The Cancun area has an amazing assortment of eco-archaeological amusement parks, mostly from the Xcaret group. In this episode we cover some of our favorite parks, why they’re different from most theme parks in the US, and how you can have an incredible day visiting them!
Here is the time where we discuss each of these parks:
Listen and Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts
Resources
- Blog Post: Xcaret – Is It Worth It?
- Blog Post: Xel-Ha In-Depth Guide
- Blog Post: 8 Family-Friendly Destinations Near Cancun
Transcript
Rod: Welcome to the Jetsetting Family Travel Podcast! I’m Rod. And I’m Jess. And we wanted to start this episode with a quick round of thanks. Yes, thank, thank you to you, all of our listeners, for supporting us, for reaching out. I think from our perspective, it’s a little hard, I would say sometimes recording a podcast and releasing it out there and not knowing how people are feeling about it, what kind of things that you want to hear.
So those of you that have reached out, thank you. We love getting your feedback and are always looking to improve the type of content and topics that we have on this podcast. So for that, thank you.
Jess: And if you ever ping us and don’t get a reply, send us like another ping saying like, hey, maybe you missed this.
Because sometimes things do get lost in our inboxes, but it’s always our goal to connect with all of you. And speaking of connection, in the next couple weeks, we’re launching a new way to connect that we’ve been working hard on and are really excited to launch.
Rod: Yeah, we’re super excited about this. We hear a lot.
That there’s a lot of different places where you can get types of travel content or support when you’re planning a trip, but what we’re thinking of, won’t reveal too much yet, but in a couple of weeks you will hear more about it for sure.
Jess: Yes. We’re hoping you guys join us on this new exciting journey.
But until then, today’s episode is all about eco parks, eco amusement parks in the Cancun Playa del Carmen region. We just came back from this credible spring break trip there. It’s a region we love and it has some of our favorite amusement parks because they’re different. They’re very different than, say, a Disney World.
These are eco parks, so they’re incredible ways to spend time with your family, get a bit of culture, get a bit of natural wonders in there. So yeah, we’re excited to tell you about the Xcaret eco amusement parks.
Rod: Yeah, I think it’s really interesting the comparison between, so here we live near Orlando, which I would consider one of like the capital cities of amusement parks in the world, right?
You’ve got all the Disney parks, you’ve got Universal Studios, LEGOLAND, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens nearby, and all of those with the roller coasters and all the branded characters and stuff. They’re cool and all. The ones that we’re about to talk about, if you haven’t heard of them before, they have such a unique perspective that make them so special to visit and really get a sense of being one with nature.
Jess: And I think it’s just funny to me because Rod is the ultimate Disney fanatic. Like he could go to Disney and it energizes him. And to me it’s a little too crowded. Very, I don’t know, it’s just different. I love to be more one with nature and so I feel like these amusement parks are like the perfect place for me and a place Rod also enjoys.
I don’t know if to the extent of Disney, but to me these are the perfect balance of activities for everyone while feeling like. I am not in some like commercial crowded spaces. , right?
Rod: Yeah. Because with the Disney parks and stuff, you can tell like they clear out the entire natural area or at least most of it.
And then they really just structure the park to, for them to show you what it is that they want you to see at that given time. And with these natural parks near Cancun, it’s very much the opposite in which the natural environment, the jungles, the mangroves, the rivers, the beaches, they are the main attraction and there are additional structures and things to supplement and enhance that experience rather than it being the other way around.
So it was really cool.
Jess: So Xcaret, it’s spelt with an X. It looks like Xcaret, but it’s pronounced “Esh-kareht”. It is an actual park itself, but it’s also a group. So, it’s kind of like there’s Disney World, there’s the main Disney Magic Kingdom, but then you have all of the sub parks. It’s kind of set up like that.
So with Xcaret, you have the main Xcaret Park. you have and you have senses, which we’re going to talk about today. They also have a couple other parks, Xavage, Xplor and Xochimilco, which we haven’t been to. So we’re going to leave those for a later episode once we know more about them. So we’re going to start off with Xcaret itself.
This is like the magic kingdom of the Xcaret Parks. I guess attraction is the main one. So this park is huge, but it also encompasses the most wide range of activities, and I think if you only had one day in the region and only could choose one park, Xcaret would be the one that I would choose. Not to say the other ones aren’t incredible and should be on your list, but this is one that you could spend from the moment they open, I believe, at [8:30] until they close around [10:00] PM at night, you could spend the entire day there. It’s a jam-packed day. You might even want two days to truly do everything. We try to squeeze it all in a day. It’s a long day, but it’s so much fun.
And so we’re going to tell you a little bit about what Xcaret has and why you should. First off, I love Xcaret because it never feels super crowded. You literally feel like you’re walking through a beautiful jungley, foresty area, and it is absolutely beautiful. They have rivers, cenotes, beaches, all these different places you can explore, but the kids always love to start out at Children’s world.
Rod: Children’s world is towards the back of the park. So it’s really cool to start that way just because as you’re walking around, you get to see some of the entrances to the other areas. But Children’s World by itself, it’s self-contained. And what it is, is this like enclosed, kind of like an obstacle course for the kids where they can go up little rope structures, climb across this like treehouse looking structure. Then they go down these water slides into a cenote, which is like an underground little pond. They have hundreds to thousands of them in the Cancun area alone, but then they continue on through a cave. Through another set of like structures down another set of slides, so for them, and it pops ’em back up where the entrance is.
So for us as a parents, it was really easy just knowing that we can kind of sit at like the parents’ waiting area, which is right next to a little pool where you can stay refreshed or we could walk around through an observation path that is just for the adults or other kids that want to walk along and see the course, but we could keep track of them that way.
We always knew that whether they started or ended in one direction, that that’s the area that they would be, since it’s all enclosed and there’s a lot of different lifeguards at the different pools there. So it’s very safe and we were able to sit back. The kids had a lot of fun and it was a great way to start the day that way.
Jess: The kids loved it. I feel like they felt like they were on Survivor. They did races through it. I will say we did when the kids were younger. We went back this year. I will say that the children’s world, there’s an like a little lagoon area with younger kids. You can definitely spend time and relax with them, but for the kids to really enjoy the obstacle course on their own, I’d say around six.
is like the perfect age. Yeah. To really, really enjoy this area. This was the first time we went where I felt like Nora could independently complete it. She loved that she had the freedom and it was just amazing. It was really cool because, they’re in nature. You know, they’re going through bird exhibits and they’re in the natural cenotes.
Yeah. And it was beautiful to see them feel like they had that freedom and independence.
Rod: Yeah. And in terms of safety too, they were required to wear life vests there, which they supply right onsite. So that makes it, you know, even better, just knowing that they’re going to be pretty well protected when they go into the water areas too.
Another thing to consider is, throughout the entire park. And I don’t know if we were going to talk about this later, but I guess we can cover it now. They have you start off with a wristband that has a barcode in it, and similar to all the other theme parks, right? There’s photo areas. But the big difference is instead of there being a photographer there, taking your picture, all you have to do is there’s stationary area with a camera already set up where you scan the barcode on your bracelet, and then a timer goes off and it takes your picture.
Some of these are like at the end of a water slide. To get an action shot. Some of these are more scenic views, like when you’re right next to a waterfall or next to this beautiful lagoon or the beach, and you can take tons and tons of pictures throughout your day. Granted, it is going to cost you to buy them all.
If you do choose to purchase them, you get a little download link where you can get them all digitally, or I think you can print off like a couple there, here and there, a la carte, that might cost you more though. So definitely something to consider. I think making the decision to buy the photo pass or not early.
That way if you do decide to get it, then spend your time going to those photo stops and getting your pictures taken so that by the end of the day and your experience, you can get this like awesome recap of all the places that you went to in pictures that you took.
Jess: Yes. The other big, big highlight at Xcaret is their Underground Rivers.
There’s three of them, and man, they’re beautiful. Just to be able to float and wonder like, how is this even here? Some of it is through almost like these mangrove tree looking things. Some of it you’re through almost like these cliff not cliffs, but like, I don’t know. They’re like cliff walls almost.
Yeah. One part we went through, there was a cave and there were live bats in it and you’re just floating down this river. Something to note is the rivers are all extremely cold. They’re
Rod: 72 to 73 degrees year round. Yeah.
Jess: Yes. And it’s freshwater and it’s just truly an incredible experience. Something really cool about the way they have it set up.
You usually only, well, at least for us, we have only ever had time to do one in a day, because one takes you about an hour-ish, an hour-ish to float from the beginning to the end. They provide everyone life jackets and they also have a really cool system where when you load into the river, they have like the beginning of the river, you can put all of your belongings into a bag that they put a lock on, and you have the key to you carry with you.
And that is transported to the end of the river so that right when you exit your river activity that you should absolutely do your stuff will be there. You don’t have to backtrack through the park. And so, I thought that was a really, really cool feature that they had. I will say, the kids as they get older, do better with the water temperature.
When we did it one, Nora was two or three. It’s like her body wasn’t mature enough to regulate the temperature and she shivered a lot of the time and we had to exit early and there are way places to exit early, but I really enjoyed that This year we got to do the full river and it was beautiful. It, it’s truly hard to describe how beautiful and natural.
And just amazing that experience is. So, in this time we got to share it with some Florida neighbors and it was fun to see their reaction to just how cool floating the river is because it’s unlike any other river. You’ll see the water’s crystal clear and the surroundings is gorgeous. Another thing I love about Xcaret is it’s very culturally, it’s very, rich in culture.
Yes. That’s the word I’m looking for, rich in culture. Throughout the park you’ll see different dance displays, you’ll see some historic presentations to show the history of Mexico. Yeah. You’ll see traditions and I think that’s a beautiful part of Xcaret, is they really want to show you the history of Mexico.
The culture of Mexico, and they really do that. Not pushing it on you, but allowing you to stop and experience and witness some of the beautiful things that Mexico has. And they also have actual archeological sites within the Xcaret Park itself.
Rod: Yeah. There were a lot of, there’s a big Mayan presence in that entire Yucatan Peninsula area, so there’s a big preservation effort happening.
So when you’re in Xcaret, you can see these archeological sites you can read about. What their previous uses were. And that way you can learn a bit as well in addition to the shows that we’ll cover in a little bit. But after the Underground River, you get dropped off in this area pretty close to the coastline where there’s a couple of different activities there.
There’s like a cliff tide pool area where depending on the weather and the tide, then you might be able to kind of dip in the ocean water, get some beautiful views of these small little cliffs by the ocean and enjoy. It’s right next to a restaurant there. So it’s a really cool place after the river to either warm yourself back up because it’s most likely going to be sunny in that area, or to just relax a little bit more if that’s what you’re looking for.
There’s also a lagoon that’s across on the other side that leads to a more beach like sandy area. And the kids loved it there because they could do a little bit of snorkeling. There’s some fish there. There’s also some rope courses where you can kind of just get through a line of rope from one side to another.
There’s beach chairs there where you can relax, and there’s also a bar where they can serve you food and drinks too.
Jess: The lagoon itself is so calm, it’s perfect for toddlers. They can play their for hours. Yeah, it’s pretty shallow too. There’s the lagoon has no waves. It’s just a very, very calm area. So if you have little kids, that’d definitely be a spot high on my list that I’d want to make time for.
Another place it’s great for kids is there’s the Coral Reef aquarium. Our kids really like this exhibit. It’s a small aquarium, but they found it really enjoyable to walk through and see the difference, sea life of the region and exiting the aquarium there’s actually dolphins, you can see. We saw the maternity.
There was a baby dolphin there. That was really cute .
Rod: After the aquarium. So, here’s how our day went, right? We did these activities and by the time we hit the aquarium, it was like four to [5:00] PM. One of the things that we wanted to do is at the end of the day, they have a show called Xcaret Mexico Espectacular and that’s the big cultural show.
It’s two hours long. We knew that we had like an hour to an hour and a half left to do a bunch of other stuff. And we even missed some things along the way. But some of those things include a butterfly garden. So, there’s this really nice little scenic path where you can see a bunch of different butterflies.
You get information about them; you can see where their feeding grounds are. And there’s also a place where they raise and hatch them too. If you come during the right season or timing, then you might be able to see some butterflies being born. That’s right next to the Mayan Village. And the Mayan Village is an area where they recreated what a Mayan village from a few centuries ago would’ve looked like.
There’s a lot of artisans there that are selling craft goods. There’s a stage area where you can get some authentic Mayan musical performances, and it’s a really cool place to, to walk around and kind of dive into the Mayan culture as it was back then. And right next to it there’s also a cemetery where you can check out kind of the burial techniques that they use and some of the ways that they remember and cherish old loved one’s memories.
And after that, there’s also a recreation of an ancient sporting ground that the Mayans used to play different sports on. So, you can walk across that. You can read more about the different sports that they used to play back then. Some of them were pretty cool where they’re playing basketball, kind of, but instead of handling the ball with your hands, you’re hitting it with your hip, which was really cool to see on, on the following show.
Jess: Yeah. So the, the big grand finale to your day, it starts at seven. Yep. And it’s called Mexico Espectacular. And this show to me is like a do not miss type show. It’s included in your entry. You can actually pay extra and be served. While you watched the show, we did not do that, but they do have like snacks sold right outside of the large theater.
Yeah, I mean the theater is enormous guys. It is a huge, huge theater. And it’s two hours, I realize with younger kids, two hours is long. There was an intermission about 40 minutes into the show, and so the first part of the show before intermission focused mostly on the history of Mexico going from the very beginning of Mexico until today.
It did show the kids really liked seeing the old sports that used to be played. There were a lot of very incredibly thought-out performances depicting this history. And then after the intermission it went toward more into Mexico today and regional dances and music from the different regions throughout Mexico, and that was the highlight.
I would suggest that if you’re worried about not being able to last two hours, at least go to the first 40 minutes. Our kids ended up making it through the whole two hours. But you can get up and leave if you had to. But the ending of the show was truly phenomenal. It was spectacular, and so I’m so glad that we ended up staying and it’s just a beautiful, beautiful performance.
It’s amazing how much effort and love was put into the creation of this show. I want to say there’s a al over 500 performers.
Rod: Yeah, that is insane.
Jess: It is crazy and it’s so beautifully done. And I don’t know, maybe because we’re Mexican. I just truly appreciated the show and it was fun to see Santi, who’s now 10, he’s just grown so fast.
Really pick up on like the history context. There was a part where Mexico was invaded and they’re kind of depicting this through this theatrical show. And Santi kind of knew like, oh, this is what’s happening and how Mexico became a Catholic country, and all of these things are depicted in that first half.
And it was fun to see that Santi finally was like grasping these concepts.
Rod: Yeah, and there’s screens above the arena too, where before each performance you get a little paragraph of context that tells you what either the meaning of that dance is going to be, or what period of history that they’re representing.
So it, it was really cool. I think for, at a minimum, I’d say if you’re concerned about the two hours length, then at least stay for the first 45 minutes because that’ll take you from kind of the mayan and Aztec type of rituals all the way through to Spanish colonization and the mixing of culture that happened and it’s what led to the creation of modern day Mexico.
So it was really awesome. Definitely recommend that. In terms of, I’d say final thoughts about Xcaret some of the logistics are very easy. So, to get to the park, Escar itself is about, I’d say five to 10 minutes south of Playa del Carmen, which is one hour south of Cancun. So, no matter where you are, whether you’re in Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, or even in Tulum, further south.
There’s easy transportation. There’s a lot of buses that you can get or you can request a personal transportation that will pick you up and take you to the park and back. Or you could also, if you have a rental car, you can drive there and there’s free parking. So, it’s super easy to coordinate getting there.
Jess: Yes, and I highly, highly, highly recommend this be a stop on your trip. I know there’s cenotes in different places. You can go on your own, but if you have kids and a young family, I truly think this is a one stop shop that you can get a lot done on your trip where you get to see these rivers. The cenotes, the culture, the shows all in one place, and it doesn’t feel too commercialized or anything.
It’s just very, since it’s an eco-park, it’s very natural and I just think it’s worth the money. With that being said, it doesn’t include your food or drinks. But it’s a long day full of beautiful activities. Yep. The next park we’re going to talk about is another park we got to experience and we loved called Xel-Ha.
Xel-Ha is different from Xcaret in that this one includes all of your food and drinks. It’s an all-inclusive park. It includes your snorkel gear, it includes your life jackets. I mean, you pretty much show up in a swimsuit and you’re good to go for the day. That part’s beautiful. There aren’t as many activities as and it has less, I would say, of a cultural focus.
Yep. As far as performances and such. So the park isn’t open for as long of a time, so it’s opens at [8:30], restaurants close at [5:30], I believe. Park closes at six. Yep. So it’s a shorter day. But it is incredible in that you get there and you don’t have to worry about paying for anything. The beauty of Xel-Ha, Xel-Ha’s focus is more of an aquatic theme, so like most of your activities at Xel-Ha will be in the water.
They have a huge area where the freshwater meets the saltwater and it creates this amazing, almost like natural aquarium. It’s not an aquarium, it’s all natural settings. So you’re in this lagoon where it’s incredible for snorkeling, and they have tons of activities there as well. So we’ll go through some of those right now.
Rod: Yeah, we first started with the scenic lighthouse and the slides that are built upon it. So it’s this really tall, I think it was what, close to 200 steps to the top of the lighthouse where you get a scenic 360 degree view of that entire inlet and bay area where most of the water activities take place. And from there they have four slides that basically spiral down through the center of that lighthouse.
And it’s pretty exhilarating, I would say. A lot of it happens. It’s open air, except the final part where it gets kind of dark and deep.
Jess: I wasn’t expecting the drop at the end, but it was a lot of fun.
Rod: Yeah. Yeah, I think definitely recommend that one. Just to note, if you go on that, you do have to stow your valuables or your camera.
You can’t even take a GoPro there. So make sure if you do want to get the scenic picture, then you’re, there are little scanning stations similar to Xcaret, where you get the photo pass and you can scan and get your picture taken there. But that was a great way to, to start, just because you can see the entirety of the park from the top of the lighthouse, and from there on it kind of sets you on a path that’s, that takes you around that lagoon area and over to another river where you do another activity.
So after the lighthouse, there’s a floating bridge that connects one side of the lagoon to the other, and right next to that floating bridge, once you cross it, there’s what’s called the Mayan cave, which back in the Mayan days, I guess, was used by priests and the Mayan elite as a religious holy ground.
So only select few people were allowed to go into that cave because they considered it sacred and it’s really interesting. It’s a pretty short, maybe 10, 15 minutes to get in the water. Go check it out. You can take a picture there and come back out. But then you get on this trail that takes you through this jungly path.
There’s something called Chuk Kay’s swing rope. Where they tied a rope to a big branch, and you can Tarzan your way off into this little path that takes you to a grotto. Right, Jess?
Jess: Yes. So I got to do the swing rope and it was really cool. This one’s not high or scary, so I mean, even little kids can do it.
And you kind of just float down this short river to the exit. It was really a fun experience though. I liked trying to do different things on the rope. And from there we went and did some cliff jumping. My one tip, I love the cliff jumping is make sure you plug your nose . I got like the Netti pot of all experiences.
Oh. As I did not, and jumped off this cliff. But that was really exhilarating. It was fun to see some of the people up there get too nervous to go and people cheering them on. Yeah. But Rod, myself, and Santi all jumped.
Rod: Yeah. What do you think that was? Like 20 feet? I don’t know, height, something like that.
Jess: It was taller than that. It felt really tall. I don’t know.
Rod: Yeah, once you’re looking at it from a distance, you’re like, that’s not that bad. But then when you’re right next to the edge about to jump off, you second guess yourself. So tip is just try not to think about it. Try to spend the least amount of time next to the ledge and just go for it.
You’re going to be safe. You’re wearing a life vest and there’s a lifeguard there . So definitely recommend that. Out of the, out of all of us, Santi, our son was the one that was a total champ about it. He even did the peace sign to the cameras while he was jumping off and had no fear. It was, it was pretty cool to see.
Jess: He loved it. Yep. Another cool experience is they have the river journey. The river journey at Xel-Ha is different than Xcaret. It’s more open, I would say. Whereas Xcaret, you’re kind of in between these walls and in these caves, this one there, it started with like a mangrove region and then it kind of opened up into where like the larger lagoon is.
And a cool difference here is in Xel-Ha you get to go down it. You can either snorkel it or go on an included inner tube, which we opted to do the inner tube. Which is not an option at Xcaret. Got it. Right. But they had the same system where at the entrance of the river you could put your belongings in a bag with a lock and it’s transported to the very end of the river system, which just makes it so much easier.
Another huge highlight at Xel-Ha was Adventure World. And adventure world is pretty much just ropes courses and zip lines and fun activities over the water.
Rod: Yeah, and that’s also next to a children’s playground. So if you want to relax on the beach a little bit or right next to the lagoon, then you can head over to children’s world.
It’s a traditional dry park, I would say with swings and the little climbing areas. They have a smaller version of the Treehouse Trek that you have at Xcaret. So it’s definitely a smaller in scale, version of the children’s world there. But it’s still fun. It’s a good place to, maybe after lunch, let the kids burn off some energy before going on a snorkeling adventure or something like that.
And it’s right next to where the end of the river journey is, where you pick up your belongings and then the restaurants are right there too. Yeah.
Jess: There is a wet part to the children’s world, just so you know. There is like a little splash pad there. There is water slides into the lagoon and then Oh, right.
Lily pads that the kids really loved. Racing on these lily pads that I don’t think were meant for adults because I tried to race Santi and he beat me every time. Because I, my lily pads were sinking and making it
Rod: hard. What they, you have to crawl through ’em because they have a net overhead where if you’re too tall for it, then you have to kind of crawl through.
Jess: Yeah. Santi dominated me. I think one of the highlights though at Sheha is the snorkeling, the lagoon there is perfect for all these fish they have. I don’t know how to describe those snorkel. The full-face mask, the full face snorkel mask that I always made fun of, but it actually was really cool and made it really easy for Nora.
I think that she enjoyed that snorkel equipment more than any other. Yep. And it was really cute to watch her. She was really excited to snorkel and she counted all the fish. That’s like all she was focused on is counting how many fish she could see. And I think she saw 112. Yeah. And she was just like, I mean, I don’t even know if she was appreciating the beauty. It was just like she was on this count mission, but it was adorable. And it was fun because my parents went with us and so my parents snorkeled, we snorkeled, and that part was beautiful. And I think what’s nice is they have a lot of relaxation areas.
So if someone in your family isn’t as active, like my dad for instance, didn’t want to do the obstacle courses or the cliff jumping or anything. They had like a hammock zone you could relax at. No. They had these beautiful little inlets where you could almost have like a little inlet to yourself with a palapa and a chair. It was less crowded when we went, so I don’t know if they’re always empty, but there were a lot of places you could have privacy and relax and maybe just indulge in the all-inclusive bar.
Rod: Right? I would imagine some people will go to Sheha just to go eat all day. I. Just cause there’s like five restaurants, there’s a bunch of different bars there and it’s more affordable than going to Xcaret it. So I, I would definitely see the value in going to Xel-Ha to spend a day to and enjoy.
Jess: Xel-Ha is a little bit cheaper than Xcaret and includes everything.
So it is more affordable. Yep. And I think there’s a lot of beauty in Sheha. We had an amazing day there. I just think it doesn’t have as rich of a cultural show aspect. So it just depends on what your family’s looking for. If you really love aquatic activities and snorkeling and everything water.
It’s a great park for you. My number one tip for sheha would be to pack the least amount as possible. Literally water, shoes, and a swimsuit and a GoPro, or your camera or your phone in a waterproof case is all you should really be walking around with because they give you towels, life jackets, snorkel gear, and it’s just much more enjoyable when you’re not lugging stuff around.
Rod: Yeah, and there’s also lockers there where you can drop off your stuff at the very beginning so you can bring more things. Just know that when you get away from the locker area going on these walks to the Mayan cave or to the little rope that you jump off, then it might take you some time to get back to it.
Another note on the all-inclusive portion of it, while all of the attractions that we talked about are included with the fee. There’s also some that you do have to pay additionally for. So they have a Snuba there that’s like almost scuba where you wear the little masking and you can go a little bit deeper.
There’s a zip bike, which is kind of like a bike that you pedal across on the treetops and you get a nice scenic ride to go through. They have experiences and encounters with stingrays, dolphins, I think, and manatees, and there’s a bunch of other activities that do have an additional fee. So make sure that if there’s something specific that you want to do there, just double check to see if it’s included with the ticket cost or if it’s something that you have to pay extra for.
Jess: Yes, you could definitely have a jam-packed day without paying, like we had a jam packed day and we didn’t pay for any extras, but it is true. I guess all inclusive, asterisk. Yeah. The next park we’re going to talk about is completely different than the first two. I mean, totally different. It is our kids’ absolute favorite park and it’s called Xenses.
And it is so cool, and I feel like maybe I’m wrong. For our family it’s a love, love, love, but this type of park, to me, Is more of a love hate, I think is what I would expect. Like I think if I took my dad there, he wouldn’t love it as much as we did.
Rod: Yeah. I think it’s called Xenses because the entire focus of the park is really to isolate some of your senses and to really heighten, the sensory experience on different attractions.
So to give you an example, there’s. It’s not as big, I would say, as Xcaret or Xel-Ha. It’s a lot smaller in nature, but one of the attractions there is called the, let me look that up real quick. The Xensatorium, and that is this walking experience where it is pitch black. You cannot see anything at all, and you’re just walking straight through.
What you can feel are different biomes, so you’re feeling around with your hands. You’re asked to only walk forward, you’re barefoot, so you can sense that you’re starting off maybe in a beachy area. You can feel some heat along and some smells of the rainforest as you go and transition into a cave where you start feeling stone.
And it’s really unique because you just keep moving forward and you’re thinking, all right, maybe now I’m in this like weird volcanic area. Now I’m in this dark, humid cave. Now I’m back out into the jungle. I can hear things, you can use all of your other senses, except vision. And then at the very end then you have the scenic walk back through this cavern where you get to see some of like the underground formations and the cave system in Mexico.
So I thought that Xensatorium, you’re either going to love it or hate it. If you are afraid of the dark, then might not necessarily be for you. There are I think it’s like infrared cameras or some sort of mechanism where they’re tracking you. So if you do get scared or lost and want to get out, then there’s different exits where you can exit the activity.
But highly recommend that one. It was really impressive the way that they’re completely able to make it dark in there and still show you the different biomes there through all your other sense.
Jess: Yes. They also have this town that, man, I don’t even know how to describe the town, but essentially the town is flat, but like yeah,
Rod: it’s a complete optical illusion.
So now your vision is deceiving you with what everything looking at is like tilted weird.
Jess: So it feels like you’re walking uphill this whole time. And it is like, I can’t say that word on the podcast, but it’s family podcast. It’s a mind bender like, yeah, it just totally messed with my mind. I almost, I had moments where I almost felt dizzy.
Cause I’m like, my brain I think was trying to process like, why is this so confusing? My body and my brain cannot connect? What is happening? And it was so cool just to realize how our senses work together and how. The way we view the world can be just so different based on how our body interprets the world and, right.
It was interesting. It was so…
Rod: Yeah, when you look at it straight on, it’s just one street with little houses to each side of you. But when you’re looking straight down the street, it feels like you’re about to go uphill, but when you’re walking, you’re realizing that you’re not going uphill. You’re just walking straight, and that’s where your senses start, like getting a little bit messed up and thinking, whoa, what’s happening here?
So that part was really cool. At the end of the town, then you get to this area that’s all about. There’s a little zip line there called Bird Flight where you’re kind of laying down on this mesh net and you are zipping around. It’s almost like an amusement park ride, but you’re doing it all in a natural environment.
And then there’s two little, I would say kind of like lazy rivers. There’s one called Riverlaxing. Where it’s just a narrow path along this cave that you can float down. It’s all salt water so you can float down it. And then there’s also the Sludgerie, which is like a mud bath where you can rub your body all over in the mud and get the medicinal benefits of that before washing off and continuing your day.
Jess: I think it’s just really, honestly hard to describe Xenses to make you really think I should go there. But honestly, it’s, I think for kids it’s imagination that goes into it. There’s a lot of exhibits that are just different, like the water fountain’s a toilet. Yeah. And it’s like you’re like, the part of you is disgusted, but then it’s like, oh, it’s just filter water.
They have a lot of different exhibits that are really cool photo ops from like a pool that’s drained completely. So you can like, I don’t know, take some cool photos. They have a lot of optical illusion type photos there. There’s just, it’s a cool, almost like interactive museum, I would say, more than an eco park.
It has eco park aspects to it, yes. But to me, senses is more of an interactive museum for all ages. It’s. A place that lets your imagination in your mind go wild and it kind of makes you stop and think, wow, the way I interpret the world might not be right. I don’t know.
Rod: Yeah, I think the, the closest relative, I would say to this type of park in the US would be one called Meow Wolf. That’s in Santa Fe in New Mexico and it’s expanded to other places in the US. So Meow Wolf is this like sensory experience, interactive and really creative art. I think census is similar to that, but it also has ties to nature and it has a specific focus on engaging each of your different senses in their different attractions. So highly recommend that. I really, really loved Xenses. That’s a park that I do want to get back to, just because we, we haven’t been there in a while, and it’s something that our kids loved as well.
Jess: Yeah. Our kids really loved that. And my nieces just went this past week and said the same thing.
They said it was absolutely incredible. They actually preferred it to Meow Wolf, which surprised me. Oh, wow. Because Meow Wolf is a family favorite for us. And it’s just different. I still think if you only had one day to go to one park and you want to learn more about Mexico and it’s culture, would be my first pick.
But Xenses is also, we, we did Xcaret this past spring break and Santi was disappointed because he really wanted to go to Xenses instead. So I guess it just depends on your child and your family. Santis like our philosophy thinker. And so I think he loves that Xenses provokes thought and imagination and I don’t know.
It’s a cool park. It’s a cool park to later on leave and say, wow, like, what did you think of all these different experiences? Because everyone’s experiencing it in their own mind and in their own body. And so it’s interpreted differently.
Rod: Yeah. Yeah. And I think that wraps it up for this initial intro to the Xcaret parks.
We still haven’t been to Xplor. Xochimilco, which we could probably talk about a little bit, but we’re running out of time here. And Xavage or Savage, which I guess is more of a thrill park from what we’ve seen, but…
Jess: We, we plan to be back in fall and so hopefully we can hit up some of those parks and come back with a part two, right. Where we kind of give you a breakdown of each of ’em.
Rod: Yeah. And we do have a more information on some of these parks, like Xcaret and Xel-Ha on our blog, so we’ll link it to the show notes. You can head to the show notes at thejetsettingfamily.com/episode47, and there you’ll find some links to the different parks and reviews and in-depth guides on what to do if you’re there as long as well as some pictures that you can check out so you can get a better sense as to what we’re talking about.
But once again, thank you so much for listening. Always feel free to reach out to us with feedback and comments, and happy to be part of this amazing family travel community. So until next time, Happy Jetsetting!
