Loro Parque is located in Puerto de la Cruz which is on the west coast of the island and is around 120km from PDLA via the TF1/TF3 through Santa Cruz.
We paid €32.00 for adult entry and about half this for a child. Children under 5 years are admitted for free. You can also take the “Discovery Tour” and this costs an extra €9.00. We recommend that you book a trip with transport provided as it costs a fair bit, approx €30.00 to get the local Titsa bus there and back. You will book the entire excursion with transport for around €40.00
Unlike Jungle Park, Loro Parque is found in the main resort of Puerto de la Cruz and is not up in the mountains or buried away in some valley. You enter the park at the bottom of the hill and are given a map to help you find you way around. After crossing the main bridge into the park where you can see loads of huge Coy Carp you will meet the huge gorilla (body shape similar to mine) and see some smaller primates as you make your way towards the Sealion show.
As you walk through the park you have animals on both sides most of the time so a slow walk up the hill will make sure you get the best from the animals on show. You will meet the cheeky parrot’s who can say “Hola” really well but not much else. It’s great to here them though and we spent a bit of time trying to get them to repeat other phrases.
Beautiful leopards, giant turtles, alligators, pink flamingo’s and a host of smaller animals are seen as you head further up the hill passing the penguin house as you go. The penguins live in a man made covered enclosure where it snows on them 4 times a day. You just have to stand on the moving conveyor belt to see the huge variety of penguins in Loro Parque. I would advise finding out when the penguins will next be fed as seeing them all dive into the water and glide effortlessly through it is a magical moment. When we visited the room was darkened to reflect current climatic conditions in the Antarctic. When exiting the penguin house you will see a huge tube of fish which looks really cool although we thought it was the breeding ground for penguin food (Awww).
Towards the top of the hill you will find Kinderland (a small children’s play area) that is well looked after and looks really safe. There is also Tenerife’s only roller coaster here but it is small and aimed at children. It only costs €1.00 to get on but they keep you on until a queue forms. Opposite kinderland is the parrot show which we missed out on this time as we headed further up the hill to see the dolphin and whale shows.
Between these show areas you will see a couple of tigers, one standard and one white tiger. These really performed when we were there as you can see from the photo’s. They seemed to be having great fun playing hide and seek with each other.
After the dolphin and whale show back down the hill and we headed for the walkthrough shark and fish area. Lots of huge colourful fish and big sharks in here to round off a great day.
In all you can take in 4 different shows in Loro Parque, The Sealions, Parrot Show, The Dolphins and The Whales.
The Sealions were my favourite as the 4 sealions really could perform. Apart from the usual jumping through hoops etc they had the audience clapping along with them, performed some great comedy and also played a trick or 2 on the audience. Show lasted about 25 minutes.
Dolphin show was nothing spectacular and in my opinion the show at Aqualand is better.
The Whales are quite amazing and hearing them communicate is fantastic as we have all heard the noise on TV and in films so often that to be there is really worth making the trip to Loro Parque. The whale show is interactive and a huge screen at the back of the arena tells you the story of how the whales came to be in Loro and mixes live audience images throughout the show. If you can catch a photo with you on the big screen then you really will have a great memento to take home. For a great laugh sit at the front as the whales just love splashing you.
The park is very well kept and has plenty of bins, plenty of toilets and plenty of refreshment stalls for juice, beer and ice cream. Our friends said the discovery tour was great and they got closer to some of the animals including the whales. They did say Euan was maybe a bit too young at 5 years old.
If you have a tight budget then bring your own sandwiches are food is quite pricey in Loro Parque like all these types of places. Get there early as we arrived just after lunchtime and could have done with a bit more time. Easy enough for us to get round with Aiden in the buggy and best to go the opposite way from crowds after shows or give it 5 minutes to clear
If you have a hire car then you can drive west from PDLA and avoid the TF1 making the journey really scenic as you pass through Santiago de Tiede and the really nice woodland before seeing the lava flows of Mt. Tiede. Having said this the roads are not brilliant so leave plenty of time.
Just too much hassle to get to Puerto del la Cruz via Santa Cruz on the Titsa (local) buses. If you want to go by direct Titsa bus then it’s number 343 which runs evey hour from PDLA in the morning. Last bus to PDLA at 18.00 from bus station. You also catch catch the bus to Santa Cruz then onwards to Loro Parque
A good day out and great for the kids, young and old alike. We were undecided as to which park (Loro or Jungle) was best and sort of said that Jungle had more to do as it has Jungle walks, bobsleigh etc that is fun to do and means you are not just staring at animals all day.
Excursion Reviews
Booking Agent
Direct with Loro Parque
Price paid per person
32 Euros per adult, Under 5's go free
Overall rating:
8.0
Value for Money:
8.0
Fun Factor:
8.0
Reviewed by Lee Parsons
May 18, 2008
User reviews
Average user rating from: 3 user(s)
Overall rating:
9.7
Value for Money:
9.7
Fun Factor:
9.7
Wow!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
what an amazing place!! I went with my mum and dad and best friend at the age of 16 and i have to say its great for the whole family!! My friend and I thought it would be too 'childish' (like us teenagers do!!) but it was thoroughly enjoyable and the shows were amazing! The whales and sea lions in particular were the best..the dolphins were outstanding too but once you'd seen the dolphin show at aqualand, not as good. My mum and dad also had a great time and was overall a wonderful day out. Definately a highlight of the holiday!!
What a great day out. We are going back to Tenerife in June 2009 and my first port of call will be to Loro Park. I think the work that they do is fantastic. The animals big and small are all well cared for. Cannot wait to revisit.I know it is a long bus journey if you are not staying in Puerto de la Cruz. But I Really think it is well worth the visit.
I am placing this review as i finally made it to Loro Parque.
An 83 min Journey on Tuesday 1st July 2008. Had a hoot. Outstanding place, great fun place to leave your troubles behind you.
At a cost of EUR33, you get to view several fantastic show 'i now have two of the on digital video'. Both the Whale show and Sea Lions are thoroughly recommeded.
