Jungle Island on Watson Island

Jungle Island is at 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail on Watson Island, City of Miami land reached from the MacArthur Causeway (I-395).

The operator gives the address as 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail, Miami, FL 33132 (Jungle Island park information). The land underneath is public: a 1998 Miami-Dade County legislative file describes the site as approximately 18.6 acres of City-owned waterfront property at Watson Island, offered by the City of Miami in a 1994 request for proposals (Miami-Dade Legislative Item File 981633). The park operates on that land under a lease, and a 2024 City of Miami charter question addressed that lease (City of Miami 2024 special election).

The operator describes general admission as including Treewalk Village, wildlife exhibits, the Guardians of the Jungle show, an Everglades Habitat, a playground and the Manu Aviary, with a typical visit of 3 to 4 hours (Jungle Island).

Jungle Island lists general admission every day from 9:30am to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm, and posted prices of $29.95 for adults and $22.95 for children 3 to 9, according to the Miami park's operator.

Sources: Jungle Island general admission for the first two rows; Jungle Island home page for Animal Encounters; Jungle Island park information for parking.

The operator says the park is open seven days a week, 365 days a year, rain or shine, and that outside food and drinks are not permitted (Jungle Island). Its pages give different Animal Encounters hours, 9am to 4pm in the hours box on the home page and site footer and 9:30am to 4pm with last admission at 3pm in the park information listing (Jungle Island home page; park information). The operator shows those prices beside higher original prices of $43.95 and $29.95 and sells tickets at the park and online; its phone is (305) 400-7000 (Jungle Island; Jungle Island).

Seasonal programs change the evening schedule: in October 2026 the operator advertised The Horrorland as now open and Luminosa, a lantern show across 13 acres, returning on November 14 (Jungle Island).

Drivers reach Jungle Island from I-395 East (the MacArthur Causeway) at exit 2D and park in the Watson Island garage for a $20 flat daily rate, the operator says.

From I-95, the operator's route is I-395 East to exit 2D, over the bridge, then the first right onto Parrot Jungle Trail and around and under the bridge to the garage on the left; from Miami Beach, take I-395 West and make the first right after Palm Island, next to the Miami Yacht Club, then the first left onto Parrot Jungle Trail (Jungle Island directions).

For transit, the operator lists Miami-Dade bus routes C, M, S and 120 and refers riders to the county transit website or 305-770-3131 for route information (Jungle Island). Route names change, so that list is a starting point to confirm with the county before leaving downtown Miami.

Parrot Jungle, open in South Miami-Dade since 1936, won a City of Miami competition for Watson Island in the mid-1990s, and city voters ratified the project on November 7, 1995, according to Miami-Dade County records.

The 1998 county file says the City of Miami issued its request for proposals in 1994 for a botanical garden attraction on the Watson Island waterfront, and that Parrot Jungle's proposal was approved by the City Commission and then by a majority of city-wide voters at the November 7, 1995 referendum (Miami-Dade Legislative Item File 981633). The lease ran 45 years with an option to extend for one more 15-year period; the city approved the lease and development agreement by Resolution 96-671 on September 26, 1996, and the Governor and Cabinet of the State of Florida gave final approval on June 2, 1997 (Miami-Dade County).

The 1998 county item was an ordinance to raise a federal Section 108 program loan for the proposed Parrot Jungle facility at Watson Island from up to $21,000,000 to up to $25,000,000; its legislative history shows the Board of County Commissioners item of June 2, 1998 as withdrawn, with a note to see a substitute. The file describes a planned program of over 11 acres of gardens, open space waterfront and natural exhibits, two amphitheaters, and banquet and educational facilities (Miami-Dade Legislative Item File 981633). The file argued for the loan in part with jobs for nearby Miami neighborhoods, citing 1995 census estimates within a one-mile radius of the site (Miami-Dade County).

The file also describes the attraction's evolution from a typical roadside tourist stop with a parrot show and gardens into a South Florida institution (Miami-Dade County).

The original Parrot Jungle grounds are now Pinecrest Gardens at 11000 SW 57th Avenue in Pinecrest, a Miami-Dade historic site listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Miami-Dade County's Historic Resource Guide lists the property as Parrot Jungle and Gardens; Pinecrest Gardens, with local designation on 12/19/90 and National Register listing on 10/17/11 (Miami-Dade County Historic Resource Guide). Pinecrest, incorporated on March 12, 1996, is a separate municipality from the City of Miami, so the old site and the Watson Island park fall under different governments (Miami-Dade County Municipalities).

The operator still listed daily hours on October 18, 2026, but a November 5, 2024 City of Miami charter question proposed terms to cancel its theme park lease and redevelop part of the Watson Island site.

Referendum 2 asked whether the charter should allow the sale and/or lease of 5.4 acres on Watson Island at a fair market value of $135,000,000 to Ecoresiliency Miami LLC for residential and commercial uses, without bidding, while requiring 13 acres to be returned to the city for a new public waterfront park at no cost, cancellation of the existing theme park and hotel lease, and $15,000,000 for affordable housing, infrastructure and other public benefits (City of Miami, November 5, 2024 special election). The resolution text describes the park as a new 13.3-acre public waterfront park and amends Charter Section 29-C, titled Watson Island (City of Miami). A separate Referendum 3 dealt with mixed-use leases on Watson Island (City of Miami).

The city's November 5, 2024 election page posts the ballot language and an election night results link, but no result text, so this page does not state the outcome; the page lists the Office of the City Clerk at 305-250-5361 for election questions (City of Miami election page). Meanwhile the operator was still selling tickets and advertising events into November 2026 (Jungle Island).

Last verified: October 18, 2026, using Miami-Dade legislative file 981633, the City of Miami November 5, 2024 special election page, the Miami-Dade Historic Resource Guide entry for Pinecrest Gardens, and the operator's posted Watson Island hours, prices and directions.