Family Adventure @ Xplor by Xcaret

Last month we were lucky enough to stay at Hotel Xcaret in Mexico for a week.  This gorgeous resort is an absolute paradise for families who like a little more activity and adventure during their vacation. While we had plenty of time to enjoy the amazing pools, natural rivers and beaches at the resort we had the best day at the Xplor park.  Admission to all of Xcaret’s parks are included in your resort stay which really take this vacation to the next level!

Transportation is included to XPlor from the resort, guests visiting XCaret, Xenses and Xplor share the same bus. It’s a quick 10-15 minute drive to the parks from the resort.

What To Take With You:

-Comfortable water shoes, you will spend all day in these -Biodegradable Sunscreen -Hotel XCaret bracelet for resort guests which serve as your entrance into the park -Waterproof camera case -Go Pro or recording device -I suggest bringing a swim suit and rash guard for river activities along with a change of dry clothes for ziplining.  

When you first arrive at the park as a guest of Hotel XCaret you are given a priority entrance to help you bypass the lines. Children over the age of 5 and a minimum height of 42” are able to participate in the activities.  My 5 year old son is on the small side for his age and he was measured twice to ensure he was 42”, he was just tall enough to participate in all of the options available at the park.  You will be given a helmet to wear throughout your day, this needs to be worn at all times.  You will also be assigned a locker key wristband that securely holds the key inside so you can enjoy the activities. 

We started our day with the Amphibious Vehicles.  The zipline circuit gets really crowded early in the morning so we decided to wait until it died down a bit.  The Amphibious Vehicles normally offers 2 circuits but only one was available during our stay which did not go through water. My husband drove while I held on for dear life, it was an absolute blast.  The circuit takes you over bridges and into caves, and definitely gives you some chances to open up and go fast. It was a crazy and bumpy ride so anyone with medical conditions may want to avoid this one as we got tossed around quite a bit. 

After this we stopped at the Oasis juice stand which has some nice smoothie and juice options, this was included along with a buffet lunch.  There was also a small natural pool nearby that looked like a great place for little ones to cool off in the water.  Next up we did the Hammock Splash which was a good activity to test before we went for the zipline circuit.  My little guy didn’t like that the water was cold but was comfortable with the activity itself so we felt comfortable moving onto the zipline circuit.  The crowds were substantially less at this point just a couple of hours after park opening.

Xplor is home to the most visited zip line circuit in the world!  Each of the 2 courses consists of 7 ziplines circuits, for a total of 2.4 miles of ziplining adventure.  We had ziplined with my older son in Honduras when he was younger and Xplor’s course felt significantly higher to me. I don’t love heights but I knew I had to tackle this because my boys were so excited.  After being sized into our harnesses we started off for the first zipline.  The staff at Xplor was obviously very well trained and took safety very seriously.  My youngest was not heavy enough to zipline by himself so they paired him with his brother or myself on each line.  They did not allow us to choose who he went with, they choose based on the length and height of the line who he should ride with each time.  Getting to the top is a series of ramps and stairs. There’s even a really fun slide at one point that’s a must do! The last zipline goes into the water and returns you to the Corazon (the heart) of the park, from here you can head on to the next activity. Overall we had an amazing time ziplining and my kids are already begging to go back.

The last main activity is the Underground River.  Here you have several options: you can paddle down the river in a raft, you can choose a long river swim, a short river swim or the Underground Expedition. I would recommend the short river swim and the Underground Expedition.  The Underground Expedition is a new option which has a more shallow river swim leading you to an adventure course. At the adventure course you will find a large slip and slide carved into the rock, this is not to be missed! 
Easily one of the highlights of our day! We did the long river swim which ends with a large circular waterfall, the swim did take a while and the water was a little chilly.  If you get cold easily I would definitely recommend a long sleeve rash guard or even a shorty wetsuit. On the long swim we got to see a cavern with bats hanging from the ceiling which was really amazing to see.  The short swim ends with the same amazing ending just a much shorter route to get there. We also did the river rafting in which you use hand paddles and navigate your way through the river, it was a bit hard to control the raft.  I would only recommend this if you have some extra free time at the end of the day. 

Overall our day at Xplor was one of our favorite travel excursion days we have ever had together as a family, and we will certainly be returning! At night Xplor transforms into Xplor Fuego a nighttime adventure featuring the same activities based around elements of fire. I think either Xplor option you choose will offer an unforgettable adventure! 

Contact Kristen Buckshire, owner of Travel Ease LLC to learn more about Hotel XCaret and other Mexico all inclusive resorts! kristen@teplanners.com