Santa Barbara Neighborhood & Community

The Santa Barbara Waterfront is a gem within the City of Santa Barbara. Visitors can stroll from beach to beach by foot or bike, park in convenient waterfront parking lots, and experience Santa Barbara Harbor & Stearns Wharf. From boating excursions to standup paddle boarding, day fishing to excellent museums, fabulous restaurants to sweets, you can find everything you need to spend the day at the our waterfront

This zoo with a view was once a posh estate owned by a coffee and tea merchant; now it's the lush domain of more than 500 animals representing 160 species. The pink stucco mansion that once presided over manicured lawns and gardens is gone-replaced by open-air habitats built for the less refined but still exacting tastes of giraffes, elephants, gibbons, snow leopards and gorillas.

We're not your typical structured museum with stiff curators, cold halls, and strict rules. We like to go outside and get our hands dirty, pick things up and take a closer look, laugh, skip, or maybe even jump for joy. Because learning is messy and we all learn by doing, not sitting.