Advantages: 4 in 1 park, fun for all the family, great day out, dolphin show Disadvantages: I should have spent the whole day there, don't go in school holidays, food isn't great, expensive
You may be wondering what Zoomarine is - is it a zoo? An aquarium? A water park? A theme park? In actual fact it's all of those! On a very recent holiday to Portugal I decided to take the family. The Zoomarine is situated in the Algarve in the South West of Portugal (there is also one in Italy which I haven't visited). We had hired out a car so it was easy for us to get to, it was about a 20 minute drive from Portomao. When we arrived at the Zoomarine ... ...I soon realised I had booked our holiday during Portugal school holidays! I was so busy trying to avoid UK school holidays that I didn't even give Portugal school holidays a second thought. I would definitely avoid visiting the Zoomarine during school holidays if possible as it was absolutley packed and there were queues and crowds for everything. Before I left home I read a review on Zoomarine which stated it wouldn't take a whole day and that you ...
karalouk 17.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal
On the information leaflet given to us by our holiday rep in the Algarve was an offer to go on the Zoomarine excursion. Loving all forms of sea life (from a distance) I was immediately planning what day would be best to go. We decided on Wednesday and promptly found our rep to book our trip.
== Booking & The Journey ==
Our ticket voucher cost €27 each so €55 in total paid to our rep who rang through our booking confirmation. We were to catch the ... ...hotel next door. This we did and the bus drove straight past us with the driver waving dismissively in our direction as we stood dismayed and angered at the roadside. It took us 5 minutes to decide we would return to the complex and complain to our rep. 2minutes into our journey back and I learnt that my legs could still run extremely fast as I found myself crossing the road and flagging down a Zoomarine coach. Puffing and panting after my monthly ...
carysb 11.07.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal
Advantages: Interesting , family friendly , good value , full day's entertainment . Disadvantages: None for me and mine .
...open 10am until 6pm
ZOOMARINE, The Algarve , Portugal .
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Zoomarine is located somewhat off the beaten track , although it is not far away from larger resorts .As you enter through the turnstile you will have your photograph taken , unless you decline , as we did . I assume there is a fee for this but I am not sure .If you pick up an information booklet , either when booking or on arrival , it should ... ...a circular shape to it .
The sections are :- 4D Cinema
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Although our coach arrived at 11.45am and did not pick us up until 6pm we did not have time to visit the 4D cinema . Still we would love to return and if we do this will be our first stop next visit . Apparently it is a movie which uses state of the art digital special effects to explore three of the greatest dangers facing man and the earth today . These are global warming , ...
grafter123 19.09.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal
Advantages: A great day out for the children Disadvantages: not sure about the animals welfare
...go to Portugal we visit Zoomarine, my daughter always insists.
You can get free transport with the tickets, but if you have a car you can get there earlier and stay later, I would advise buying tickets in advance at your resort, cash only for some reason.
I'm unsure as to how well the animals are treated, but for children who just want to be entertained its a great experience.
On arrival you'll have your picture taken, which you can purchase later. ... ...as Parrots and Birds of Prey, there is a free funfair and three free swimming pools. There is also an aquarium and a 4D (not sure why it's not 3D) cinema, which really is excellent. All shows in Portuguese and English.
We normally go out of the main season in September or October, but even then the park can get quite full. My advise is see all the shows at there first showing then visit the funfair, aquarium and cinema then spend the rest of the ...
GBunner 21.02.2009
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Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal
Advantages: Dolphins, 4D Show Disadvantages: Queues
My family visited the Zoomarine 16 years ago and as it was so fantastic decided to go back this August. What a disappointment! The place was equally as good in that all the same attractions were there plus a few more. However the problem was that it was just so busy. We deliberately went on a weekday to avoid the locals at the weekend. We tried three times to get into the dolphin show going 30 mins before without success and eventually went 45 mins ... ...leave without seeing that. It was excellent. In the morning we watched the bird of pray and tropical birds show but they weren't all that great. We went onto some of the kiddie shows which were fine and then after trying to get onto the flumes and river rapids which didn't open till about 1-2pm (why we have no idea) we decided to go for lunch. Unfortunately we had to queue for 45 mins for a burger so by the afternoon we were kinda fed up to say the ...
PaulineBro 23.09.2008 (12.09.2008)
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Advantages: Fairly priced, good variety of animals which are well looked after, well kept and clean park Disadvantages: None
When I had first met my wife we decided to take a nice little holiday somewhere so I booked us a nice week in Portugal and organised us to stay in Vilamoura and we simply loved the place but what we have remembered the best about our entire trip was the visit to Zoomarine. The theme park is situated in a fairly remote area of Albufeira and spans quite a large area of land which in turn allows for large areas for the animals to be housed. The park ... ...crocodiles, aligators, birds, tortoise and others with the animals well looked after. The park has a great variety of shows on offer aswell as a large swimming area (something we didn't know about until we were there), a number of gift shops and a large restaurant with hot and cold food on offer that was fairly priced and offered ok quality when you consider this is a theme park. The theme park offers tickets for just entry to the park or for the ...
tangoman1984 27.10.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal