XCARET - COMPLETE GUIDE to planning THE BEST DAY at XCARET PARK! 🔥 (MEXICO ESPECTACULAR)

Hola! Bienvenidos! Welcome to beautiful Xcaret! Hola, buenos dias, good morning country collectors. We are so excited today. We are here at Xcaret Park, the most famous attraction here in the Riviera Maya. Some people even call it the Disney of Mexico. This eco park spans over 250 acres with over 50 attractions. They have underground rivers, cultural experiences, wildlife, and so much more. Throughout the video we're going to share some tips and tricks so you can maximize your time and maybe save a few bucks when you come here. It's our first time here and we are so excited. Let's get started. Welcome to Xcaret. Don't forget to bring your license for everyone coming and the credit card you paid with. Let's head in. What's flamingoing on? Right when you enter the park on the left are these gorgeous flamingos. Look at them. Flamingo fight. Quick Xcaret tip. The performance times can change from day to day. When you get here find one of these sign boards, snap a quick photo with your phone, and then you have the schedule with you for the whole day. Yesterday we did some research online and looked at the park map so we could maximize our time here today. People recommended to group water activities and land activities so you don't have to change multiple times a day. We are going to start with water activities and that is going to be right here at the river's entrance and that is going to traverse us all the way across the park here where the other water activities are. So let's head to the river. And you are not going to see any hipsters around here because it's a little bit too mainstream. You might be wondering what you're going to do with your stuff while you're floating down this beautiful river. Well they offer you these very cool bags free of charge. You put your stuff inside, they zip it up, put a lock on it, give you the key, and at the end you get all your stuff back nice and dry. If i lose the key it's $20 to replace it so make sure you hold on to it. I'm going to go grab a life jacket. Hola! Bien, gracias. He's extra sexy. Si. Muy guapo. Safety first guys. Remember what I always say. We are descending down to the underground rivers here at Xcaret. They have three different ones. Let's spin this. This is going to make the decision for us. Oh! Rio Azul baby! Check this out. We would recommend bringing water shoes. The walk down here can be a little bit rough and slippery on those tootsies. We've heard Rio Azul is the most busy river and we can attest to that. There are a lot of people here but it's also supposed to be one of the most beautiful. Let's jump in. This is incredible. It is so beautiful. These tall walls covered in moss. They really just make it feel so like we're out in the jungle. So all along the river there are these exit points. It does get a little dark. Your children might get a little scared or you might get tired. So you can exit the river here. It is over 600 yards long and takes about 40 minutes to an hour. They do have these rope strips that you can pull yourself along with. They also have guardavidas or lifeguards all along the route as well in case you get in trouble. You'll find these photo points throughout the park. If you purchase a photo package you can scan your wristband right here. And then the camera right there takes a photo for you. Very cool. What a great way to start your day here. It is seriously so refreshing. It was a little busy right at the start there but it's always busy at the start. Now that it's thinned out it really does feel so special, so quiet. You can hear the waterfalls. It's beautiful. Look here. It's a mangrove. This is so gorgeous. You can hear the bugs, the cicadas. Look at it. I can't believe they have actual mangroves in this eco park. I'm so impressed. The river actually flows out to the sea. This is an active ecosystem and these mangroves are the real deal. That was so much fun. We are at the end of the river right now. We are going to hop out but continue our water activities. Thanks for coming with us. Don't forget to like, comment and hit that subscribe button. It definitely gets a little busy at the end because all three rivers merge together. We are going to turn in our life vests and continue these water activities. We are going to head to the natural pool. Don't forget to pick up your bag. Hopefully you still have your key. Cool. Let's keep this party going. After swimming or pulling yourself through the rivers you are bound to be a little bit tired. At the end is the beach where they have all of these wonderful hammocks. Look where Adam is. These are so nice. You have to come and check these out. We could spend the whole day here relaxing but we have to keep going. We are going to go jump in some natural pools. Come with us. We have only done one activity here and this park is already mind blown. This is awesome. We are at Red 39 at the natural pools. Unfortunately because of the sargassum seaweed they are not open right now. But it looks like they are probably going to open up later because they are taking huge bags of seaweed out as we speak. I just asked the guys cleaning up the seaweed if they are going to be open later and they said yes. As soon as all the seaweed is cleared out they open it up for everyone to be able to go in. There are also a few restaurants in the area here as well that look beautiful overlooking the ocean. It's a stunning place. Now that's what I call a hammock. Included in our plus admission is one buffet lunch with unlimited drinks but only while you are eating. If you get a little bit hungry or thirsty there are tiendas all over the park that sell drinks and snacks. A little tip for you. You are allowed to bring in your own water. So we each brought in one liter that will save us a few bucks. We are here. We are now going to head on the green to the snorkeling inlet. So come with us. Wow. Not sure where this is taking us but it looks pretty beautiful. Look at this. You can hang out here in this inlet all day. So Xcaret actually means small inlet and back in the day like thousands of years ago when the Mayans were here it's where the merchants came in and they traded goods. A lot of history here. Remember this is a natural eco park so the water is not a swimming pool. So sometimes it's going to be a little more green or a little more clear based on how much algae is in the ocean. You're probably wondering how much does it cost. Well they have three options. There is a basic, plus and total. The basic is $125. We went for the plus admission which includes the basic, all the activities, plus a lunch buffet, access to the plus facilities and snorkel equipment. You can go one step higher which is the total which costs you over $200 but includes one premier activity such as the jet boat, sea trek or snuba. If you book one to two weeks ahead you can get 10% off and three plus weeks ahead 15% off. We are kind of procrastinators so we didn't book until yesterday but you know me. I love my deals so I went online and found the live chat button on the Xcaret website. I clicked that, spoke to a representative, asked if we could get 10% off and they sent me a quote with 15% off. So we actually only paid $131 for the plus package which is such a good deal. Definitely try that. Now that you know this information, let's keep going. Wow, this beach is stunning. There's so much to do here and we have just started. Let's continue. We're going to go grab our snorkel gear that is included with our plus admission and check out the water. Follow the green brick road. Follow the green brick road. We are at green 30. Wow, this looks awesome. It's busy and I know some people online were like, oh it wasn't worth it. The park is too busy but this is literally one of the most famous attractions in Mexico. Of course it's going to be busy because it is that good. This is where you pick up your snorkeling equipment. With our plus package, it's included. If you didn't get the package, it's $11 USD. He told us this was a gift, the snorkel, so we can take that home with us. But we have to bring back the mask or you have to pay $25. They also have life jackets here if you need to use them while you're snorkeling or swimming around. This place got it all. They really do. We love having a clear mask so we always bring some anti-fog with us. You can purchase this online. We'll leave a link in the description below. Nothing is worse than having a fogged up mask when you're trying to look at the beautiful ocean. Well, let's go in. As you can see, it is a little rocky and they can get slippery. So it might be wise to wear water shoes here. We've noticed a lot of people are wearing them. It's a little cold. These snorkels are kind of terrible, but I appreciate the steps they're taking for COVID safety. If you want a recommendation for a great travel snorkel, we'll also leave that down in the description below. Let's go. We weren't expecting too much from this snorkeling area, but it's actually been pretty good. We've seen over 10 different species of fish. Crabs. Some clams and... Wait, are you saying I'm a crab? I was going to say and a cute little cuttlefish. But I take it back. No, I don't. She's still a cute little cuttlefish. So we definitely recommend coming here and going snorkeling. Now we're going to go change, get out of our wet clothes and do our land-based activities. We're going to head first to the aquarium. Oh, I love a good aquarium. It's supposed to be fantastic. Come along with us. If you're like me, you like coming prepared. So I want to show you what I think is important for you to bring here to the park. First things first, get some water. You're allowed to bring in your own water, so that'll save you some money and you need to remember to hydrate. Also, sunglasses and your country collector hat. Bring your GoPros and your phones. Make sure you bring a case for your phone to protect it from the water. I also recommend wearing a rash vest or getting ReefSafe sunblock. They don't allow any other sunblock. Bring your own towel. A bag to keep all of your wet belongings in, to keep them separate from your dry goods. Last but not least, the most important, you need to have dry clothes to change into. So now we're going to go hit the showers and change. We'll be back in a bag. Refreshed and ready to keep on going. We are now going to head to the blue zone where the aquarium and the archaeological ruins are. We would love for you to come with us. Wow, Adam, what's that? It is a giant tortuga. This thing is huge. Wow. Amazing. Oh wow, they're over there too. On the way to the aquarium, you're going to pass these tanks that are filled with baby turtles. They are so cute. Another really awesome thing about this park is their color coding system. You saw on the map they have different zones and each one has a different color. And when you're walking around the park, they have these walkways you can see right here that are colored as well. So you can just follow the blue to the blue areas and the greens to the green areas. So it makes it hard to get lost. Follow the blue brick road. Look at this. We are just surrounded by nature. I love that this park is set up in a very natural way. They really went to great lengths to harmonize with nature here. And you can really feel it with every step you take. This rocks. We have made it to Blue 26, the aquarium. Let's head in. Wow. I know we keep saying wow, but that aquarium went very in-depth. And it wasn't that big, but it gave you so much information about the coral reef, about the mangroves, about the animals that live on it. It's very educational. We saw a bunch of kids in there who were just like smiling and jumping and so excited. And that just makes my heart feel so full. Are you talking about me? Yeah, it was you. So let's keep going. Just found out that after you pay full price for a day pass, you can come back within six days and do the same pass for half price. That is so cool. And I think it's something we might have to do because there is so much stuff to do here. Here we are at Blue 25. This is the archaeological site here. These ruins are authentic from when the Mayans were here over a thousand years ago. The port that we were swimming in earlier today was the place where people would come from as far as Guatemala to trade things like honey, beeswax, turtle shells, copal, obsidian, and slaves. The slaves were one of their main imports because they needed their hands to make the cacao, which was the main export of the region. So we just left the archaeological zone. We're going to come over here and check out this little fella. I believe the name is tapir. After that, we are then going to head back down the black to La Cochina because we are hungry. I'm not sure if I'm saying it correctly, but the tapir, this animal is so cute. And I just read that it's actually the largest land mammal in the Mexican and Central American rainforest. It has this funny little snout. Probably says the same thing about me. I know looking at that piece of meat probably got Adam a lot more hungry. I would have roasted me some tapir with some chipotle and habanero. Tapir? What is it, French? Who knows tapir? Let's go get some grub. We've heard the Mexican restaurant is the best here. La Cochina Mexicana. There might be a little bit of a line. It's about 1.30pm, so this is prime time for lunch. So just keep that in mind. We've heard it dies down a bit after 2pm. With our plus admission, there is a buffet included. You also get unlimited non-alcoholic beverages and one alcoholic beverage. If you were to just rock up and buy the buffet, it is $35. So if that is what you want to do, we would recommend just purchasing the plus admission because you're going to be saving some money there. They did not lie. This place is so cool. It has that authentic Mexico feeling. They're playing beautiful music. They have every kind of taco you can imagine. Heidi just went and got some roasted meats. They brought us as many drinks as we wanted. I am so excited and I cannot wait to jump in. You know I love unlimited drinks. I've already had three non-alcoholic beverages, mind you. What number taco is that? Hey, who's counting? But if you are, this is number ocho. It's all you can eat. You've got to get your money's worth. And these are some delicious tacos. It's not a buffet if you don't end it with some dessert. And they have a lot of good looking stuff. You know he got one of everything in the dessert line. That's right, you know me. Wow, I am so stuffed right now and could totally use a nap. No time for napping, people. We have too much fun to have. Yeah, we're going to head over to the white zone. That's where the aviary is, the butterfly pavilion and the Mayan village. Oh, I love mariposas. So come with us. We're down here in the caves, I guess. It's so cool. It's so cool. It's very dark. We're a little lost, but this is a lot of fun. And look at these trees that they have out here. Look at the root system. That's incredible. You guys, this is so cool. We were just in the caves here and we're turning. Look what it is. It's the river from this morning. It looks even more beautiful from up here. Look at that. Look at the rainbow. That is so beautiful. This is incredible. I am very happy. Wow, this reminds me of Indiana Jones mixed with Jurassic Park, mixed with Lara Croft. It's so cool. We are still following the white signs to the aviary and the butterfly pavilion. One of my most favorite words in Spanish is mariposa, and that means butterfly. Isn't that pretty? If you grew up watching Legends of the Hidden Temple, that show was my jam, and this is definitely giving me those vibes. You can see this over here. I feel like a guy is going to run out of there and steal your coins. We just made it to White 48, the aviary. Adam and I both love birds, and I'm excited to see what kind of different species they have. Let's head on in. Hey, are you guys busy? I'm going to call you later. Something that's really cool is that Ixcaret has actually gone to great lengths to help restore these birds in the wild. They've actually increased the population by over 90% through the incubation of eggs that they do here and then spreading them around the wild all over Mexico. Wow, that's incredible. This is so impressive, again. Yeah, another amazing attraction here. This aviary, there are waterfalls. The whole thing is a waterfall. Suspended bridges, species of birds ranging from endangered to common. They're just flying, buzzing around our heads. It's like we're in a dreamland. Something really cool in the park here, you can see this behind me. If you talk into it, you can have somebody go to the other end and they can hear you. I'm not sure how it works, maybe magic. This place seems like it's full of it. It's magical. So he is over on the other side right now. I'm going to say hi to him. Hi, Adam. Hello. Oh, my God. This is crazy. How does this work? This is a parabola, which allows us to talk to you behind this machine. This is so cool. Well, come join me. We're ready to continue. See you soon. You can size yourself up to see what kind of bird you are with your wingspan. I think I'm probably going to be in the yellow. Let's see. I'm a vulture. A vulture. That's awesome. Wow, look at that trick. Someone's grouchy. Wow. Can I say wow again? I'm sorry. Thank you again so much for coming with us today. We're having such a wonderful time, mostly because you're here with us. There are so many levels to this aviary. We keep going around and around. I have no idea where we're going to end up, but I can't wait. It's so cool. I know. We just left the aviary, and I see a couple butterflies. I wonder what this is. Oh, my goodness. I believe this is the stained glass pavilion. That's incredible. Look at the butterflies and all the flowers. This morning, we took the River Azul. If you take the River Maya, you actually go underneath this incredible stained glass right here. Your time as a caterpillar has expired. Your wings are ready. I love that. Here we go. Are you ready? Look at all of these butterflies. That was beautiful. Did you know butterflies can only see in three colors? Yellow, red, and green? No, I didn't. Did you know butterflies have their sense of taste in their feet? Imagine if that was where our sense of taste was. That little pathway was so cool. This whole place is so cool. Look at this. We can almost touch the top of the butterfly pavilion. What's this weird stuff? I can touch it. Shorty. Yet again, another amazing attraction here. When you're in the butterfly pavilion, definitely come up the steps. There are way more in the top area. Look, here's somebody just hanging out. Oh, another guy. Hey, hello. Look how well he blends in with the surroundings. That's so cool. I'm blown away. Did you know the fastest speed of a butterfly is 20 kilometers per hour? That is 12 miles an hour. It's way faster than I can go. Way faster. That's five minute miles. That's like the best runner on your high school cross country team. Being beat by a mariposa. They are incredible creatures. Time to head back to the Pueblo to check out some more of this beautiful Mexican culture. Come with us. Right outside the butterfly pavilion, you'll run into White 51. This is the Mayan village where you can do a bunch of workshops and learn a lot more about the Mayan culture. You can learn how to work leather, make bracelets. You can go down there and learn about beekeeping. They have coconut workshops. They have a cacao workshop where you learn how to process cacao. It's all very cool. We don't have a ton of time today, so we're not going to be able to do it. But we do recommend you trying at least one. They take about 45 minutes each. Adam, where are you? Oh, there you are. What are you doing? Oh, you know, I'm just Mayan around. Oh my God. Who wants him? You can take him. And look what we found. Water refilling station. So make sure you bring a reusable bottle because you can refill water. We weren't sure if they were going to have these or not. I couldn't find any information of it online. Bring a reusable one. Save plastic. And save some money. Very cool. We are now down here at White 46. Kind of sounds like a football call, right? White 46. White 46. This is the cemetery or a simulated cemetery. It is such a beautiful place to come and try and understand this part of the Mexican culture. Unlike so many other cultures in the world, in Mexico, death is not an end. It's a beginning. So much here has meanings. They have seven levels for the seven days of the week. They have 365 graves, one day for each year. And they have a staircase of 52 steps that you can climb to symbolize each week in the year. So let's head up and go check out the cemetery and the ground. At the top of the cemetery are these four beautiful Mayan trees called Ceiba. They represent the four cardinal points of the compass. And the top of them is the heavens. The middle part here is where we are right now. And the roots are the underworld where the graveyard is. I just feel like back home when you go into a cemetery and think of a cemetery. You know, it's scary and or sad. And here it's colorful and it just brings you joy actually. And knowing that there is something more to life after death. That your soul continues on. The entire grave is covered in Pacifico, Victoria and Coronas. He's got a little place with ice for a beer right there. And a total beer covered cross. We're heading down into the Crypt of Sighs. It is the main crypt here. As non-Mexicans, we've learned so much about their culture in these last couple months being here. And it's honestly one of the most beautiful. I agree. I think it's one of the most beautiful cultures that I've ever experienced. And really had no idea about at all. And today, here, it really has driven it home. Because it just brings it all to life. And you can really experience it first hand. It is beautiful and we cannot recommend it more. Yeah, so let's shake these sappy emotions off. Hey, that was the sound of the animal we're going to see right now. Oh, as a matter of fact, it was. Yeah, we're going to a show right now. So come with us. We're going to sit down for a little bit, relax. And watch some culture unfold before our eyes. It's going to be horse-tastic. We'll see you there. I think this is my favorite sign of the day. Delicious warm bread. Rico pan calientito. We were just hanging out outside the cemetery. And someone said, hey, I know you guys. And Emperor Christopher from YouTube. Thanks for subscribing. Stopped us and we chatted for a bit. It's always so nice to see our subscribers, our friends, other country collectors in the wild. So if you ever see us, stop us, say hi. We would love to meet you. Please, we love to meet our family. Let's continue on. As I told you earlier yesterday, I made a loose plan of what I wanted to do today and the timetable. And we have actually stayed on track the entire day. I know we've been running a little bit. But I think it's a pretty good itinerary. I think it's a great itinerary. It obviously doesn't do everything the park has to offer. I feel like that would be impossible to all squeeze into one day. But we fit some really great highlights. And we're not even done yet. Yeah, so I will link it in the description below. So you can plan your day around it if you would like. Here we are at the show. Oh my gosh, we just sat down for the first time today. It has gotten very hot. Es mucho calor. Wow, you got it right. I know, I always get my picante color and caliente is confused. It's hot, hot, and hot. So we're sitting down here waiting for the first show. And we're very excited. We hope you are too. Listening to some harp music. It's beautiful and we're in the shade. I am so happy. Uno, dos, tres. Viva Mexico! We are performing a world movement by our horses. And everything is done with Polynesian rhythm. The horse is showing you his Spanish steps. Now they're going to do lassoing. Yes! How incredible. The amount of work that must go into not only the horses but the humans. To be able to have that much control and do those tricks is just beautiful. And it literally brought a tear to my eye. They told the story of the Mexican countryside through the dance between the caballero and the caballo. And it was just fantastic. We are now heading to Orange 62 to the scenic tower to get a 360 degree view of the park. Cannot wait to check this out. We missed it by 10 minutes. If you want to do it, they close at 5.15. So make sure you're here beforehand. We're going to continue back into town and check out a few more things. Come with us. You may be wondering what were all those guys doing up there in the forest. They are getting ready for the Mexico Espectacular. The grand show here. Every night there are two show times. So check the schedule when you get in the park. Tonight it's at 6 and 7.45. We're going to go to the later show at 7.45. But basically it's a culmination of Mexico's culture through dance and music. And we are so excited to show you. But we still have some more time to explore the park. So let's continue on. Since it was a little hot earlier, we are now going to go check out the wildlife. The sun is going down, so I'm sure they are out to play. Let's go see what they're up to. You cannot eat that whole coconut. Oh yeah, just chilling out in the bathtub. Right here we see a coati, which is a very funny animal here in Mexico. We love it. It's kind of a mix between a lemur and a raccoon. We found a few more archaeological sites here at Black 16 and Black 17. And these are pretty impressive as well. If you're wondering where you can get this sweet merchandise, we have a store. And I'll link the website in the description below. After a long day, we've decided we are going to head back to the beach and catch the sunset. Sit down, put our feet in the sand. How does that sound to you? Great. Let's go down to the beach and check it out. It is way less crowded than earlier and a lot less hot. It's a great time to be here. Another wonderful thing that comes along with your bracelet, in Cancun they have a viewing tower that's in the hotel zone. For the next six days after you come here, bringing your bracelet there gets you a free trip up to the top where you can see a spectacular view of all of Cancun. We are pooped, so we are going to sit down and relax. I think we all deserve that after this jam-packed, fun-filled day. So I think this is a good time to say goodbye to you and thank you all so so much for coming with us today. It would have been nowhere near as much fun without you being here with us. If you like this video, give us a big thumbs up, comment and subscribe. And don't forget to bling bling bling the bell. And don't worry, we are still going to that final Mexico Espectacular show. It's actually a combination of all of the shows that they put on and it's something that you are not going to want to miss. We're going to head down about a half an hour early to get seats down on the lower level. Heat rises, so the higher up you are, the hotter it's going to be. But thanks again so so much. Enjoy the show and we'll see you next time. Adios. I know we said goodbye, but Adam and I were just talking and we thought you might enjoy a little bit of this insider input. I asked him if he would have changed anything about the day. I think I might have changed a couple things. In the beginning, I had a great time on the river. I probably would have gone with the River Maya instead of the River Azul. You get to come out in the mangroves at the end of the River Maya, as well as see that beautiful stained glass that we showed you later on in the day from the river. So that would have been really spectacular. Are you still happy that we did the water activities in the morning? Oh, absolutely. I do think that maybe it would have been a little less crowded in the afternoon, but it really didn't take away from the experience at all. We were just in a little bit of a rush because we wanted to get everything in so we could show you as much as possible. Another great thing, don't forget to bring water. They said you couldn't bring snacks with you either, but nobody checked our bags. And we saw other people eating snacks as well. So if you want to save a couple bucks, you want to save a couple bucks. If you want to save a couple of bucks, bring a couple of granola bars, maybe a little packet of cookies so that you can have some snacks throughout the day. I might have also gone to lunch either a little bit earlier or a little bit later. We got there at the peak time. So 1.30 is the busiest time at all of the buffets. So you're going to lose time in the park because you have to wait in line to get the food. Because of COVID, you can't serve yourself. So you actually have to wait for them to serve you. And, you know, I think we did a lot of stuff and I really enjoyed it. But if I came back, I would definitely do a couple of those Mayan classes. It's so interesting, their whole culture. I would have loved to have done a leatherworking class or checked out the bees or maybe learned how to weave something. I don't know. Yeah, and if you only have one day to come experience it here, that's great. But if you have two, I would definitely recommend doing two. Like we said, it's over 250 acres with 50 activities. There is so much to do. We ran around like chickens with our heads cut off today. Don't forget, the second day is half price. So why not come back if you're going to come back within six days and really just take your time and do everything. Right. Well, I hope you enjoyed a little bit of our input and got maybe a little more information. If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments. We're always here for you. Thanks again. And enjoy the show. Unbelievable.