Trip to Loro Parque in Tenerife

The most visited attraction in Tenerife is considered to be Loro Park (Loro Parque Tenerife). It’s impossible to come to the island and not hear about it, as the bright Loro Park logos featuring a parrot and a dolphin are seen here, starting from the airport.

Built with the funds of local resident Wolfgang Kiessling in 1972, it became a zoo, circus, and botanical garden all in one. Gradually, its popularity among tourists grew, and now one and a half million tourists visit it annually. Practically every visitor to Tenerife goes here, with some returning again and again.

What is Loro Park?

Loro Park is something between a zoo and a dolphinarium. Initially, the park was conceived as an exotic place, so at the entrance, Kiessling envisioned a “Thai Village” – a rather colorful complex, including six wooden buildings in Thai style. Their roofs are decorated with real gold. By the way, some time ago, the Queen of Thailand visited here and was very pleased with the buildings she saw.

Let’s hurry to the orca show!

They have orca shows three times a day. We really wanted to catch this performance above all else. We were running at full speed to the other end of the park so as not to be late. The show takes place in an indoor pool. Spectators sit around the perimeter, with those in the front rows preferably having raincoats. The orcas really love to splash!

I really liked the performance. I was charged with some positive energy.

The orcas seem very sweet and friendly, but one shouldn’t forget that they are the most dangerous predators! I remember watching a French film once, where a distracted orca trainer had her legs bitten off. The lead role was played by the lovely Marion Cotillard, and the film was called “Rust and Bone.” Check it out. About 10 years ago, a similar incident happened at Loro Park, but the trainer didn’t survive.

The next show on the schedule…

Sea Lion Show

The sea lion performances and dolphin shows, which are invariably popular with the audience, take place in a 1200-cubic-meter pool. By the way, this is Europe’s largest dolphinarium.

Dolphin Show at Loro Park

Stroll through Loro Park

After the two shows, we decided to stroll around the park. I wanted to see the parrots. They have them in every color and style you could want. There’s an especially open enclosure with netting stretched overhead. You can walk through it, climb up into the trees on ladders, and watch the birds from different levels.

The word “loro” in the park’s name means “parrot.” And this is no coincidence, because few parks can match Loro Park’s collection of these amazing birds. Here, they have 3,500 individuals belonging to more than 340 species and subspecies. Not only do they sit in cages, but they are also participants in circus performances, where they fly over the heads of spectators, do math, read, and ride scooters. In a special pavilion, you can watch as tiny baby parrots are fed nectar from a spoon. That’s where we headed next.

Loro Show

The show is in demand. Already 15 minutes before the start of the show there were no seats left in the hall. The main actors are parrots that perform various tasks for the host. In short, it’s fun.

Gorillas

Some time ago at Loro Parque, they decided to do an interesting experiment. Six males of different ages were brought here from different countries, united by one thing: in their “home” they were fighting too actively for leadership in their herds, so they were sent to Loro Parque for a kind of re-education. Now they live quite peacefully in one enclosure behind armored glass, willingly posing for tourists from there, and the park staff cannot determine who is the leader among them. :-)

Along with anthropoid apes (and in the park, in addition to gorillas, there are also chimpanzees), tourists at Loro Parque can expect encounters with tigers, jaguars, and crocodiles. Among the larger birds living here are pelicans, cranes, and flamingos.

All shows are organized in such a way that by buying a ticket once, a visitor can watch a large number of show programs and visit all the pavilions.

The plant world is represented by a large botanical garden spread over 13.5 hectares of land and an orchid greenhouse. The botanical garden is home to cacti, over 7,000 palm trees, and many exotic plants.

Among the additional attractions at Loro Parque are an African market, a souvenir shop, a children’s playground, and photography with parrots. You can have lunch without leaving the park at one of the local restaurants or cafes.

Planet of Penguins at Loro Parque

But Loro Parque is not only famous for its parrots and killer whales. Here is the world’s largest penguin exhibit called “Planet of Penguins,” which houses 180 of these flightless birds. We also took a look at the penguins!

This place is equipped to resemble a piece of Antarctica. The conditions here are as close to real as possible. In order for the penguins to feel at home, a special snow machine produces 12 tons of snow daily. Visitors are transported through this amazing snowy world on a leisurely moving walkway.

Aquarium

We’ll end our walk today with a mini-oceanarium. Loro Parque houses a huge aquarium inhabited by 15,000 sea and river creatures collected from all over the world, including tropical fish, local water inhabitants, and 40 species of live corals.

The 18-meter-long glass tunnel passing through the water deserves special attention. Once inside, visitors can see the smallest details of the water inhabitants in all their glory, right down to the microscopic teeth on the skin of the impressively large sharks swimming right over their heads.

Sharks! Swimming right over our heads. The last time we were in an oceanarium was in Bangkok. This one is interesting too. In addition to various fish, there were also scuba divers swimming around :-) They were cleaning the aquarium.

Show Schedule

Loro Parque Map

How to get to Loro Parque?

The free train from Reyes Católicos in Puerto de la Cruz to Loro Parque runs every 20 minutes from 9:00 am. The last train back departs at 6:45 pm.

Loro Parque Ticket Prices

• Adult €42
• Kid €30

To avoid standing in a long line, buy tickets online here. No need to print them out, just show them on your mobile screen.

I also recommend buying a combo ticket for Loro Park and Siam Park waterpark.