Marineland Catalunya Tickets & Visitor Guide

First, the question that brings most people here: yes, Marineland Catalunya is open. The confusion is understandable — Marineland of Antibes, the famous French park on the Côte d’Azur, closed permanently in January 2025, and headlines about its stranded orcas and dolphins have followed the Marineland name ever since. The Palafolls park on the Barcelona–Costa Brava border is a separate operation, and as of this guide’s update date it was open for its usual summer season, with partner platforms selling day tickets for current dates.

What you’re buying is a hybrid: a mid-sized water park bolted onto a dolphinarium and small marine zoo, running since the 1980s on a 65,000 m² site between Malgrat de Mar and Blanes. That combination — animal shows plus slides in one €33 ticket — is either the selling point or the dealbreaker, so this guide plays it straight on both.

Quick Summary

Quick fact	Detail
Status	Open, summer season only — often confused with the permanently closed Marineland Antibes (France)
Tickets from	~€33 over 1.20 m; €21 child (0.90–1.20 m) / senior 65+; under 0.90 m free — [source: official Marineland pricing via ticket partners]
Opening hours	Roughly 10:00/10:30–18:00; recent seasons ran early June to early-to-mid September — [source: official Marineland calendar]
Advance booking	Recommended — short season, and platform tickets with 48-hour free cancellation beat gate-queue risk
Time needed	4–6 hours covers shows plus the water park

Ticket Types Compared

One park, one main ticket, a few sensible variations.

Standard day ticket

Covers everything: dolphin and sea lion shows, the exotic-bird presentations, the small marine zoo, and the full water park with float use included. Pricing is height-based — about €33 above 1.20 m, €21 for 0.90–1.20 m and over-65s, free under 0.90 m; July–August promos have dropped the child/senior rate to around €19 [source: official pricing via Spanish ticket partners].

• Best for: families mixing animal shows with a slides day.
• Skip if: you only want slides — see the alternatives below before paying for a dolphinarium you won’t watch.

Partner platform tickets (GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Spanish resellers)

Same entry, booked in English with mobile tickets. Tiqets’ listing rated 4.5 from around 80 reviews at the time of checking and offers free cancellation until 48 hours before the visit — genuinely useful for a weather-dependent day. Note the ticket excludes lockers, sunloungers, fast passes and the separate paid dolphin experiences.

• Best for: international visitors; anyone who wants cancellable tickets.
• Skip if: you find an official-site promo beating the platform price.

Hotel + entry packages

Resellers bundle Marineland entry with Costa Brava/Maresme hotel stays — the park sits in the middle of the Santa Susanna–Malgrat–Blanes resort strip, so these can make sense for a short break.

• Best for: people basing a beach holiday in that strip anyway.
• Skip if: you’re day-tripping from Barcelona.

Timing Is Everything

• Season first: this park runs roughly three months a year. Recent seasons opened in early June and closed in early-to-mid September; the official calendar is the only source that matters, and one-off closure days happen (a 2025 special event closed the park for a day mid-August).
• Quietest: June weekdays and September, when the resort strip empties. Show seating and slide queues are both painless.
• Busiest: July–August afternoons, fed by the surrounding beach resorts. Big-slide waits build after 12:30.
• Show tactic: check the day’s dolphin show times at the entrance board first, then build slide blocks around them — arriving at a show 15–20 minutes early gets shaded seats in August.
• Re-entry: the park allows exit and re-entry from 11:00, unusual for Spanish parks — feasible to break for a resort-strip lunch and return in the late afternoon when queues thin out again.

How to Save

• Measure your kids. The €21 (or promotional €19) rate runs to 1.20 m — height, not age, decides.
• Seniors pay the reduced rate. Over-65s enter at the child price.
• Picnic in. Outside food is permitted and there are picnic areas — a rarity worth exploiting, since on-site catering is resort-priced.
• Park free. The outdoor car park is free; the inner car park costs about €3. Skip the inner lot unless it’s a heatwave.
• Book cancellable. With a weather-exposed, shows-plus-slides day, a platform ticket with 48-hour free cancellation is worth a euro or two of difference.
• Slides-only visitors: compare with Illa Fantasia near Barcelona — similar gate price, bigger pure water park, no dolphinarium. Paying Marineland’s ticket makes sense when the shows are part of the plan.

How to Get There

Marineland Catalunya is on the Carretera de Malgrat in Palafolls, inland from the Malgrat de Mar–Blanes coastline, about 60 km northeast of Barcelona.

• By train: R1 Rodalies from Barcelona toward Blanes to Malgrat de Mar (about 1h15), then a taxi (5–10 minutes) or a 25–30 minute walk. In high summer, local shuttle/bus links from the Malgrat and Santa Susanna resort strip operate — ask at your hotel.
• By car: C-32 motorway, Palafolls exit, then follow the Marineland signs; about an hour from Barcelona, 30–40 minutes from Girona. Free outdoor parking at the gate.
• From the Costa Brava: Blanes is 10 minutes away by car; the park is effectively the boundary marker between the Maresme and the Costa Brava.

Inside the Park: Shows, Slides and the Honest Trade-off

The dolphinarium is the headline: dolphin presentations plus sea lion and exotic-bird shows, included in entry, in one of the larger show pools on the Spanish coast. Around it sits a compact marine zoo, and the water park fills the rest of the site — classic slide hardware (speed slides, twisting tubes, kids’ slides), a wave pool, a lazy-river-style circuit and well-fenced children’s zones with lifeguards, spread through 10,000 m²-plus of green areas.

A one-day plan that works: arrive at opening, do the big slides before the first dolphin show, watch the shows through the crowded midday, then pools and kids’ zones until the 18:00 close. Practicalities: bring swimwear and ID (both required at entry), children under 16 need an accompanying adult, and lockers and sunloungers are paid extras — the free alternative is a towel on the grass in the green areas, which is what most local families do.

Be aware of the context, too: captive-cetacean entertainment is under growing regulatory and public pressure across Europe — it’s exactly why Marineland Antibes closed — and Spanish dolphinaria operate under increasing scrutiny. If that sits badly with you, skip this park without regret: Illa Fantasia (slides), Oceanogràfic València (modern aquarium, no circus-style shows) and Tibidabo cover the same family-day ground differently.

Where the Data Comes From

Status, prices, dates and inclusions above come from the official Marineland Catalunya site and partner listings (Tiqets, GetYourGuide, Spanish resellers), checked on the update date shown on this page. Given the short season, occasional one-off closures and the wider flux around European dolphinaria, verify opening dates on the official calendar before you commit to the trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Marineland Catalunya still open?

Yes. As of August 2026 it operates as a seasonal summer park (roughly June to mid-September). It is often confused with Marineland of Antibes in France, which closed permanently in January 2025 — the Palafolls park is a separate, operating business. Check the official calendar before visiting.

How much are Marineland Catalunya tickets?

Around €33 for visitors over 1.20 m and €21 for children 0.90–1.20 m and over-65s, with under 0.90 m free; summer promos have cut the child rate to about €19. Partner platforms sell comparable rates, some with free cancellation up to 48 hours.

What does a Marineland Catalunya ticket include?

The dolphinarium shows (dolphins, sea lions, exotic birds) and the full water park — slides, pools and kids' zones — plus float use. Paid extras include lockers, sunloungers, fast passes and separate dolphin experiences.

When is Marineland Catalunya open?

Summer only. Recent seasons have run from early June to early-to-mid September, roughly 10:00/10:30 to 18:00. Outside those months the park is closed, so always confirm dates on the official site.

How do I get to Marineland Catalunya from Barcelona?

Take the R1 Rodalies train toward Blanes to Malgrat de Mar (about 1h15), then a taxi or a 25–30 minute walk to the park in Palafolls. By car it's the C-32 motorway, about an hour from Barcelona, with free outdoor parking.

Does Marineland Catalunya still have dolphin shows?

Yes — it markets itself as the only water park with a dolphinarium on the Barcelona coast, with dolphin and sea lion presentations included in entry. If animal shows aren't for you, Illa Fantasia offers a comparable slides-only day nearer Barcelona.

Guide last updated: 2026-08-18. Facts are sourced from the official Marineland Catalunya website and our ticketing partners; always double-check before you travel.