Palmitos Park

Palmitos Park sits in the Los Palmitos ravine in southern Gran Canaria — a subtropical botanical garden and wildlife park that genuinely earns the word paradise, with hundreds of native and exotic species sharing the same space.

The Orchid House holds the largest orchid collection in the entire Canary Islands — thousands of specimens in a dedicated glasshouse, from the delicate to the outright surreal.

The aviary puts you inside a free-flight environment with some of the most colourful birds on the planet; the lake below it is home to the Spectacled Caiman and the Canary Island Lizard — an endemic species found nowhere else on Earth.

The Dolphin Encounter lets you get into the water with the park's dolphin ambassadors — not included in entry, but bookable on-site once you're inside.

Bag a 3.5-hour whale-and-dolphin cruise and a full day at Palmitos Park, the ultimate sea-meets-land wildlife double, booked in one go.

Sail out from Puerto Base and lock eyes with wild dolphins and whales, then spy on the underwater world through the boat's glass hull.

Cool off with a snorkel stop near Taurito (mask included), then let loose on the onboard toboggan slide. Drinks included, obviously.

Wander the Orchid House, the biggest in the Canaries, then get lost among towering palms, quirky cacti and winding botanical trails.

Watch exotic birds swoop free overhead and meet the lake's caimans and the endemic Canary lizard, all narrated by a bilingual guide.