get for that fee? Do you get to cuddle the koala? No. You get to wait in a long line of people being pushed through like a cattle call... then they have you stick your arms and body in a certain pose, whereupon they place a SLEEPING koala (that they just woke up for this purpose, so its eyes aren’t even open — I honestly felt bad for it) onto your arms, and then snap a photo so quickly you don’t even have time to smile for the camera.

3) The photographer is terrible. Not a pro at all... some kid who stands behind the camera, doesn’t care if you are even ready for the photo, doesn’t give you a chance to see what it looks like... nothing. They say that they will also take a picture of you on your phone, BUT when they did so, they rushed it so badly that the photo is a blurry, spinning, sideways mess! When I showed the photographer that fact (because they refused to take a photo on both of our phones, despite the fact that we paid extra for a “couple” photo), he shrugged and said “Sorry, we can only do one photo. That’s the policy.” (I have attached the photo so you can see what kind of garbage you will be getting for a cost of $36! And it’s not like I was using some weird model of phone... it’s an iPhone 7+)

4) The “couple” photo is a RIPOFF. Ostensibly, it saves you $12 because normal price for a single photo is $24 (couple is $36)... BUT it actually just WASTES $12. Here’s why: you get NOTHING for that extra $12 you are paying. The second person just stands in the background — they do not get to interact with the koala in any way. Nope, you don’t get to pet it... you can’t even TOUCH it. Not even once. But surely, since there are two of you and you paid extra, they would at least snap a photo on each person’s phone, right? NOPE! They also claim it is “policy” to only take one phone photo... which, as I mentioned above, is so rushed and unprofessional that it doesn’t come out properly anyway! That’s what happens when they give LESS THAN ONE MINUTE of time for the photo with a koala.

5) The employees are super bitter and miserable... maybe even as much as the animals.

I left this place feeling depressed and ripped off.
Written 1 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We used to be able to click on the review to get in touch but can't get that to work. Please email admin@koalagardens.com as the details as described don't sound like us.
Written 1 October 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

MsSjvivi22
58 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2018 • Couples
As an animal lover, I always have this dilemma where I'm not sure if I should go or support somewhere that doesn't treat animals properly. However, sometimes my desire to actually be up close and person, hold and touch it, takes over this fact and we end up at one of these excursions.

It was $50 for the butterfly garden, koala bears and birds. $25 or so for a photo and to hold a Koala and snake and you're able to split it to 2 people for the photos. (I can't remember the exact price but it wasn't unreasonable).

They also take photos for you with your own camera if you buy a photo, so that was a big plus. All places should do this.

It was HOT there. Animals were lazy. They had Kangaroo food but they weren't hungry.

Koala photos was kind of sad since the trainer kept pulling the koala by the arms every time they switched people. I don't know if that could be great for its joints.

The birds were really cool since they would land on you, but most of them were full as well. Remember their claws are sharp, so don't come in if you have sensitive skin.

Butterfly exhibit was also really pretty and we got landed on a few times. This made us partially forget what jerks we are to support something like this.

I really hope they take great care of the Koalas there. They had a ton though, so I think they get rotated out.
Written 28 November 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

David C
Halifax, UK1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2013 • Couples
This is simply a commercial activity and the animals are kept in totally unsuitable environments. Some were showing clear signs of stress. The wombat was in a filthy enclosure with no sign of grass. A koala was being constantly handled by many visitors who were charged for the pleasure. It must have been handled by hundreds of people during the day. Other koalas were sat on tree stumps with no natural food or opportunity for natural activity. It was a poor quality experience, badly maintained with very poor animal welfare. Not a good experience for anyone who has compassion for animals
Written 30 November 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks David for your review. Firstly, if you'd spoken our keepers you'd be made aware of the koala handling rules where they are only held for a max of 30 minutes per day. So it is completely incorrect to suggested that an individual koala would be handled by 'hundreds' of people per day. Clearly you may now know it, but wombats are famous for digging and yes they do get dirty doing this, its completely natural for them and they are nocturnal so Pugley may have been asleep or dozing when you visited. That's what wombat's do. As for the koala enclosures, all enclosures including ours, have to comply with the Queensland legislation on enclosure design to ensure the highest levels of hygiene for the animals. These enclosures are kept scrupulously clean and they have to be for the health of the animals. Fresh gum leaves are provided to them every morning and afternoon. The husbandry requirements for many Australian species is different to what may take place in Zoo's or sanctuaries elsewhere in the world as they are different and unique. Hence their health and welfare requirements are different. We are a business and it is extremely expensive to care for and provide high quality wildlife care for our animals, but that Sir does not in any way suggest that we are indifferent to the welfare of the wildlife in our care. Queensland has some of the most demanding wildlife husbandry standards of any location in the world and we comply with and exceed them. Feel free to go to our website and contact us directly to discuss your concerns and we'll be only too happy to go through everything you've raised in minute detail.
Written 27 January 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Canucks301
Vancouver, Canada196 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2015 • Family
Queensland is the only state that still allows koala cuddling. So if you are in Cairns this place is almost a must go. The only catch is you need to travel to Kuranda via train or skyrail. The park is really small and entrance fee is less than AUD 20. You should be able to get a 10% coupon from your hotel tour desk or tour operator.
The day we went there the place is not crowded and the staff gave ample time for us to take photos with our own cell phones, cameras, group photos with the cute little guy after the official photo that costs another AUD 20 per person. One last thing to mention normally the koala us only avaiable for photos between 11 or 11:30 am to 3 pm.
Written 8 December 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

TRINA32752
Boston, MA22 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2015 • Couples
Queensland is the only state in Australia where you are allowed to hold a koala. You can also feed kangaroos and Wallabys and get up close opportunities with wombats. It's a small experience but well worth a visit. I went early and saw everything in about 30 minutes. Holding the adorable Koala checked off another bucket list item!
Written 12 November 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ctm7944
Phoenix, AZ18,579 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2015 • Couples
Yes, we had the exciting opportunity to hold a koala.
This costs AUS $20 each to hold them, in addition to the regular admission fee.
For the $20 you get to hold them & a photo.You get a big (9 inch x 6 inch) photo.

But, this $20 also allows you to take photos with your own camera, which we did separately and together while holding the koala.

We saw 3 other koalas feeding very close, on a tree. These were also good (free) photo opportunities. So, if you do not want to pay to hold one, you can still get very good pics of them in the tree, which is pretty close to the low rail/fence.

There was also an opportunity to feed/pet kangaroos & wallabies. If we had not had the chance to feed them on our Daintree Rainforest Tour, then this would have also been a plus, for us.
There are snakes, crocs and other AUS animals. Takes about 30 minutes to walk around this small zoo.

There is a free shuttle bus to the Koala Gardens from the Scenic railway train station and the Skrail terminal. But, it is only a 10 minute leisurely stroll down Main St. (also listed as Coondoo St. on some maps)

Once you get to the end of Main St., it intersects with Therwine St., this is where a larger variety of eateries are located. The Koala Gardens, Butterfly Sanctuary & Birdlworld are across the road from Therwine St.
You have to walk thru the Heritage Market to in order to enter them.

Was it worth it, to us it was.

If you don't feel like walking back to the train or skyrail, the free shuttle bus is always an option.
Written 18 October 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 774
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

KURANDA KOALA GARDENS (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

All things to do in KurandaZoos & Aquariums in Kuranda
RestaurantsFlightsHoliday RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesCar Hire