Palm Beach County is 2,300 square miles wide and the best-known attractions are spread from the ocean to the edge of the Everglades. These are the ones worth a full morning or a full ticket price.
The short answer
The main attractions in Palm Beach County are Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee, the Palm Beach Zoo and South Florida Science Center in West Palm Beach, Rapids Water Park in Riviera Beach, the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach and Manatee Lagoon, which is free.
Local's pickAmerica's first drive-through safari, where you cross four miles of open range with lions, rhinos, zebras and giraffes from your own car, then walk the amusement park side with a splash ground and animal feedings. Budget three to four hours and go at opening when the animals are active.
Local's pickA free sea turtle hospital on Juno Beach where you can walk the outdoor tanks and see rehabilitating loggerheads and greens up close. Nesting season runs March through October and the guided evening turtle walks book out fast.
Local's pickA free two-storey observation center beside the FPL plant where manatees gather in the warm-water outflow from November to March. On a cold morning you can count dozens from the deck.
Local's pickAn 80-acre island in the Lake Worth Inlet reachable only by water taxi, with a snorkeling lagoon, a campground, and President Kennedy's Cold War bunker. Bring everything you need — there is no shop.
A compact, shaded 23-acre zoo in Dreher Park with jaguars, Malayan tigers, koalas and a fountain playground that saves the afternoon with young kids. Small enough to finish in half a day without complaints.
A by-appointment big cat sanctuary in Wellington housing cheetahs, clouded leopards, servals and jaguars in large planted enclosures. Tours are small, guided and genuinely close up.
Florida's largest water park with 42 slides, a lazy river and a wave pool spread over 30 acres. Buy tickets online in advance and arrive at opening — the queues double after 11am in summer.
A small 1936 beach house turned nature center on Delray's oceanfront, best known for the daily shark feeding in its coral reef tank. Twenty minutes well spent before or after the beach.
Hands-on science exhibits, a 10,000-gallon fish aquarium, a planetarium and an outdoor mini-golf course built around the solar system. The default rainy-day answer in the county.