Terra Natura Murcia — Attraction in Murcia

When I first found out about this place I automatically checked out the reviews online. It has got very mixed reviews, so we thought we would risk it and go ahead and try it out. To be fair, we actually had a really nice time. We booked to visit the zoo and waterpark.

We arrived around 11am and waited around 5-10 minutes in the entrance queue. We had already pre-booked our tickets but we had ordered the menu tickets, so we had to wait a little longer for our meal voucher. All of the entrance staff were very friendly and helpful. Explained everything to us about where to eat, what to do and what not to do. The lady who served us had incredible English and nothing was too much trouble for her. Another lady was going round trying to get people through quicker by scanning their pre-booked tickets and giving them their wristbands to go through.

When we went through we decided to pay for a locker, which is a big blue box in the main kiosk. You do also have to pay for parking, which is also paid for at the main entrance kiosk (where you get your tickets from).

Once we dropped all our stuff off, we decided to venture around the zoo first. It was lovely to see all the animals out and chilling. They all looked well cared for and had plenty of water readily available in their enclosures. The zoo is on a hill, so be prepared to walk up to the top. The view from the top overlooking Murcia was stunning. It was also very wheelchair friendly as the paths were mainly slopes or bridges. No steps. The best part of our zoo adventure was having the opportunity to feed the bears. I have never seen a real life bear before, never mind feed one. It was great fun.

The waterpark itself is ok. There's not loads to do there. On the right hand side of the park are around 6 water slides. 2 need rubber rings (which are collected at the bottom of each slide) and the other 4 don't. You do have to be 1.2m in height to ride any of them, so if you have small children, be prepared for them not to be allowed on.

In the middle of the park is a lazy river, this again you are supposed to hire rings to go around it but everyone was just going in without rings and either walking round or floating round it. It also needs some TLC as most of the blue paint has worn off and the flooring was coming up and breaking off in the water as you were going round.

Then the left side of the park is a baby splash pool and a bigger splash pool with a giant water bucket that once its full, it empties out into the pool on top of you.

Sun loungers are available to hire for a price. All of them are under shade but there is only a limited amount of them, so unless you get one early, your not getting one. There is not really any other places to sit and relax apart from at the side of the big splash pool against the wall, but that is in full sun for most of the day.

The food voucher is definitely good value for money. You get a main meal, slice of baguette, drink and dessert. Only problem with the dessert is that there are no labels on them, so you have no idea what they actually are, unless it's really obvious like an apple. The food was nice. There was some good options to choose from, we had the chicken nuggets and chips and a lasagna and chips. This restaurant is only available between 1-4 though, so you have to make sure you keep an eye on the time.

Overall, we actually had a really nice day. Our children were too small to go on the slides but they were happy with the options available to them. The zoo was really nice to walk around and considering it was the end of July, it wasn't that busy. At times, we were the only people around inside the zoo. The splash park was busier, but not as busy as I expected it to be. Unfortunately, I didn't get chance to take many photos as I had left my phone in the locker but here are some that I did take at the...

You pay the enterance fee for the Zoo and water park and get to come back the second day for free. We couldn't book online for the our trip as it was on the day and you can only choose the following day online. We paid €93 for 2 adults and 2 kids, that's €25 per adult and €20 for each child plus €3 for parking. On the second day we couldn't park at the secured car park as it was full but did find a gravel area just opposite and parked in it. I did see some broken window glass in some places in the gravel area so left nothing in the car just in case. Queuing is a bit unorganised as the staff are also taking in bags from another window while they are dealing with the you and sometimes it takes a while for them to come back. They rent out buggys, we got a double for €8. When you return it with the receipt you get €1 back. The kids spent minimal time in it but it was handy for carrying all of our bags. The Zoo has a large amount of animals but we didn't manage to see the Hippo and a few other animals but the kids seemed happy with what they did see. As with all zoo's it's down to timing. We had food in the restaurant beside the Lions enclosure, I have to say the food was excellent. We had the set menu, €25 per adult and €10 per kid. The kids had chips and nuggets and we had a 6 course meal with linin napkins and great service. I'm not sure if the set menu included drinks but our total was €70 all included. The water park has a large splash pool with entertainment from 3 staff getting the crowd going dancing in the pool and entertaining all, they also host a small foam party around 18:45 on the 2 days we attended. It has 4 slides you can use without a float and one as far as I could see that needed one. The floats are rented but we didn't use them. Sunbeds are also available but again we didn't avail. They also have a river circular pool you can relax in and just float around. They have shaded ares you can lay your towel but it's hard to find space, we managed to squeeze in eventually. On our second day we spent most of it in the water park and brought a packed lunch. They have toilets throughout the Zoo and water park and a changing room at the enterance/exit with showers. The vending machines around the park only accept coins so bring water with you as the Zoo is a long walk in the sun.

All in all I would recommend the park. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because I was frustrated at the enterance...

Summary: The water park is really good and great value. The zoo is just really tired.

Terra Natura in Benidorm's zoo is a lot better, which is surprising considering Murcia's was built later. Many of the zoo kiosks were closed on our mid-season, weekend visit? We had to rely on the vending machines for refreshment in the zoo due to lack of kiosks. The mid point kiosk was closed mid afternoon? The show area for the birds has no shade or shelter. Avoid that on your days. Rio safari elche is also a much better zoo, but poorer waterpark.

The waterpark here was busy, but the zoo was like a ghost town. We felt like we had it to ourselves for the hour or so stroll. The kids could not wait to get back to the waterpark.

The zoo is built on a hill, and you'll certainly feel the climbs to the half way point, then descend through the best part, the aviary, then ultimately climb back up to finish. Older people and young kids will (and did) struggle on a hot day. Most of the park feels like a dusty hill-walk around the Serengeti. While they say they have 500 animals it really did not feel like it.

In contrast, the waterpark is excellent with entertainment, foam parties and enough variety of slides for all ages. You have to pay if you want lockers, sunbeds or rings for the rides, which is a bit of a sting, so be prepared to get your wallet back out.

Food, it is overpriced and dreadful, like all these places are. Take your own picnic for sure. For those who care, there are zero vegetarian options. Everything has at minimum tuna in in, including the salads. In Spain a salad with tuna is the veggie option. We were told the potato salad had no fish. My wife gagged on the first taste, it had tuna. Half the family are veggies and made do with sad, cold chips. The best thing about their restaurant is the air conditioning which was respite on a 40c day with family ages from 4 to 70.

Booking in advance does you no favours as you so have to queue in a much longer queue when you arrive to get a wristband and pay for the car park? The pay on the day queue was faster. They need more people on those kioks at opening time. The website had the wrong time, it opened an hour later BTW.

My advice is go for the waterpark alone and skip the...