Siam Park vs Loro Parque: Which Tenerife Park to Visit

Siam Park and Loro Parque sit a few kilometres apart in the south and north-west of Tenerife, and they get lumped together constantly because both are run by the same parent company and both show up near the top of TripAdvisor's "things to do in Tenerife" lists. That's where the similarity ends.

Siam Park is a water park with a Thai theme — slides, wave pools, a lazy river, and a reputation (backed by repeated industry awards) as Europe's number one water park. Loro Parque is a zoological and botanical park with orcas, dolphins, penguins, gorillas, and one of the largest parrot collections anywhere, set across landscaped subtropical grounds in Puerto de la Cruz. One soaks you, the other walks you.

If you're trying to decide in thirty seconds: pick Siam Park if your group wants physical thrills and you don't mind queuing in swimwear; pick Loro Parque if you want shade, animal shows, and a pace that works for grandparents and toddlers in the same group. Plenty of visitors do both on separate days of a longer stay, which is where the twin ticket conversation below actually matters.

Siam Park is built for thrill-seekers and swimmers, while Loro Parque suits travelers who want variety, shade, and a gentler pace.

Siam Park vs Loro Parque: key differences at a glance

Typical figures based on published park descriptions; exact ride line-ups and showtimes vary by season, so check current details when booking.

This is the easiest comparison on the whole page, because the two parks aren't really trying to do the same job. Siam Park exists to give you a drop in your stomach. Loro Parque exists to give you something to look at.

Siam Park's extreme rides

The Tower of Power is the ride Siam Park is known for — a near-vertical drop through a clear tube that passes through a shark tank, and it's not for anyone with a bad back or a fear of heights. Singha and Patong are the other two big-name slides, both fast, both with sharp drops, and both likely to produce a queue of 30-45 minutes at peak midday hours in July and August. There's also a genuinely relaxing side: the Mai Thai River is a lazy river that loops around most of the park, and the wave pool has a scheduled "surf" session a few times a day that's more fun than thrilling. If you or anyone in your group gets motion sick easily, skip Tower of Power and Singha — they're not gentle warmups, they're the main event.

Loro Parque's gentler attractions

There's no adrenaline here in the rollercoaster sense, and that's the point. The closest thing to a "thrill" is the orca show, which is impressive production-wise but has drawn criticism from animal welfare groups over the years — something worth knowing before you book if that's a concern for you. Otherwise, it's walking paths through aviaries, a penguin exhibit kept at genuinely cold temperatures (a nice relief in August heat), and a gorilla enclosure that's one of the better ones in Europe for viewing distance. Kids under 8 tend to enjoy this far more than Siam Park's bigger slides, simply because there's something to see every few minutes without needing to be tall enough or brave enough for anything.

Ticket prices at both parks move around depending on season and how far ahead you book, so treat any number here as a rough guide rather than gospel — always compare current prices before you book through Klook, the parks' own sites, or the TPCard, which bundles entry with other Tenerife attractions.

Ticket pricing breakdown

As a rough order of magnitude, Siam Park adult tickets have typically run somewhere in the €40-50 range, with child tickets (ages 3-11) priced lower and under-3s usually free. Loro Parque's adult pricing sits in a broadly similar band, sometimes slightly less than Siam Park on a standalone basis. Locker rental, towel hire, and sunbed rental at Siam Park are extra and add up quickly if you don't bring your own gear — pack a beach towel and a padlock-free dry bag and you'll save €10-15 per person. Loro Parque's extra costs are more about food and the optional "Discovery" animal encounter add-ons, which aren't necessary but are popular with kids obsessed with a specific animal.

Seasonal visitor patterns

July and August are brutal at Siam Park — arrive before opening or expect a 20-30 minute wait just to get through the gates, then more queuing for the headline slides. Loro Parque handles crowds better because the shows are scheduled and spread people out across showtimes rather than funnelling everyone to three slides. Shoulder months — May, June, October — give you a noticeably better experience at both, with shorter lines and more shaded seating available. Winter (December-February) is Tenerife's mild season, so Loro Parque stays comfortable year-round, while Siam Park on a cooler, overcast winter day can feel like a waste of a water park ticket if the air temperature doesn't crack 22°C.

Whether Loro Parque or Siam Park works better with kids depends almost entirely on the ages in your group, and a family with a 4-year-old and a 14-year-old will have a genuinely different experience at each park than a family with two tweens.

Best ages for Siam Park

Siam Park has a dedicated kids' area (The Lost City) for younger children with smaller slides and shallow pools, which works well for ages 4-10. But the park's star attractions have minimum height requirements — typically around 1.2-1.4m for the bigger slides — so a family with a shorter child will find a chunk of the park off-limits to them. Teenagers and adults get the most out of Siam Park; it's genuinely one of the better water parks in Europe for anyone over 12 who wants real speed and real drops, not just splash pools.

Best ages for Loro Parque

This is the stronger pick for mixed-generation groups — grandparents, toddlers, and everyone in between can move through at the same pace, since nothing requires climbing stairs to a slide tower or standing in swimwear queues. Pushchairs are fine on most paths, and there are enough benches and shaded café areas that older travelers won't be worn out by hour three. If you're traveling with a baby or toddler under 3, Loro Parque is the far more practical choice of the two.

Both parks sell a joint ticket, often billed as a saving over buying separately, and for the right trip it genuinely is good value. For the wrong trip, it's money spent on a visit you'll rush through.

Combo pricing and savings

The twin ticket combo typically saves somewhere in the region of 15-20% compared with buying two full-price single tickets, and it's usually valid for use on two separate days rather than forcing you to do both parks back to back. That flexibility matters — doing a water park and a full zoological park on the same day is exhausting, and you'll likely rush Loro Parque's animal shows to make the most of pool time, or vice versa. If you have at least two free days during your Tenerife stay and you're reasonably confident you want to see both parks anyway, the combo is close to a no-brainer.

When to buy separately

Skip the combo if you're only in Tenerife for a short trip, or if one park clearly doesn't suit your group — there's no saving in a discounted ticket to a park you'll walk through half-heartedly. Solo travelers and couples without kids sometimes find Siam Park alone delivers a full, satisfying day, while Loro Parque can be done in under four hours if animal shows aren't a big draw for you. Buy single tickets if you're not sure you'll use both, or if your schedule genuinely only allows one visit — a half-used combo ticket is worse value than a single, full-price ticket to the park you actually wanted.

Neither park is a letdown, and that's partly why the comparison is so often framed as a tie — on raw quality, both deliver. Siam Park has genuinely held its "world's best water park" reputation for over a decade on various industry rankings, and Loro Parque's animal collection and show production are a level above most European zoos, including anything comparable on Gran Canaria or Lanzarote.

Choose Siam Park if you're traveling with teenagers, as a couple wanting an active day, or as a group of friends who want real speed — just go early, bring your own towel, and check current prices before booking since weekday tickets are sometimes slightly cheaper than weekends. Choose Loro Parque if you've got toddlers, seniors, or a mixed-age family group, or if animal encounters matter more to your kids than slide height. Choose the twin ticket if you have the days to spare and want both; skip it if your trip is under four days or one park clearly isn't for your group.

Worth saying plainly: if your whole trip is built around beach time and surfing — say you're based near El Médano or Playa de las Américas for the waves — you might reasonably skip both and spend that day in the water instead. These parks are strong add-ons to a Tenerife itinerary, not the reason to visit the island over Fuerteventura or the Algarve, which have their own surf and beach appeal without a park ticket involved.