Cancun activities

[djjosee]

Woo Hoo ... just booked an AI in Cancun for me, the SO and my two kids (7 / 4) and was wondering what we can do should we venture off the grounds. Things like day-trips / shopping / excursions ... ala RFD. We will be down there Jan 24th and are staying at Royal Solaris, south end of the hotel strip.

Thanks

[MrBurns]

Put the kids on a kayak and point them towards the see.

There's a water park there somewhere as well in case you want to skip the first suggestion..

[djjosee]

I tried that when we went to Cuba, but the waves kept pushing them back! Perhaps a sail and a volleyball on a stick may help surpass the first set of waves.


thanks for the water park idea ... I'll look into it.

[robattoronto]

A must do - Do an excursion to Chichen Itza and check out the Mayan Pyramid. Its one of the three in the Yucatan peninsula. There is another one at Tulum and a third which I forget what the name is.

Please, don't be like all babied, ignorant, sheltered travellers who goes to a place like that and stay in the resort only. Its much safer than we all think. A drug busts in Mexico city and people think Cancun is affected. Gimme a break. Its like hearing that a takedown happened in Vancouver, so lets not take a vacation to Toronto.

And yes, I suggested that with your kids and SO in mind. If you want to rough it, there's more. I'm not sure how comfortable you are with your kids doing this - but there are ziplines, Dolphin swim, 4x4 ATV, snorkeling, swimming in the cenotes.

If you are the kind to want to go to a theme park and do some of the above, here are two. I would highly recommend doing both.

Xcaret:
http://www.xcaret.com/

A must do here - Get the upgrade package for sure. It will get you the locker, snorkel, access to the river swim, lunch buffet. Do the dolphin swim, do the seatrek, swim the river (they give you lifejackets if u don't swim anyways) and stay for the show in the evening (a must do, its free, but entertaining)

Xplor:
http://www.xplor.travel/

I loved the ziplines here, the ATV and paddling the canoe in the caves. You don't even have to bring a camera if you don't want to! They don't tell u this, but everyone gets a helmet and it has an RFID chip hidden it it. Everywhere you go during the day, you will be photographed at key strategic places (and there are tons of cameras). They tag the photo and in the end of the day, you have the option to buy it. They will give it to you in a USB key made in a carabiner. Very kewl stuff.


Anyways, I could go more and suggest lots, but I'm keeping it kids friendly. I did all of the above just a few weeks ago. So if you want this to be a trip to remember, by all means consider doing something, anything, rather than stay in boring resort. My rule of thumb has been always to do an excursion 80% of the time and 20% actual rest in the resort.

BTW buy a waterproof digital camera. The ones which can go in like 10-30 feet in water. You won't regret it. It will be a blast, memories which will stay with your kids for a lifetime.

[Deadmau555]

A must do - Do an excursion to Chichen Itza and check out the Mayan Pyramid. Its one of the three in the Yucatan peninsula. There is another one at Tulum and a third which I forget what the name is.

Please, don't be like all babied, ignorant, sheltered travellers who goes to a place like that and stay in the resort only. Its much safer than we all think. A drug busts in Mexico city and people think Cancun is affected. Gimme a break. Its like hearing that a takedown happened in Vancouver, so lets not take a vacation to Toronto.

And yes, I suggested that with your kids and SO in mind. If you want to rough it, there's more. I'm not sure how comfortable you are with your kids doing this - but there are ziplines, Dolphin swim, 4x4 ATV, snorkeling, swimming in the cenotes.

If you are the kind to want to go to a theme park and do some of the above, here are two. I would highly recommend doing both.

Xcaret:
http://www.xcaret.com/

A must do here - Get the upgrade package for sure. It will get you the locker, snorkel, access to the river swim, lunch buffet. Do the dolphin swim, do the seatrek, swim the river (they give you lifejackets if u don't swim anyways) and stay for the show in the evening (a must do, its free, but entertaining)

Xplor:
http://www.xplor.travel/

I loved the ziplines here, the ATV and paddling the canoe in the caves. You don't even have to bring a camera if you don't want to! They don't tell u this, but everyone gets a helmet and it has an RFID chip hidden it it. Everywhere you go during the day, you will be photographed at key strategic places (and there are tons of cameras). They tag the photo and in the end of the day, you have the option to buy it. They will give it to you in a USB key made in a carabiner. Very kewl stuff.


Anyways, I could go more and suggest lots, but I'm keeping it kids friendly. I did all of the above just a few weeks ago. So if you want this to be a trip to remember, by all means consider doing something, anything, rather than stay in boring resort. My rule of thumb has been always to do an excursion 80% of the time and 20% actual rest in the resort.

BTW buy a waterproof digital camera. The ones which can go in like 10-30 feet in water. You won't regret it. It will be a blast, memories which will stay with your kids for a lifetime.

Don't waste your time and money, nothing special. Kids will get bored fast, and so much walking to do.

[Poulet]

A must do - Do an excursion to Chichen Itza and check out the Mayan Pyramid. Its one of the three in the Yucatan peninsula. There is another one at Tulum and a third which I forget what the name is.

Please, don't be like all babied, ignorant, sheltered travellers who goes to a place like that and stay in the resort only. Its much safer than we all think. A drug busts in Mexico city and people think Cancun is affected. Gimme a break. Its like hearing that a takedown happened in Vancouver, so lets not take a vacation to Toronto.

And yes, I suggested that with your kids and SO in mind. If you want to rough it, there's more. I'm not sure how comfortable you are with your kids doing this - but there are ziplines, Dolphin swim, 4x4 ATV, snorkeling, swimming in the cenotes.

If you are the kind to want to go to a theme park and do some of the above, here are two. I would highly recommend doing both.

Xcaret:
http://www.xcaret.com/

A must do here - Get the upgrade package for sure. It will get you the locker, snorkel, access to the river swim, lunch buffet. Do the dolphin swim, do the seatrek, swim the river (they give you lifejackets if u don't swim anyways) and stay for the show in the evening (a must do, its free, but entertaining)

Xplor:
http://www.xplor.travel/

I loved the ziplines here, the ATV and paddling the canoe in the caves. You don't even have to bring a camera if you don't want to! They don't tell u this, but everyone gets a helmet and it has an RFID chip hidden it it. Everywhere you go during the day, you will be photographed at key strategic places (and there are tons of cameras). They tag the photo and in the end of the day, you have the option to buy it. They will give it to you in a USB key made in a carabiner. Very kewl stuff.


Anyways, I could go more and suggest lots, but I'm keeping it kids friendly. I did all of the above just a few weeks ago. So if you want this to be a trip to remember, by all means consider doing something, anything, rather than stay in boring resort. My rule of thumb has been always to do an excursion 80% of the time and 20% actual rest in the resort.

BTW buy a waterproof digital camera. The ones which can go in like 10-30 feet in water. You won't regret it. It will be a blast, memories which will stay with your kids for a lifetime.

Thank you for the suggestion.

We are 4 adults.

Where would be a good place (not too expensive) to:

- Snorkel for a while? Some sites have time restrictions...
- Best place to swim with the dolphins. Is it included with an Xcaret package?

We will be very close to Playa Del Mar.

Basically, I am looking for affordable activities around this area.

Thanks

[dutchca]

Chichen Itza is way too much for a 4 and 7 year old. It is a minimum 12 hour day.

Rent a car and go to Tulum. Probably 1.5 hour drive max.

Try and reasearch whatever you decide to do before hand and figure out how to do it on yor own - no need to pay very high resort prices to do something that really shouldn't cost as much as they do.

Example - rent a car for $40, pay 30 pesos each to get into the Tulum park and $20 in gas and you have an excursion for the whole family for less than the price of one person through the resort.

[Poulet]

Are car rental expensive in this area or should we book online? Is a canadian permit valid? Is Tulum similar to Coba?

[will_cancun]

Woo Hoo ... just booked an AI in Cancun for me, the SO and my two kids (7 / 4) and was wondering what we can do should we venture off the grounds. Things like day-trips / shopping / excursions ... ala RFD. We will be down there Jan 24th and are staying at Royal Solaris, south end of the hotel strip.

Thanks

For adults and also for kids, definitely if you are willing to spend some money, but worth every cent, you have to swim with dolphins. My kids love it and they ask me each year to take them at least one time at the year to interact with them.

I can recommend to you to book it directly with the dolphins company so you can get better deals, if you make your reservation with the tour agencies or directly with your hotel concierge, it is going to be more expensive.

You can book thru www.dolphinsrivieramaya.com or www.delphinusworld.com

There are other companies, but did not like the service. I did the activity with Dolphinaris, but the only thing I did not like is that you swim with the dolphins in a pool. And in Delphinusworld you swim in natural locations, beside the sea. No danger at all!!

Xcaret and Xplore are fun too, but too tire for kids, and in some moments they might find it bored because is more a culture or sport thing.

There is another place call crocozoo, or you can visit Tulum, is a beautiful place. Near there are some peaceful beaches for the kids.

These are my 2 cents

[bmw_xperience]

ATV tour in the jungle.. u get a lot of air!

scuba/snorkel in the fresh water caverns! (buy underwater camera for sure!)

snorkel on turtle beach! (I swam with 2 giant sea turtles)

best of all.. do nothing while tanning, drink and smoke a big cigar!

[will_cancun]

ATV tour in the jungle.. u get a lot of air!

scuba/snorkel in the fresh water caverns! (buy underwater camera for sure!)

snorkel on turtle beach! (I swam with 2 giant sea turtles)

best of all.. do nothing while tanning, drink and smoke a big cigar!

you are totally correct about the cigar and drink!! jejeje

[tyrrell]

How far is Chichen Itza from Cancun?

Is it worth it to take a bus or rent a car? How much/how easy is it to rent a car?

Should you explore on your own, or take one of those guided bus tours?

How long a day is it?

Is there food/restaurants nearby/onsite, or should you pack a lunch?

Thanks

[shoppingmama]

I would have to agree, any of the ruins would be too much for a 7 & 4 year old...while very interesting to see it's too much. We had a wonderful time at Xel-Ha with our kids and Hidden Worlds(ziplining, sky cycle, cenotes). We also had a wonderful experience at The Jungle Place, it's a spider monkey habitat. We wanted to try XPlor, but they were closed on Sundays. We rented a car in Playa Del Carmen for $30/day...a little scary driving on the roads but we had no problems. We always stay in the Mayan Riviera so I'm not sure how the travelling is from your hotel, check it out before. Have Fun!

[djjosee]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I will be doing a day trip to Isla Mujeres and renting a golf cart for the day. Sounds fun and relaxing all at the same time.

The ruins may be a bit of a pain with the 7 and 4 year olds.

Any suggestions on shopping? Worth going to the market?

[ethanoreo]

Puerto Morales is one of the largest reefs in the world. You can take a boat out with a guide & equipment for a few hours in the water for like <$20 pp.