Xcaret National Adventure Park

[UncAl618]

Has anyone done Xcaret National Adventure Park? Am going on the Enchantment in Aug. & was wondering about this particular tour.

[ehfl]

Did you have a specific question? My sister went to Xcaret when she was in Cancun, and loved it. We're planning on doing Xcaret in June.

[angie54751]

Also search the port of call boards for Cozumel...I'm sure you will find some info there as well.

[emarismom]

I went to Xcarat while vacationing in the Mayan Riviera and it was awesome!! I really enjoyed it and would go again in a heartbeat. Having said that, I think it is a long ways away from the port in Cozumel. If you are going into a port in the Mexican Riviera, than I would definitely consider it, however, if you will be going from Cozumel, that may be alot of time in transit.

[Markmom18]

Has anyone done Xcaret National Adventure Park? Am going on the Enchantment in Aug. & was wondering about this particular tour.

We LOVED Xcaret. While vacationing in Cozumel for a week, we took the ferry over one day. If you can swing it time-wise I'd definitely recommend going to this unique park.

[rubrrick]

Has anyone done Xcaret National Adventure Park? Am going on the Enchantment in Aug. & was wondering about this particular tour.

 

 

I have been to Xcaret a half dozen times. It is an all day affair, and there is also a night show. If you are looking at getting off of the ship in Cozumel......and taking the high speed ferry to the mainland, it's about a 15 minute drive from the port.

 

If this is something that you are doing on your own......you must pay attention to the times that the ferry runs back to Cozumel from Playa.

 

It's a great adventure. Bring your bathing suit.....you can snorkle down several rivers.....underground part of the way....or swim with the dolphins, or both. It is truly a beautiful park.

 

Rick

[TravlGrl]

I was just at Xcaret two weeks ago and loved it! Did you have specific questions?

[UncAl618]

No, I don't have any specific questions about this tour. I was just wondering if it was worth going to. Thanks for all your help.

[TravlGrl]

Oh, ok! We'll here is the excerpt from my travel blog about Xcaret to give you some insight on how you also might enjoy yourself there. Enjoy!

 

Ah, 89 degrees at Xcaret today. It felt like we had the park to ourselves. As each day goes by, we are more and more thankful that we decided to continue with this trip rather than reschedule due to the U.S. Travel Advisory. The park fully re-opened yesterday as Mexico’s government allowed government offices and establishments (holding 80 people or more) to re-open to the public. Still, it was evident tourists are not flocking back to Mexico quite yet…which makes more availability everywhere for us!

 

If you’ve never been to an eco-park in the Yucatan, imagine part beach, part jungle, part zoo. If you’ve been to Xel-Ha, just imagine a larger version of the park with animals in their habitats EVERYWHERE.

 

After entering the park, we strolled along several of the walkways to view howler monkeys, spider monkeys, a pig-like swine thingy, iguanas, parrots, manta rays, pumas, bats, flamingos, manatees, a shark, dolphins, turtles, ducks, and a kitty cat…yes, a sweet and loving kitty who obviously had made a home at the park. The cool thing is that the animals were not kept in cages. Instead, they lived in habitats that were separated by lagoons. The lagoons were a simple way to keep the animals from drifting over to the people population, though dumb tourists could easily have hopped into the lagoons to get into the animal areas. Oh how refreshing it is to be in an eco-park void of railings and walls to keep people from falling into water tanks or in with the animals. It just makes for a more natural environment.

 

Xcaret is built around a series of underwater rivers, and we took advantage of our extra buoyancy this week (yes, we have really enjoyed the cocktails and tacos the last few days) by floating down the 1/3 mile river, partially in the sun, partially underground in the caves. While we have been accustomed to 80 degree Caribbean water, the cave water temperature was a refreshing 75…still nothing to snivel about. It was a refreshing and relaxing boost to the day. Following the river float, we found some beachfront palapas and, you guessed it, we plopped ourselves down for the next 4 hours – Alex in the shade, me in the sun – with an occasional dip in the water to simultaneously view the dolphin show about 100 feet away. Upon our exit from the park, I spotted a pyramid of Coronas. Having consumed mostly Dos Equis the past few days meant I was yearning for the pure taste of that freshly cut lime wedged into the top of a Corona. Quench my thirst it did.

[firefly4423]

hmm, you guys are making me want to take it! Bah. Now I have to. haha

[Nekochan]

One warning about Xcaret - if you or someone in your party has trouble with exerting themselves, or you have a wheelchair or stroller to push around, Xcaret might not be the best choice for you. The paths are gravel or sand, which makes pushing a wheelchair/stroller difficult and it is rather hilly (not much for a person in normal health)

[printingchick]

We loved it there. Definitely do the cave tubing on the underground river. Awesome.

 

This was the one excursion I found to be LESS expensive to do via the ship's excursion. (I was not on Royal, however, for that cruise, but I suspect it's true across the board.) The cruise lines must get a discounted entry to get into the park. Going with the ship's excursion was significantly less expensive than going by taxi and paying the full entry cost.

 

You'll love the park. It's one of those things you'll wish you had more time to explore!

[msmarvel]

I went to Xcaret about 10 years ago. We walked around the park and saw the animals, did snorkel the cave river thing (didn't see much, but it was kindof relaxing and fun) and did a mini-swim with dolphins. really enjoyed the day.

 

My brother told me a few years after we went that he heard bad things about the dolphins there, that they only lived about 5 years (dolphins live about 35 years). I could never find anything online about it myself. Would be a shame if it were true since it is an eco-archeological park.

 

But the park is worth it. One cool thing was we saw a water spout taking the ferry back to Cozumel - too far away to worry us, but it was neat.

[mdlady]

We went via tour from a Celebrity sailing. LOVED the park, however the ferry trip there and back was VERY rough. Perhaps it was just this particular day as nobody else mentioned it, but the workers on the ship just stood there with bags in hand looking for the next green passenger... it was that bad. But... the park was wonderful! I would suggest a preventative bonine however for the ferry ride just in case!

[Toddcan]

I have to give a word of warning here.. IF this is an excursion from Cozumel, it will take you a long time just to get to the park, since it's on the mainland.

 

We did the excursion on Carnival when it stopped at Calica, which is 10 minutes down the road from Xcaret.. and we did not have enough time to see what we wanted to see there.. I cannot imagine going there, and only staying 3-4 hours. You could honestly be there 2-3 solid days and still not see everything.

 

But it is STUNNING!

[Heard02]

I did Xcaret and did not like it. Maybe it was because we went on a Saturday and it was over run with locals and very, very crowded?

Hopefully you will have a much better experience.

I have also done Xel-Ha which we loved! Very, very nice!