A G: Cancun - Day 2 Xcaret, Mexico by Aaron

Xcaret

~Aaron

Xcaret, a park built beside the ocean

Come explore nature and Mayan culture

Flying like a bird

At the entrance, birds greeting

Xcaret is a majestic paradise! It is an eco-friendly park built according to nature. It has delicious food, awesome activities, and even showcases a few of the traditional Mayan dances. The long underground river swim is a must-do. That is the reason brought us here. It has temples as well as an evening show about Mexican history. The open water snorkeling made our day brighter. I wish I could go here another time.

Put on a lifejacket, flipper and google,

I am ready to swim

In a cave

The cenotes (underground river) together with the sinkholes form the swim trail across the park. Can you guess how long it was? It was 2,100 feet long! Our underground river swim was very refreshing. It was in brackish water, which is slightly salty water, because of its location right beside the sea. We all had to wear pink life jackets, since it was mandatory and the only available color was pink. My family passed many emergency exits, but we never exited until the end. The water was cold at first, but we got used to it and it felt warmer. Lots of surprises and mysteries were along the way, the Mayan temples, the stone bridge, the sinkholes, the dark tunnels and the sunlit zone. At the end, my family discovered there wasn't just one route to the finish, there were 4! 2 of them ran through mangrove roots, but all of them had one thing in common, beautiful fish. The river swim was very exciting.

A happy swim

Won't be exiting now

Swam under

mangrove roots

A dark underground river swim

Passing under a bridge

A dark section in the swim

Mangrove roots

The food at Xcaret uses high quality techniques and ingredients to make some of the famous Mexican cuisine. Their Mexican food restaurants let you enjoy traditional dishes from all corners of the country, sea and land of Mexico. They will delight your senses through flavors, aromas, scents and colors. The Xcaret food is some of the most delicious food I've ever tasted! There are a total of 5 restaurants. We chose the best one, the seafood restaurant, #43 on the map. It is located right beside the Caribbean Sea.

At a pond

Snorkeling

Snorkeling by the ocean in Xcaret was exhilarating. We saw a few stingrays, and one even passed right under me! They are huge with a span of about my arm span! At first, we were all nervous. This was the first time we snorkeled in open water. I got water in my tube every now and then. Many pretty fish ranging from the size of my thumb to the size of my forearm swam by us. The snorkeling was very amazing.

A school of fish

Some roots

The boat moved towards a cave, but will take a sharp left

On the boat

View of the river

The boat we rode while in Xcaret and crossing a small rope bridge were all amazing activities. The boat ride, "Paradise River", was very peaceful. However, the only part I didn't like was when we crossed the peccary area, which was super stinky.

Beautiful and peaceful boat route

boat riding

Beautiful sunset

People crossing the rope bridge

At the beach

playing with water

We also went to a small rope bridge at the bay. It was short, but many people tried to sink others crossing the bridge. Of course, it wasn't the only way to the other side; you can just swim to cross it. Daddy and I tried to cross the rope bridge. I fell off in the middle, but Daddy was strong enough to make it to the other end. My little brother wasn't tall enough, so he simply chose tubing in the water. I joined him later and enjoyed the lovely sunset. This was a very relaxing thing we liked.

I'm tubing!

Tubing with palm trees in the background

In front of the show center

Torches lit up for

the night show

The evening show, Xcaret Mexico Espectacular, is a fabulous way to end the day. Even if we missed out on all the Mayan ceremonies done at Xcaret, we can still view them all at this wonderful show. A Mayan ball game marks the beginning of the show. In the time of the Mayas, only the rich people could view these games. A Mayan ceremony for fertility is also done during this show. This fantastic evening show displays Mexican culture and history while providing a musical journey, from the Mayan era, to European settlers, to the independence of Mexico, and to all people from the world peacefully live together.

Mayan ball game

Mayan people

Mexican dance

The spinning ropes

The Mayan ball court

Singing

The show

End of the night show

our day ended perfectly

The trip to Xcaret was unforgettable. We ate lots of delicious food. Along the way, we swam across the park through the underground river, discovered many colorful fish through snorkeling at the open water. Best of all, the evening show was very exciting and can end your day with a bang! This was one great trip to take.