Bee City Zoo & Honey Bee Farm

Bee City Zoo & Honey Bee Farm in Cottageville, SC combines an intimate exotic animal zoo with a working educational honey bee operation — a combination that creates a genuinely memorable experience for families with kids ages 3-12. With 4.7 stars across nearly 3,000 reviews, it's one of the most reliably excellent smaller zoos within day-trip range of Hilton Head Island.

The zoo component features exotic animals including ring-tailed lemurs, two-toed sloths, wallabies, and other species that visitors can interact with at close range in ways that larger zoos don't typically permit. The intimate scale means kids actually see the animals clearly rather than straining to spot distant shapes. Animal feeding opportunities are a consistent highlight.

The honey bee education component is what makes Bee City genuinely distinctive. Protected observation hives let visitors watch bee colonies at work through glass, with explanatory signage and staff who explain pollinator biology in kid-appropriate terms. Kids who arrived nervous about bees typically leave fascinated by them.

The on-site honey sales provide a tangible connection between the educational experience and a product they can taste and take home.

Bee City is located in Cottageville — about 1.5-2 hours from Hilton Head Island and 45 minutes from Charleston, making it a logical stop on a day trip toward Charleston. Closed Monday and Tuesday — plan accordingly. Natural ground surfaces throughout mean all-terrain strollers work better than standard models.