Here are the notes I compiled on the Xcaret park in Cancun. I didn't have time to visit when I was there, but one of my co-workers said she and her young adult daughters loved it.
Official website:
Xcaret (pronounced ish-ka-ret) is perhaps the top attraction in all of Cancun. With seemingly endless attractions, you'll need at least a full day in Xcaret to see the park. Xcaret is an Ecological and Archaeological Park located south of Cancun in the Riviera Maya that contains small Mayan Ruins as well as a wide variety of flora and fauna, including Jaguars, Dolphins, and more.
Xcaret Spectacular Nights
Joy and inspiration are the essence of this gala where 300 artists on stage will delight you with the best of culture, music and regional dances of Mexico.
The Xcaret Spectacular Mexico Night Show is without a doubt the best folklore show in Mexico and the best known world wide When the sun sets, the call of the mystical pre-Hispanic drums and the melancholic sound of the sea shells will invite you to enjoy our Spectacular Night Show. It is a splendid feast of color, sound and traditions.
The fire lights up the Valley of Scents where Mayan warriors and priests, surrounded by incense and copal, guard the way to the Gran Tlachco. This majestic theater that can hold 6,000 spectators is ready to surprise you with the most beautiful show of prehispanic and popular culture.
The celebration begins with a journey through space and time to the age old legends about the origins of creation. Pre-Hispanic instruments, magnificent costumes and the voices of Mayan children exemplify the respectful relationship between humans and nature which ruled tribal life in ancient Mexico.
Next, you will witness the impressive skills of the ball game players, a sacred ritual of classic cultures in Middle America. The Pre-Hispanic ball game and the fire ball game are both artfully played and presented in their historical and cultural context.
The journey continues and you will live through several episodes of Mexican history: The conquest by the Spaniards, the evangelization, the merger of two races and the golden age of the 30`s and 40`s followed by a fabulous presentation of regional dances and songs from every corner of Mexico.
Multicolored dresses, horses, riders and mariachis will lead you to a grand finale full of surprises in the celebration of life and the beauty of Mexican culture presented to you in the Xcaret Spectacular Night Show.
Note: You need no reservation as this show is included in your entrance ticket.
Schedules:
Summer: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Winter: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Fodor's Review:
Once a sacred Maya city and port, Xcaret (pronounced ish-car-et) is now a 250-acre ecological theme park on a gorgeous stretch of coastline. It's the coast's most heavily advertised attraction, billed as "nature's sacred paradise," with its own network of buses, its own published magazines, and a whole collection of stores.
A Mexican version of Epcot Center, the park has done a good job to showcase, celebrate, and help preserve the natural environment of the Caribbean coast. You can easily spend at least a full day here; there's tons to see and do. Among the most popular attractions are the Paradise River raft tour that takes you on a winding, watery journey through the jungle; the Butterfly Pavillion, where thousands of butterflies float dreamily through a botanical garden while New Age music plays in the background; and an ocean-fed aquarium where you can see local sea life drifting through coral heads and sea fans without getting wet.
There's is a Wild Bird Breeding Aviary; nurseries for both abandoned flamingo eggs and sea turtles; and a series of underwater caverns that you can explore by snorkeling or "snuba" (a hybrid of snorkeling and scuba). Riding stables, which have been built to resemble a Mexican hacienda, offer trail rides through the jungle to see Maya ruins. A replica Maya village includes a colorful cemetery with catacomb-like caverns underneath; traditional music and dance ceremonies (including performances by the famed Voladores de Papantla -- the Flying Birdmen of Papantla) are performed here at night.
The list of Xcaret's attractions goes on and on: you can visit a dolphinarium, a bee farm, a manatee lagoon, a bat cave, an orchid and bromeliad greenhouse, an edible-mushroom farm, and a small zoo. You can also visit a scenic tower that takes you 240 feet up in the air for a spectacular view of the park.
Although Xcaret has nine restaurants, many visitors bring their own lunches and take advantage of assorted picnic tables and palapa-shaded chairs scattered throughout the property. The entrance fee covers only access to the grounds and the exhibits; all other activities and equipment -- from horseback riding to lockers to snorkel and swim gear -- are extra. You can buy tickets from any travel agency or major hotel along the coast.
The biggest attraction at Xcaret is the Swim With Dolphins activity. You get to interact with the dolphins in the pool - they'll let you pet their bellies, give you kisses, and footpush you across the pool like Superman. It's truly the experience of a lifetime. It sells out well in advance, so make sure to book before you leave. Xcaret also offers dozens of outstanding free attractions to see including:
INCLUDED WITH ADMISSION
• Underground Rivers
• Maya River
• Paradise River
• Beach, Cove, and Ponds
• Coral Reef Aquarium
• Sea Turtles
• Manatee Lagoon
• Bee Farm
• Butterfly Pavilion
• Deer Island
• Ecological Tour
• Puma and Jaguar Island
• Monkey Island
• Mushroom Farm
• Bromelias and Orchids Greenhouse
• Jungle Trail
• Regional Wildlife Enclosure
• Crocodiles
• Mayan Ruins
• Ruins Scale Models
• Fiesta Charra
• Papantla Fliers
• Museum of Culture and Anthropology
• Mayan Village
• St. Francisco of Assisi Chapel
• Mexican Corner
• Rotating Scenic Tower
• Xcaret at Night! Spectacular
• Mayan Cemetery
AVAILABLE AT ADDITIONAL COST
• Reef Snorkeling Tour
• Snuba
• Sea Trek
• Swim With Dolphins
• Xcaret Night Dinner
• Sky Tour
• 10 Restaurants and Bars
• Hammocks & Beach Chairs
• Souvenir Shops
• Scuba Diving
• Horseback Riding
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS:
We recommend taking a tour down to Xcaret - it is by far the easiest method to see the park. Make sure to reserve the Dolphin Swim well in advance - it can sell out very early - you will likely be disappointed if you wait until you get to the park. We recommend to plan your activities and your schedule ahead of time so you can maximize your time in the park - there is a lot to see and do here.
You'll want to stay for the free Night show - it's quite good. Skip the Scuba Diving and do it in Cozumel instead. The crowds are smallest on Saturday and Sunday, as they are travel days for many people. Xcaret is a great place - the kids will love it too. If you have kids and you're not sure which to do - Xcaret or Xel-Ha, pick Xcaret - you won't be sorry.
IMPORTANT MONEY SAVING TIP FOR THOSE NOT TAKING A TOUR:
You will save time if you Reserve Your Park Admission Online.
IMPORTANT: Xcaret will not allow you to bring your regular sunblock into the park, as part of the ongoing effort to protect the environment. It will be confiscated at the gate unless it is biodegradable.
Comments from online travel forums:
Feb 24, 2008
Visited Xcaret last September and had a great time. Definitely best if you go for all the inclusive option as there are a lot of extras that push up the price. I took several bottles of water in with me and left them in my locker and picked them up at various times of the day.
The park layout is extremely confusing and you reallly need to take a map with you as there are none available there. There are very few signs so you need a good sense of direction to find your way around. The worst are the underground tunnels which you have no choice but to use if you want to do everything. There are no maps which cover them, no signs and no logical path to follow. Not to be ventured by anyone scared of the dark, claustrophobic or easily paniced!!
You need to get there as early in the day as possible and head straight for the snorkling tunnels. They are quite long and most of the fish are at the very end so you have to persevere to make it worthwhile. The Xcaret night show if amazing and worth the admission price for the whole day.
Feb 5, 2008
I read many reviews of Xcaret, and either people seemed to love it or hate it. We decided not to bother until my travel agent came back just before we went away and told me I had to go cause it was awesome. We went on a Saturday, Saturdays and Sundays are their least busy days.
The visit was alright, and the kids had fun, but it was not worth over $350 us for the day by any stretch of the means. We did the river boat ride which you just look at rock walls and plants. We saw the orchids and mushroom gardens, butterfly gardens, sea turtles, dolphins, puma and cheetah, some deer, pigs and one monkey, a bull cow and lot of parrots. The sea turtles were the best part there, they breed them so there was a bunch in the pools. You can see one or two of each animal in a small enclosure. If you have been to any decent zoo the animals will not be overly exciting. I live in Victoria BC, home to Butchard Gardens and Butterfly Gardens which are amazing, so to see the one greenhouse of orchids, one room full of bags growing mushrooms and the small butterfly enclosure was less than what I had already experienced.
We purchased the Xcaret plus which gives you your buffet meal, towels and snorkeling equipment. If you plan on doing all that in there, it is cheaper to buy the Xcaret plus than to buy it all separately. We had the buffet by the dolphins and if we were to purchase it separately as a meal it would have been $29 us per person. The buffet was good, and it had a lot of choices of food, but understanding the the different buffets have different styles. The one by the dolphins has a lot of seafood. It was a bit of turn off to walk by the dessert table which had a good collection of flys buzzing around it.
Snorkling down the underground rivers seemed to be the high point for a lot of people on tripadvisor. It was ok, but it wasn't anything special. There are two rivers and the one that doesnt' start by the xcaret plus lockers is probably more interesting, at least it goes through the Mayan Village and under a stained glass window near the butterfly gardens. We swam along river but all there is to see is rocks. Employees of Xcaret ask you to stop at every rest area to take your picture. I have no idea where they sold these pictures to you, or how much they cost, and I swam right by the photographers since they attempted to take our picture 5 or 6 times on the one river. Near the end we saw some fish, I would say I saw a total of about 20 fish on the entire river. Quite a let down after experiencing the snorkling at Yal-Ku lagoon a few days earlier.
There is a swimming area near the dolphins where there was quite a crowd of people swimming and playing in inner tubes. The beach in Playa Del Carmen is 10 times nicer, and is free.
The show at night was why my travel agent recommended going, and I enjoyed it. Entrance is cool since the performers are dressed up in their costumes outside the arena and they are very fierce looking. The show is two parts, the first part tells the pre-spanish history of the area and is pretty cool. If there is any narration it is not in English so enjoying the play goes better if you already have a decent understanding of the history of the area. The second half of the show is many songs and dances of the area since the Spanish arrived and reflects the culture of the area. The Mexicans in the crowd love the show and sing along with all the songs. It shows you a good range of the culture, and the songs are nice and the costumes beautiful. The show is two hours long, and it got tiresome for us who felt out of touch with not knowing the music. It is almost like a concert feeling, except we didn't' understand the language nor were existing fans of the styles of music.
We didn't do any of the extra items that are available at Xcaret, I felt I was spending enough already. Maybe doing one of the dolphins or snuba would have actually made the cost of the day worth it, but as it was I would not recommend going. If you really want to see the show, which is the best part of the park, you can get in cheaper after 3pm, go for a quick snorkel down a river if you want and be back in time for the show. Although you aren't supposed to bring in your own food or water they never checked our bags, if i had realized I could get away with it I would have brought my own food in instead of the $30 buffets and expensive pop and beer.
Copyright 2008 Beth Schrader
