Minichan

A unique animal encounter to remember… Right here in North San Diego County.

Nurtured by Nature is located in the rural hills of Valley Center, CA where you will go behind the scenes for a unique animal encounter with some of the planet's most fascinating exotic creatures. We offer otter swim and animal encounters to the public by reservation that are available year round.

We are almost completely booked for this year and have made some program changes that will require new pricing for 2017. Prices for our 2017 public otter swim encounters will be $300 per person and will be scheduled on Fridays and Sundays at 10am, depending on availability. If you would like to have the entire program for your group, we offer private otter swim encounters by request for groups of 1 to 8 people for $2100 total. We will also be adding additional (but slightly different) programs as we get closer to the New Year! Due to extremely high demand, at this time we are only able to offer the free encounters to qualifying children visiting us through Make-A-Wish Foundation.

During the three hour guided tour you will be in the pool with a group of playful otters who will be as fascinated by you as you are by them! Laugh, giggle and have a whole lot of fun as you encounter these magical creatures like never before and gain an amazing insight into the species. You'll also have an opportunity to meet, feed and/or directly interact with a variety of other incredible creatures such as a kangaroo, sloth, armadillo, porcupine, lemurs and more. This is a wildlife experience like no other that puts you right in the center of the action with exotic creatures. You'll take home a permanent grin and memories to last a whole lifetime.

Our maximum group size is generally 8 people and the entire program is outdoors (some shade, some sun). We do not have a viewing only area so anyone who is on property would need to pay for the encounter.

Based on our past experience we have changed our minimum age for public encounters to 18 years of age. We do not recommend the program to anyone who is afraid of animals or is highly active and/or unable to calmly follow instruction. All guests must sign the facility waiver when visiting Nurtured by Nature.

Payment in advance is necessary to reserve your space in the encounter. To make your reservation, please click the days that you are interested in on the calendar below to check availability and reserve your spots in the encounter. Please follow this link to purchase gift certificates (and provide email in the message section that we can send the certificate to).