Xcaret or Xel Ha?

[kreeves1112]

My family and group will be in Calica on June 20th. I can't decide if I want to visit Xcaret or Xel Ha. Has anyone out there visited both and do you have a preference?

[BamaEagle]

We discussed it yesterday in another thread:

 

 

Our days in Calica and Cozumel (long)

This was our first cruise, but we really did not feel like organized excursions suited us, so we ventured out on our own in Calica/Playa and Cozumel. LOVED both of these ports. Had such a great time that I will describe what we did in case any future Holiday cruisers want to do something similar:

 

At Calica, we went to the Maya ruins at Tulum and to Xel Ha snorkel park. Both are located to the South of the port at Calica. I believe it is about 20 miles down to Xel-Ha and an additional 6-8? miles down to Tulum. We could have rented a car at the port, but we were somewhat nervous about driving on the Mexican mainland (Realized it probably would have been fine after seeing where we went.) Had read a lot about Cozumel, however, and did not fear renting a vehicle there (see below).

 

Anyway, we took a taxi north into Playa del Carmen ($10 USD) where I had planned to take a public bus down to Tulum. The taxi driver talked us into taking a collectivo because they run continuously and we would have had to wait about an hour for the next bus. (I also believe he was in with the collectivo drivers). Didn't matter though as it was a good choice. These are white 15 passenger vans that run up and down the coastal highway. These are public transportation, like the buses, in good condition, and air conditioned, we were packed in pretty tight, however. There was a large family of about 7-8 people on the van also from the Holiday, and four Mexicans. I sat next to a Mexican gentleman who operates a gift shop at Tulum and was headed to work. Had a great conversation all the way down. I paid in US dollars, might have been slightly cheaper to pay in Pesos. It was $2.50 USD each for the collectivo fare from Playa del Carmen to Tulum. This was all really not as complicated as it sounds. All you have to do is get in a taxi at Calica and tell the driver that you want to go into Playa del Carmen to get a collectivo that will run south to Tulum. We simply told the collectivo driver we wanted to go to Tulum ruinas (so did all 14 passengers, so getting off at the right spot was no problem). I had read that if you just say "Tulum" they will take you further South to the town of Tulum.

 

At Tulum ruins, there is no vehicle traffic allowed from the highway to the ruins (about 1/2 mile), but a tram runs back and forth. Costs about a buck or two. We just walked the short walk as it wasn't too hot yet. The ruins at Tulum were unbelievably beautiful, sitting atop high rocky cliffs with beautiful beaches below. Tulum is about 800 years old, near the end of the Classic Maya period. There are guides that you can hire to take you around, but I had printed some info. sheets off of the internet that described each of the principal buildings and included a site map. There are interpretive signs explaining details throughout the site, but they are in Spanish. We looked around here for about 1.5 hours, then walked back out to the highway to catch a taxi north to Xel Ha. Taxi fare was only $6.00 and they dropped us off right at the ticket pavilion. We could have taken another collectivo, as they were lined up at Tulum, but I would not recommend it to get from Tulum to Xel Ha. Collectivos drops off on the highway only, so it would have been about a half mile walk in the now mid-day heat to the Xel-Ha ticket pavilion. Also, they wait until the van is at least half full to leave and we talked to a Dutch couple who had been waiting for 15 minutes. When we found out it was only $6.00 to take the taxi, we went with it.

 

Xel-Ha is beautiful. http://www.xelha.com.mx (choose English at the top of this webpage to switch to the English version) It is an enormous eco-park, much more nature oriented than Xcaret. Great restaurants, lots of lounge chairs, hammocks, etc. Snorkeling is the main attraction here, and a tube float down a beautiful jungle stream. The fish here are HUGE. The water is not nearly as clear as Cozumel, however. It's not dirty, but the mixing of fresh water from the streams and springs with the salt water in the lagoon causes a blurry effect in areas. You will still have no problem seeing a lot of fish. I found the water to be much clearer further back in to the lagoon. Entry was $29.00 USD each. You can get an all inclusive ticket for about $50.00 each that includes all of your snorkel equipment rental and all of the food and drink you like, but we only had about 4 hours here and we wanted to spend more time in the water, plus we had our own mask and snorkel. I did pay $4.00 to rent a pair of fins. There are multiple places to eat and drink in the park. We each got an order of steak tacos and split a margarita for lunch at one of the open air eating areas. Our total lunch was about $15.00 USD. You could easily spend the full day here and still not see the entire park.

 

We left Xel-Ha at about 5:00, when they closed, this time taking the public bus back in to Playa. Just ask at the information desk at the Xel Ha ticket pavilion for assistance in catching the public bus. You will pay your fare as you board the bus. On this day, the last bus for Playa left at 5:15. There is a parking lot FULL of tour buses going back to resort hotels, so it is a little confusing. The public bus, however, picks up right at the curb near the above mentioned information desk. Taxi fare would have been about $30.00 either back to the Calica port or on in to Playa. Bus fare was $4.00 each from Xel-Ha to Playa. The ride took about 40 minutes as it stopped off at Xcaret before going on in to Playa. It was a very modern and clean air conditioned motor coach bus. My wife had a great power nap on the bus. For some people, the advantage to the taxi over the bus would be that the taxi could take you straight back to the ship, but we did not have to be back on board until after 9:00, so we thought we would take the bus in to Playa to walk around the shopping area downtown. This was a charming bustling beachfront area. We got a cell phone signal here, so we called home to check on the kids. At about dusk, we took a taxi back to the ship at Calica.

 

In Cozumel, we rented a Jeep and toured the island. We docked at the downtown pier. Rented the Jeep from LessPay, about 1-2 blocks south of the pier at the Barracuda Hotel. We went in mid May and still got the low season rate. It was $50 total including insurance. Most of the rental agencies have locations at both piers, so if you make a reservation, it should not be a problem that you often do not know where you will dock until the morning of arrival. Stopped first at Dzul Ha, a quaint little "beach" club (this area is rocky shore-they have brought a little sand in to create a sandy seating area. Dzul Ha is the best shore snorkeling on the island. Swam out to the coral heads and there are lots of beautiful fish. Swam a little beyond this and saw a GIANT school of MANY thousands (millions?) of fish. We stayed here about 2 hours, then headed further south for Paradise Beach where we stayed for about 1.5 hours. Enjoyed drinks at PB and swam a bit. Great sandy beach and swimming area with water trampoline and floating "iceberg" to climb. We would have enjoyed PB more, perhaps, if there had been some live music. Our children would have loved all of the water "toys." Very nice place, but we are more into natural beauty. We then proceeded to tour around the island. The eastern shore, or "Wild Side" is beautiful. Got out at several spots for pictures and walking on the mostly deserted beaches. Before cutting back across the island on the crossover road, we stopped at Coconuts on the highest bluff on the island for great shrimp tacos and Margaritas. The view was spectacular. Sat at a table right atop the cliffs with the ocean below. We then headed back to the downtown waterfront for some quick shopping (about 1.5 hours). My wife went to Cinco Soles and Touch of Gold jewelery store. I went to the Havana Club as I had to get a Cuban Cohiba (Enjoyed it the next night on ship, BTW, it was outstanding). All three of these shops were within a couple of blocks of each other. We then returned the jeep and stopped in the duty free liquor store at the pier before boarding the ship. Cozumel was wonderful. My wife would have preferred perhaps another hour of shopping. Hated having to board the ship by 5:00. A 7:00 or 8:00 boarding time would have been much better.

 

If we ever return to Calica/Playa, we would probably spend the entire day at Xel-Ha, or try Xcaret. No need really to see the ruins again, although I would highly recommend Tulum for its beauty.

[BamaEagle]

And another one:

 

 

Jus10MoM,

 

I have not been to Xcaret, but researched it and Xel-Ha on the internet prior to our cruise. We also have boys, three of them-10, 8, and 7 years old. If we go back with them, I would choose Xel-Ha again and would spend the entire day there, mainly because they love the water, and they are active like yours. From what I read, Xcaret is more of a balance between cultural and water activities while Xel-Ha is almost completely water oriented. It also seems like there would be a lot more walking to do at Xcaret. If you're 6 and 8 year olds are fairly adventurous, they should be able to snorkel just fine. Some kids that age just swim around with a mask and life jacket, not even bothering with the snorkel. BTW, if you want a life jacket, they provide them for free at Xel-Ha whether you rent equipment or not. There are no sharks for your kids to fear, but I will warn you that you may see some pretty scary looking barracuda. They won't bother you, but they do look pretty creepy. My wife was enjoying the snorkeling just fine until she saw one of these. She spent most of the rest of our time there relaxing in lounge chairs and taking pictures. She was also terrified of the iguanas, which was pretty humorous to watch. BTW, iguanas are everywhere at Tulum and Xel Ha, my boys would have loved these. While I was snorkeling, I looked up to see her in a panic and climbing up on to a table where two Australian gentleman were seated. An iguana was walking by and she panicked. The Aussies (and I) could not stop laughing. It is now one of our great memories (even for her). In spite of her fears, she still loved Xel-Ha and has been telling people what a neat place it is.

 

On the tube float-we did not have time for this, but saw it and it looked great. People commented that the water moves very slow. We would have done it, and snorkeled/floated along the way, if we had time. I will try to attach a picture below.

 

Also, you can pay extra to swim with dolphins at Xel-Ha, but it is quite expensive. They are fun to just watch.

 

Xel Ha closes at 5:00, but Xcaret stays open much later and has some sort of spectacular Maya cultural show after dark. Some Holiday cruisers with the later departure time in Calica might choose Xcaret for this reason. I would be ready to get my kids back to the ship earlier than that, especially after a day in the water.

 

Finally, the Carnival excursion is a combo of Tulum and Xel-Ha. The Tulum visit is a guided, very crowded (I saw them) walking tour in the heat. This does not seem like it would be fun for your boys, so if you want to do Xel-Ha, you would have to venture out on your own, not on the ship tour. An advantage to Xcaret is that it is VERY near the Calica port. The ship excursion price for Xcaret is about the same price as doing it on your own and they run a shuttle continuously back and forth to Xcaret.

 

Glad you liked the review. I provided the same kind of information that I wanted to know prior to traveling. For us, it was important to have a clear budget and have a general idea of how we planned to get around.

Attached ImagesXel-Ha tube.JPG (29.7 KB, 11 views)Xel Ha chairs.jpg (53.2 KB, 10 views)Xel Ha ropes.jpg (31.3 KB, 9 views)

[lisaland15]

We've been to both. We really liked Xcaret (http://www.xcaret.com/). We even did it twice. The first time, we weren't able to see it all! At that time, our son was 6 (and 7).

 

Xcaret has wonderful water tunnels/caves that you float down for a couple miles. You get a vest and walk into the water and the currents carries you through! Several people were snorkeling here.

 

They also have a really cool bat cave and huge turtle area. A couple beach areas with tons of fish. They had floaties for you to use. We even saw barracuda.

 

They also had a tight rope (?) across one of the lagoons. You started on one side, got on the rope with your feet (there was also a rope above your head) and tried to get across, sliding your feet along and grabbing the top rope for balance.

 

Our tour was through Carnival. They took you there and then you were on your own. They had buses ready to leave when you were.

 

We also did the Tulum/Xel-Ha through Carnival. My son was 5 at that time. We liked it, but we didn't get as much time as we would have like at Xel-Ha.

[ppeckham]

We dearly love Xcaret! The park has a partially underground river you float down. Takes nearly 2 hours.

 

The evening show is quite interesting. It gives the Mayan view on the Spanish invasion.

 

I'd most definitely go back to Xcaret.

[JennSTX]

We just got back from the Carnival Ecstacy and we paid the $59 for XCARET. Because the ship left Calica at 4pm we didn't have enough time to really enjoy it. We took the river raft ride (note to visitors - the entrance to the ride is a 30 minute trek through unmarked jungle that had us covered in sweat by the time we found the ride; the backdoor exit was right off the road!) and due to time constraints we walked to the snorkeling/beach area next to the dolphin tanks through the aquarium and sea turtle conservation tanks.

 

The snorkeling at the beach wasn't very good as the water was cloudy but it was cool when I swam to the dolphin area and was 6 inches from the dolphins and I watched the dolphin discovery people who spent $150 play with the dolphins - I was so close and caught glimpses of the dolphins under the water swimming past so it was almost like doing it myself - very cool.

 

The snorkeling inlet was incredible and there were 100 different kids of colorful fish. There were some huge fish as you went into the deep water and I was lucky enough to have a sea turtle that decided to swim with me - it was a great experience and really helped turn a bad trip (our cabin was robbed the 2nd night - see other post) into a OK trip with and incredible highlight.

 

I would love to go back to Xcaret as the other people who saw the flying Mayan show just RAVED about it and others who had seen the night show and did the river cave snorkel just raved and raved about it. Seemed like everyone on the bus and on the boat that went loved it.

[kreeves1112]

Thanks so much for all of the information. Both places sound great, and it's going to be hard to choose. If we do Xel Ha it sounds like we should do our own trip instead of the Carnival Tulum/Xel Ha combo. Any other opinions?

[kreeves1112]

bump:)

[robtx100]

I've been to both. Both are very nice. There is more to do at Xcaret. And to be honest, I enjoyed Xcaret more.

[voyagerfl]

Xcaret :)

http://www.xcaret.com