Mexico Day 6: Xel-Ha

 Not gonna lie, we were all a bit tired this morning. Xcaret is like adventure overload.  It’s like, if you did just ONE of the things when you were living your normal life, you’d be like, “woah! What a cool day I had!” For example, eating at a buffet or seeing a parrot up close. Or perhaps if after work one day or on a Saturday you took your family to drive amphibious vehicles or to zip line? Or maybe just go to a cool eco water park where the kids could climb around tree houses and go down natural water slides? Or maybe you float down a river to the Caribbean Sea and see manta rays and dolphins as you do? I mean really, pick just one thing and your mind is blown.

But we’ve been packing in thrills and adventure like it’s our JOB and it’s been epic.

And tiring.

So thankfully today leaned toward relaxing. If you could really call it that. Luckily, Xel-Ha came with a buffet that we could access all day long so that was our first stop when we arrived. We were all hungry so the food hit perfectly.  We got French toast and eggs and yummy juices and fruits… it was yummy.

Now we were fueled up and ready to play so we walked back to the far end of the park where the river float begins. We grabbed some inflatables and cooled off in the mangroves. As we emerged from the jungle canopy, there was a place to cliff jump so the kids all scrambled out to do that a few times. Further down the river was a place to walk along a rope course and zip line. So they did that a few times as well!

By the time we floated the majority of the river and were in front of the buffet again, it was time for lunch. So we hopped out and enjoyed burgers and pina coladas and of course, soft serve!! We slathered ourselves in sunblock (not enough, by the way) and headed to the tall twisty slide. Tanner took them- what a good dad! We swan with fishies and sting rays and then crossed a floating bridge to a cenote adventure. We swam in a cave, jumped off a rope swing, and walked through more dense jungle.

We swam across the river to the children’s area where the kids discovered a fun little water slide and ropes course just for them! They were stoked. They also spent some time jumping off the floating platform in the middle of the river. We got out of the water in time to catch a quick dinner (And more soft serve ice cream!) and then dove into the water for a few more minutes of swimming and snorkeling. Ray was sad because she lost her goggles in all of the excitement of the day. But lucky for us, Xel-Ha has snorkel masks.

The ride home was quiet and peaceful as we listened to Jim Gaffigan and giggled at his jokes. We took showers (and Rayleigh plunged in the backyard pool) and got ready for bed and man, everyone is BEAT.

We have one more day in Mexico and we plan to sleep in and stay put tomorrow. We’ll see what more this resort has to offer and soak in the last day of this unforgettable vacation.