Bioparc Fuengirola

Bioparc Fuengirola is not a conventional zoo. It applies the zoo-immersion concept: instead of cages, it recreates entire habitats and places you inside them, so you walk through a forest and the animals appear around you with no visible barriers. It is comfortably one of the best things to do on the Costa del Sol with children.

What you will see

• Madagascar: free-ranging lemurs, fossas and baobabs.
• Equatorial Africa: gorillas, chimpanzees, pygmy hippos and crocodiles.
• South-East Asia and Indo-Pacific: Sumatran tigers, orangutans, Komodo dragons.
• Islands of Indonesia: a walk-through aviary where the birds fly freely around you.

Real conservation work

Bioparc takes part in European breeding programmes for endangered species (EEP) and puts part of its income into in-situ conservation projects. That is not a small detail: it is the difference between a display zoo and a centre with a scientific function.

Getting there

It is right in the centre of Fuengirola, a ten-minute walk from the Cercanías train station and another ten from the beach. That makes it one of the few major attractions on the coast you can reach without a car and without any hassle: Cercanías line C-1 from Málaga or straight from the airport.

Practical tips

Allow at least three hours, four with children. In summer the best slots are first thing or late afternoon: the animals are more active and it is far less hot. In July and August Bioparc runs its “Bioparc Nights”, with evening opening and extra activities — a genuinely different experience and well worth it.

Rainy or windy days

This is one of the best fallback plans on the Costa del Sol. Although the route is outdoors, the dense planting gives a lot of cover and there are indoor sections. When an easterly wind makes the beaches unusable, this saves the day.

Open all year

Unlike the water parks, Bioparc opens 365 days a year, with hours varying by season. It is the most reliable wildlife attraction in the province in winter.