Tenerife takes children seriously. Within about forty minutes of Los Gigantes are two waterparks, a world-famous zoo and a handful of smaller animal parks that often end up as the week’s surprise favourite. Prices and ratings below are as published at the time of writing (July 2026); the parks adjust both, so verify on the official sites before you book.
Waterparks
Siam Park (Costa Adeje, ~30–35 min) has been voted world’s best waterpark a record ten times in TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice awards (as of the 2024 edition), with tens of thousands of reviews averaging about 4.4. Gate prices are listed at €44 adult / €32 child (3–11), under-threes free. The Lost City is a genuinely large toddler-and-junior zone — though the park shines brightest for confident swimmers of six and up. Book online and go early.
Aqualand Costa Adeje (~30 min) is smaller and cheaper, with online tickets from about €28 adult / €20 child / €12.50 ages 3–4, and the island’s only dolphin show included. Reviews average notably lower than Siam’s, around 3.5–4 across platforms, and travellers weighing animal-welfare concerns may prefer the slides-only parks.
Animal parks
- Loro Parque (Puerto de la Cruz, about an hour) — twice voted the world’s best zoo by TripAdvisor users and still the island’s best-rated big park (roughly 4.5–4.6 across tens of thousands of reviews): one of the world’s largest penguin habitats, gorillas and an enormous parrot collection. Listed at €44/€32; the Twin Ticket with Siam Park (about €74 adult / €53 child, valid 14 days) is the standard money-saver for doing both.
- Monkey Park (near Los Cristianos, ~35 min) is small, hands-on and beloved by parents of under-sixes: €10 adults, €5 children, €3 feed cups, and the lemurs come to you. An easy 90-minute visit rather than a full day.
- Jungle Park (Arona, ~35–40 min) offers jungle paths, suspension bridges and a genuinely impressive free-flight birds-of-prey show. Listed gate prices rose recently to €36/€29, and the hilly paths are a real workout with a pushchair.
Closer to home — and free
The harbour playground fills an afternoon, and a whale-watching trip from the marina — resident pilot whales are seen on most sailings — is the single most memorable “kids’ activity” on this coast. If a north-coast day beckons, the seawater lido of Lago Martiánez in Puerto de la Cruz (listed at €7 adults / €4 children) pairs perfectly with Loro Parque. Keep black-sand afternoons for after four o’clock: the sand genuinely burns small feet at midday.
Photo: stephen jones, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons