Atagawa Tropical and Alligator Garden

Best place to see Alligators and Crocodiles!!

If you have kids or love zoos this is a good place to see in Shizuoka. It's pretty easy to access by car and for the most part it's not too busy. I think it's a good road trip stop because it can be enjoyed by people of all ages. If you like reptiles they have a lot of different alligators and crocodiles to see and if you're lucky they'll have baby ones out to touch. If you enjoy flowers, they also have a huge green house area with lots of different flowers and plants. In these houses, you'll also find birds mixed into the scenery. Finally, if you're more into cut animals they also have quite a few red pandas and turtles! To be honest this place was pretty terrifying considering how close you can get to the alligators and crocodiles... It seems pretty easy to drop your phone into the cages while you're taking pictures so I recommend being careful. While it was scary in that area, it was very interesting to see the animals up close and I got a lot of good shots! I probably enjoyed the Red Pandas the most because they were so cute... but pretty much passed out from the heat (I went in the summer). The garden area was also very beautiful and surprisingly empty enough to get good pictures of the flowers and plants. The cost to get in is 1500 yen for adults and 750 for children with free parking. The garden is separated into 3 areas and 2 are within walking distance. The third is accessible by a bus or car if you prefer to drive yourself. Also, because it's not in a major attraction area the English information is limited but I did see quite a few non-Japanese visitors at the time I went. If you check out their website you can also get a 100yen off coupon! I want to go again... Website: http://www4.i-younet.ne.jp/~wanien/index1.htm