We went in Xcaret during the second week of March 2006. Do not do this through any company, it would not be worth the cost. We caught a bus, and paid for the tickets at the entrance.

First the good stuff: Most everything was open. We saw everything that we wanted to. The dolphin swim was already booked, but I was not going to pay to do that anyways. They were telling people who wanted to swim with dolphins to make their reservations for the next couple of days, and they would waive the entrance fee the second time. The butterfly exhibit was great. The Mayan shows were also fantastic. The underground river was good. Saw fish, and it was nice to get out of the heat. The food was good.

The bad stuff: Signage ----. Their map was not that great either. It is a big place, and would be easier to get around if those two issues were better. The thing that really ticked me off was they nickel and dimed you to death. We payed the entrance fee, and we also payed the extra $20 bucks for the lunch and the snorkel gear. Then you have to pay for a locker, understandable, but then you have to deposit money for the locker. We did not bring sunscreen as it says only their sunscreen is allowed. We payed $15 for their small tube of sunscreen that was not waterproof. No one else did this, everyone else we saw brought their own sunscreen. Not to be rebels, but if we had known they did not enforce their own rules, and that their sunscreen was expensive and sucked, we would have used our own. ALso they wanted either a deposit or an ID for the snorkel equipment, which they did not tell us at the entrance (waited until we were through the snorkel line). I had to go back and forth to our locker 4 or 5 times for all the little things that are not explained well.

The animals are pretty much in zoo conditions, some exhibits were better than others.

The ruins were not much to talk about, but like I said the Mayan shows were excellent.

Not sure if this place is still recovering from hurricane or not, but it was pretty sad. My husband and I arrived at XCarat shortly after the park had opened only to find that the dolphin encounter was sold out for the day. This was our main reason for visiting this overpriced attraction. Disappointed, we went on and tried to make the best out of the day only to be faced with exibits worst than the next. Many things were closed for construction (again not sure if it was because of the hurricane which I can understand), but even the things that were open were not worth trying to making sense of the very poorly drawn map to find them. You are better off trying to follow the pictures on the posts through out the park. There were hardly any animals in the exibits. Only one or two in each. The fish pools were so black, if there were any fish in them, they were not doing too good. The mayan village was nothing more than a bunch of huts with handmade items for you to buy (a gift shop basicly). The bee farm was a bunch of logs that I think had bees inside. The butterfly farm was a sauna. It was the last thing that we were able to find and after being in the heat all day, we could not take it. We walked through and did not really see too many butterflies, I expected them to be all over. The river boat ride was pathetic, you basicly treck through the woods for 45 minutes trying to find the thing and then take a 10 min boat ride to stare at walls. After this we not even bother with the natural river. Along the way to the entrance we could peak into it and saw no fish and the caves did not look too impressive. We also heard several people in the river wondering where it ended because they wanted to get out because they were bored.

There are a few good things I can say about this place - the restaurant was pretty good (we had the taco plate for 2), the seaturtles were impressive (some of them were HUGE), and the church and memorial lent itself to some pretty cool photos. I was also glad that we rented a car and was able to do this place at our leisure. Once we had enough, we could leave rather than wait for a tour to finish. It also cut the cost - we paid $60 US pp instead of the $150US pp it would have been if we booked a tour and to me $60 pp is still too much for what we saw (or didn't see).

I went to Xcaret on February 7, 2006. It cost $59.00 for admission. The park was sparkling clean and absolutely wonderful. The day was overcast and around 24 degrees C. The underground river was crystal clear and, as it was relatively cool, all the animals were active. This park involves a great deal of walking. Whenever I am in Mexico the thing I enjoy the most is walking and looking at the plants and flowers. This park had an abundance of both. I really enjoyed the green houses where they grow the exotic flowers for the park. I thought the show was fantastic. I would recommend anyone going to this park pack their own lunch and bring lots of drinks and water. The food at the park is expensive and not worth eating. I would recommend anyone in this area of Mexico who enjoy seeing the jungle go to this park. But be aware this is not like a zoo or a theme park in Canada or the States. It's more like a nature hike.

Myself & my girlfriend visited Xcaret whilst vacationing at Playa del Carmen & we both agreed that it was a perfect excursion. Only a short taxi ride away from our hotel (and approx 1 hour from Cancun) we simply avoided all the travel-company trips & paid at the gate. Value for money was excellent.

Xcaret is very hard to categorise. It's definitely not a theme park, water park or zoo but does have "attractions" that you'd find at all three. Quite simply you can spend a full day here strolling between the various points of interest & whilst it was mainly the night-time show & underground river that left us with the greatest memories there are plenty of different and unique sights to check out.

There are numerous animal exhibits to take a look at although the majority are pretty basic and certainly not in the same league as any major zoo. Still nice enough to take a look at as you stroll through the tropical pathways.

There are no rides here of such so if you're expecting a theme park you'll be dissapointed. You only have to take a look at any promotional information however to learn that Xcaret doesn't claim to be Mexico's version of Disneyland ! Me & my partner really enjoyed the river-pontoon ride which meanders through a stunning ravine set into the jungle. It's just a natural man-powered raft paddled around a natural river but you'd be hard pushed to find a prettier river. We also enjoyed the sky-tower trip which is identical to the rotating towers at the heart of the Sea World parks. Again hardly what you'd call a "ride" but in this type of area we both found the trip a real pleasure with it's views of the jungle and sea.

The underground river is basically a crystal-clear river that for the most part is around ten feet in width and a few feet in depth that winds it's way from quite deep into the jungle until it opens into a lagoon which eventually feeds the ocean. In parts your swimming through dark and pretty caves, other parts you're in deep ravines & others in jungle. It's a fascinating trip through different environments which was actually pretty tiring by the end and it's only when you start approaching the sea that you start to swim amongst fish. We had to swim only a couple of feet over a moray eel which was incredible whilst still in the river but it was a section of the ocean crafted especially for snorkellers which was most impressive. I'd never snorkelled before and bought a great quality mask & snorkel in the park for $20 and felt it was worth every penny when swimming in the "lagoon" amongst thousands of stunning fish & sea-life.

The other highlight of the park is the night-time show. You approach the arena from twisting pathways which are filled with incredibly imposing actors dressed in Mayan costumes & make-up, lit only by the hundreds of flaming torches. It really sets the scene for a Disney-style show in a vast stadium-style arena featuring different periods of Mexican history. It's a spectacle of song, dance & folklore which we felt was a fitting end to a hugely enjoyable & unique day in paradise.