If you are traveling into San Antonio and have a car, I highly recommend traveling a bit further out of the city and head North of San Antonio to these three attractions that provide a perfect full day of vacation activities!
Natural Bridge Caverns allows you to view the beauty of stalactites, stalagmites and many other rock formations as you travel deeper underground! The lowest point is 180 feet underground with 99% humidity - it feels damp and wet down there! But what you see is INCREDIBLE and UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING! A great educational experience for all with the chance to go underground into the caverns that formed naturally many years ago.
You do have to walk down and of course back up, so being in shape helps - take it slow and don't rush or you will have to catch your breath!
Warning: They will take a photo of your group (only $10 for a great souvenir!) so be prepared for full hair and shiny faces! Of course you are free to take your own pics in the cavern as well - They joked that the rocks smile for pics! I must admit, the pictures don't really do justice to what you actually see, but here are a few of mine:
You do have to walk down and of course back up, so being in shape helps - take it slow and don't rush or you will have to catch your breath!
My youngest had to go to the bathroom about halfway through and you can’t really go back up without going through the entire cavern so make sure to take a potty break before entering the cavern! As it a bit dark down there I really don’t recommend this activity if you have younger children who get scared in the dark. You also must carry little ones as strollers aren’t easy to maneuver around. You must be able to walk up and down stairs and ramps to participate - and of course wear comfortable shoes!
There are tour guides throughout to explain more in depth about the rock formations that you are viewing. You can take pictures but by all means don’t touch anything underground! Apparently it’s a state law and no one needs the charge of "I touched an underground rock" on their record!
Admission is currently $21 adults/$13 child ages 3-11/under age 3 is free! Discounted tickets are available on their website here - or save 15% using SAVE San Antonio!
Warning: They will take a photo of your group (only $10 for a great souvenir!) so be prepared for full hair and shiny faces! Of course you are free to take your own pics in the cavern as well - They joked that the rocks smile for pics! I must admit, the pictures don't really do justice to what you actually see, but here are a few of mine:
There are plenty of other things to do on the property as well - Find some diamonds in the rough by mining your own gems at the Mining Company (about $8-10 per bag), Zip on through the 4-level Challenge Course or just glide across the Zipline - there is also a smaller challenge area for Little Kids under age 6!
Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch
I have to admit this was my favorite activity on our trip! Conveniently located next door to the Caverns - it is a great stop after visiting the caverns.
And here is what I loved: we fed animals that came right up to our car!
It's a Safari Drive thru! How cool is that?
After your safari excursion you can stop and have a picnic or head to the petting zoo for some hands on experience - Hand sanitizer is a must on this trip! And remember no bathrooms are in your car so make sure your little ones can hang on until a rest stop. Your car will be in a single file line and you may experience delays caused by animals in the road or feeding, so you may have a long journey ahead of you!
We were one of the last cars in the park that day so the animals were full and tired by that time, but the traffic was reduced... I suggest going a few hours before closing time for more animal interactions. The first animal that we saw came right up to our car and would have hopped in and drove off if we let him!
There are signs clearly stating do not feed the zebras from your hand - they are beautiful but they bite so don’t take any chances!
The animals are a lot of fun and we enjoyed feeding many, but also enjoyed just looking at some of them - here is a quick peek at some of the pictures I took on our Safari Tour!
ZDT AMUSEMENT
Again a bit out of the area but if you head to ZDT Amusements from the Caverns or Safari, then it’s a short drive to a lot of fun in Sequin, Texas! Regular admission is $24 per person (save 15% with SAVE San Antonio) but its HALF PRICE the last three hours of the day - so for $12 per person you get three fun filled hours of non stop play!
What do you get at ZDT??
UNLIMITED rides including Multi-level Go Kart Track - Rock Wall - Simulator - Bungee Trampoline - Parachute Drop and many outdoor carnival type rides too - If you are a thrill seeker, try the Simulator and the Dizzy Toucan...guaranteed to make you dizzy!
UNLIMITED video games which means no quarters to play. You can play any game to your heart’s content (see my 11 year old boy who was in his element) For me I didn’t have to ever say "we are out of quarters" - they could just keep playing...and playing!
UNLIMITED WATER RIDES The water area usually closes earlier so check closing time before bringing out bathing suits and towels. We got there a bit too late to experience the water rides/slides but if you arrive exactly three hours before close it’s a great idea to spend the first hour in the water area, then do everything else for the other two hours!
While standing in line for the Go Karts for the fifth time in a row, I overhead a lady say "This is the best $12 I have spent!" I definitely enjoyed the ability to have a large family spend three hours of fun for a low price. ZDT Amusements definitely was a great value for the money spent and a lot of FUN too!
They do have food onsite - so feel free to grab a bite on the way or wait until you get there if you are coming from another attraction. My kids loved this place and when we left they asked if we would be able to go back again! Clearly we all loved it!
WHAT ELSE TO DO
IN SAN ANTONIO
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NOTE: All opinions and comments listed above are my own. Complimentary Admission tickets were provided to Tiff's Deals for review purposes.
