Xcaret Occidental

I recently took the kids to Mexico. We stayed at the Xcaret Occidental which is attached to the Xcaret National Park. we spent a week here and I have to say for me and the kids to experience Mexico but not have to worry about some of the issues that go a long with that was great! Kids stay free and you get free access to Xcaret for a day.

Travel Tip: Book your Swim with the Dolphins, horseback riding or ocean snorkeling online! Xcaret key attractions fill up early and that way you can get them in when you want them!

The resort was all inclusive which the kids figured out right away. They were getting soda out by the pool in no time. The buffet was our main dining room as being kids they are pretty picky. The main theme changed every night so that I was enjoying caviar or rock crab and the kids could have a hamburger or pizza. It was great to let them try something and say, "you don't like it? That is ok, get something else." They also had 5 restaurants that you could make reservations for and you were expected to "dress" for dinner. We never did this as the other quicker options were so complete I never saw a need to irritate the other quests with my kids or irritate my kids with a fancy meal that they would probably not enjoy that much. We did try the taco and pizza places as well as the lunch place over looking the pools. All of them were fantastic. The food was fantastic and plentiful. You knew it was safe for our constitutions. Very important for me.

My oldest asked me at one point, "How much is this place?" We were sitting by the pool and talking about how neat it was that they had a deer pen right by our room. I think they were impressed. We frequently went on the monkey trail and had seen them out and up in the trees on the first day. Where as they normally were in their cage. The iguanas were a big hit and when I realized we were climbing all over a 2000 year old ruin to see them it made it even more fun. They have several Mayan ruins on site that we got to explore. Between the macaws, the monkeys, deer and ruins, the kids were just wowed. Add in a nice white sand beach were they spent most of the time chasing fish in the shallows and we could have spent a week or more just in the resort and almost never have gotten board.

A few things were not perfect and I hate to pick but I thought they should be mentioned. The pools are not heated so in January they were cold. The kids did swim but my youngest would get much too quickly do to the cold. The whirlpools are built into the main pools and use the same water. A cold whirlpool did not cut it for me. The beach was small being man made. We never lacked for space and it had a waiter and bar so I loved it but it lacked that feel a big beach to walk. The shore in this stretch was very rocky and that was interesting but hard to hike everyday.

Overall I loved it, the kids loved it, and we would do it again and again. For a single dad with 2 kids, this was a the best way to see the Yucatan area as we had a super secure and friendly home base. Here are links to the other stuff we did while there:

Xcaret National Park - Chichen Itza - Swim with the Dolphins - Carmen Del Playa