An easy way to overpay at Selwo Marina is buying the SelwoPack for a five-year-old. The combined ticket costs from 48.90 euros per person, one flat price for all ages, while a child aged 3 to 7 pays from 13.90 euros at Selwo Marina, 12.90 euros on the Benalmádena cable car and 15.90 euros at Selwo Aventura, 42.70 euros in total. For an adult the pack saves 4.80 euros; for a young child it costs 6.20 euros more.
Selwo Marina is a marine and tropical wildlife park run by Parques Reunidos in Parque de la Paloma, Benalmádena, about 840 metres from the Benalmádena-Arroyo de la Miel station on the C-1 commuter line. It opens daily from 10am to 6pm until 2 November, and general admission starts at 15.90 euros online.
Is Selwo Marina worth it? Yes for families with children aged 3 to 10 who want penguins and dolphins in half a day without a car: tickets start at 15.90 euros online and the C-1 train stops 13 minutes away on foot. Less so for teenagers or anyone expecting a big dolphin show, since the main pool has no activities for now.
Is Selwo Marina worth it, and for which ages
Selwo Marina works best for young children because three things line up: under-3s shorter than 1 metre go free, the paid penguin encounter takes children from 2 years, and the park says every area included in the ticket is step-free or has a step-free route. Baby-changing tables are in the toilets by La Colonial restaurant and the Las Delicias burger bar.
The highlight is the Ice Island, with four species: the king penguin, the gentoo, the macaroni and the Magellanic, in what the park calls the only penguin house in Andalusia. The other four zones are The Antilles, with the bottlenose dolphins; La Hondonada, home of the bird show; The Tropics, a walk-through aviary; and Amazonia, with fish, reptiles and amphibians.
Teenagers tend to be done quickly. There are no rides, and the zip line of 116 metres and the safari truck are at Selwo Aventura, the group’s larger park near Estepona, which has no train.
Getting to Selwo Marina by train from Malaga or the airport
The C-1 Renfe commuter line runs to Benalmádena-Arroyo de la Miel every 20 minutes: 30 to 32 minutes from Malaga Centro-Alameda, and 18 to 20 minutes from the airport station, so the park works even on an arrival day. There are 52 trains each way on weekdays and 49 at weekends, with departures from the airport at 9.02am, 9.22am and 9.42am, for example.
From the station, Selwo Marina is 840 metres as the crow flies and about 970 metres on foot, roughly 13 minutes. After the 6pm closing, trains back towards Malaga leave Arroyo de la Miel at 6.14pm, 6.34pm and 6.54pm, and the last one at 12.33am. Fares go by zone; stations and zones are explained in Malaga’s Cercanías trains, and the coast stops in the west coast by train.
The park also lists intercity bus 110, Malaga-Torremolinos-Benalmádena Costa, and local buses L2, stop Selwo Marina, and L1, stop Parque de la Paloma.
What time are the dolphins, birds and penguins
Selwo Marina’s October programme puts the free dolphin feeding at 2pm on weekdays and at 11.40am and 2pm on weekends and holidays, until 2 November. The free exotic bird show runs at 1.15pm and 4.45pm, with an extra 11.15am session at weekends, until 6 January.
The paid encounters are booked separately, and online booking is the only way the park guarantees a place:
| Encounter | Price | October time | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penguin encounter | 10 percent off online | 12.30pm; weekends also 3.15pm | from 2, ages 2 to 6 with a paying adult |
| Sea lion encounter | 50 euros | 1pm, until 25 October | from 4, alone from 7 |
| Squirrel monkey encounter | paid | 1.40pm | booking needed |
The penguin encounter lasts about 20 minutes inside a cold cave, and the park lends a fleece. One adult can bring at most two children, and none of the encounters is recommended during pregnancy. The current programme has no dolphin sessions after 2 November.
Ticket prices, and whether to book online
General admission at Selwo Marina, ages 8 to 64, costs from 15.90 euros online and 17.90 euros at the gate; the reduced ticket costs from 13.90 euros either way and covers children from 3 years or 1 metre up to 7, over-65s, large families and visitors with a disability of 33 percent or more, whose companion goes free.
| Ticket | Online | At the gate |
|---|---|---|
| General, ages 8 to 64 | from 15.90 euros | from 17.90 euros |
| Reduced | from 13.90 euros | from 13.90 euros |
| Under 3 and under 1 metre | free | free |
| Open-date ticket | 23.90 euros | online only |
| SelwoPack, three parks | from 48.90 euros | 54.90 euros |
Prices are dynamic and move with demand, and promotions apply to an undiscounted general price of 23.90 euros without stacking. Booking ahead saves 2 euros per adult and nothing per child, but the sales calendar does mark sold-out days. A family of two adults and two young children pays from 59.60 euros online.
SelwoPack or single tickets
The SelwoPack bundles Selwo Marina, Selwo Aventura and the Benalmádena cable car from 48.90 euros online, one price for every age, valid on different days until the season ends. For two adults and two children aged 3 to 7, buying the pack for everyone costs 195.60 euros, three sets of single tickets 192.80 euros, and the pack for the adults with singles for the children 183.20 euros.
The Zoollower annual pass costs 89 euros for anyone 1 metre or taller and covers the three Costa del Sol parks plus three in Madrid. For a visitor on a one-week holiday it rarely pays; for an expat living on the coast it does from the second round of the three parks, 107.40 euros online per adult.
Opening days from October to February
Selwo Marina opens daily from 10am to 6pm until 2 November. In November it opens Friday to Sunday only, and in December from the 4th to the 8th, from the 11th to the 13th and daily from 18 December to 6 January, closing at 5pm on 24 and 31 December and on 5 January.
The park closes from 7 January to 11 February, and its provisional calendar shows a reopening on 12 February. No last-entry time is published. You can leave and come back the same day if you ask staff at the exit first.
Lunch at Selwo Marina, and Spanish meal times
Spain lunches late, and at Selwo Marina the 2pm dolphin feeding falls right on it. The park rules only allow eating in designated areas, keep the restaurant terraces for customers who buy food inside, and ban glass and cans, so a picnic on a bench is not the plan. Smoking, vaping included, is only allowed on the terrace of La Colonial.
The workable order on a weekday:
- Train from Malaga Centro-Alameda around 9.30am, in the park by about 10.15am.
- Free walk through the Ice Island and The Tropics before noon.
- Bird show at 1.15pm in La Hondonada.
- Dolphin feeding at 2pm in The Antilles.
- Lunch afterwards at La Colonial or Las Delicias.
For family places back in town, with kitchen hours, see kid-friendly restaurants in Malaga.
What might disappoint you at Selwo Marina
Size. Five themed zones and no rides mean the free visit runs out well before a full day, and visitors used to a large aquarium or a city zoo may find it small.
The main pool. The notice that it is «temporarily without activities» has no end date, and the Beethoven sea lion exhibition is only programmed in June and July.
Dolphins in captivity. This divides visitors. Selwo Marina’s bottlenose dolphins are part of the European Endangered Species Programme of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, and the park describes the feeding as voluntary exercises based on positive reinforcement. If you would rather see dolphins in the open sea, boats leave from Puerto Marina in the same town, covered in dolphin watching in Malaga.
Dogs. Only assistance dogs are allowed.
What to pair it with in Benalmádena
The Benalmádena cable car base station is 312 metres from the train and 993 metres from Selwo Marina, and opens at 11am in October from 17.90 euros online and 21.90 euros at the gate.
On a grey day, Sea Life Benalmádena in Puerto Marina is indoors, 1.6 kilometres from Selwo Marina, open 11am to 6.45pm with last entry at 6pm, for 18.50 euros online and 21 euros at the gate. The old Tivoli World park by the station is still shut, as explained in what happened to Tivoli World.
For other day plans see day trips from Malaga; for more covered plans there is the Benalmádena butterfly park, and for the bigger picture Malaga with kids, theme park prices on the coast and Fuengirola, Torremolinos or Benalmádena as a base.
Selwo Marina questions
Is there a dolphin show at Selwo Marina?
Not at the moment. Selwo Marina says its main pool has no activities for now, and its October programme lists a free dolphin feeding instead, at 2pm on weekdays and at 11.40am and 2pm on weekends and holidays, until 2 November. The sea lion exhibition is only programmed in June and July.
How do I get to Selwo Marina from Malaga airport?
Take the C-1 commuter train from the airport station to Benalmádena-Arroyo de la Miel, 18 to 20 minutes with a train every 20 minutes. From there Selwo Marina is about 970 metres on foot, around 13 minutes, at Parque de la Paloma. From Malaga Centro-Alameda the same train takes 30 minutes.
Is Selwo Marina worth it with a toddler?
Yes, mostly. Children under 3 who are shorter than 1 metre get in free, the penguin encounter accepts children from 2 years with a paying adult, and Selwo Marina says every area included in the ticket is step-free or has a step-free alternative, so buggies work. Baby-changing is by La Colonial restaurant.
Can you bring food into Selwo Marina?
Selwo Marina’s rules only allow eating in designated areas, reserve the restaurant terraces for customers who buy food inside, and ban glass bottles and cans at the entrance. Smoking, vaping included, is limited to the terrace of La Colonial restaurant, and you can leave and re-enter if you tell staff first.
Selwo Marina is a penguin park with a station next door, not the dolphin show many visitors still expect.