Xcaret, Cancún

About one hour by bus from the hotels area, Xcaret is something not to be missed.

Only a little help from men made a place with natural beauty and signs of history a park where children and adults may spend a full day, with many and different attractions.

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I had a great time their and I enjoyed the night show. Xcaret was a great place to go with the whole family but if I go back to Cancun, I will not go back to Xcaret because they were very unorganized,
In addition, the pathways were not clearly marked. Overall, I would not recommend Xcaret.

To ensure that you'll have a dry towel and clothes when you emerge after snorkelling in the underground rivers, put them into one of the bags provided when you're picking up your life vest at the start of the river. The bag will be taken by the Xcaret staff to the end of the river for you to retrieve.

You'll need the warm clothing and towel as the water is pretty cool and gets breezy at the end of the swim. Clostrophobic people shouldn't swim through the tunnels.

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My husband and I did a day trip to Xcaret on our November 2004 Mayan Riviera trip. There is so much to do at this park! The entrance to the park isn't too obvious, the taxi cab will drop you off on the side of the road and it looks like there is nothing there, but actually there is a bus stop where the trolly will come pick you up to take you into the park.
We snorkeled the river through the caves which was fun, but dark a lot of the time and you can't see much, kinda creepy sometimes through the cave parts but you have to give it a try if you go! There is an aquarium museum, pumas, monkeys, sea turtles, alligators, so much to see and do it's fabulous. We ate a great meal at the restaurant (don't recall the name) overlooking the sea turtles home, we had the chicken stuffed with goat cheese, it was one of the best dishes I have ever eaten anywhere. You can get beer, soda and cigarettes at different locations around the park. They have a great little beach area to hang out at, a snorkel area and lots of sitting areas throughout the park. All in all Xcaret was a wonderful time!
We stayed for the night show, just magnificent! It is in this huge open air ampitheatre built as it would have been back in the times of the Mayans, the sound in the theatre was superb. BE FOREWARNED! If you stay for the night show and are trying to take a taxi back to your hotel, we tried to catch one about 8:30P.M. or so and they are few and far between and they do not stop at the bus stop for you. We waited about 45 minutes and finally this huge tour bus pulled up and took us down the road and dropped us off at our respective hotels, we got lucky, we would have stayed there all night. If this does happen you can try to hail a regular taxi (not the collectivo) to get back to your hotel, however regular taxi's didn't come by either except for one who sat there waiting when he realized we had been waiting for a long time.

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Swim in underground rivers, see dolphins, crocodiles and turtles, touch a starfish, chill on a hammock, snorkel, climb Mayan ruins, visit a Mayan cemetery, watch a Mexican cultural show...Xcaret is a great day out!

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XCaret is a kind of Mexican Disneyland, but most of the things you see are real. Real caves, real animals, real performers--no robots here. It's set in the jungle on the coast, they have a beautiful cove swimming area where you can swim with the dolphins or go on snorkel/scuba trips.
There are lots of animals--cougars, butterflies, bats, turtles, alligators, fish, a bunch of animals you've never seen before, and even some manatees. The snorkel through the underground river/cenote is very fun and included in the price of admission.
There are also archeaological ruins on site for the intellectuals. Don't miss the traditional dances or horse shows!
Admission to XCaret is expensive, I think it cost us 650 pesos each.
I don't know what it is about XCaret, it should be a goofy place--it 's touristy, expensive, and can be crowded. But most of the people I meet after they leave say they had a very strange sensation while there, almost as if you were a kid again. And you wished the day wouldn't end. Same goes for me!
See my XCaret Travelogues for more photos of XCaret.

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You can easliy spend the entire day here and still not do it all. One of the big draws here is swimming/snorkling in the underground river. Every so often there will be a foto op and at the end of your day you can by the pictures. The river is fresh water and its not too deep.
This is also a great place to take the kids.
Theres snorkling, horseback riding, swim with the dolfines, hiking and tons more.

Swim with dolphins, snorkel, scuba dive, swim and look at native species in their natural habitat. I went here while on a cruise so we didn't actually get to stay here very long. We went snorkeling which was amazing. The snorkeling is through a series of underwater caves. There are some giant fish swimming around you and some places that are very very deep so it can be a little creepy, but if that doesn't bother you it is georgous. Highly recommended. We only got to stay about 4 or 5 hours and we wished that we had more time there!