Xcaret snorkeling

[PinkJellyFish06]

I am thinking about booking the Xcaret excursion through Carnival. Can you tell me if snorkeling is included in this price? I have seen where you can purchase additional snorkeling, but is there any snorkeling included?

[cobo]

No you can rent the gear at the park, or bring your own. It is not included in the price of the excursion.

[Yepsa]

Xcaret has its own snorkeling lagoon which is free to use with paid admission. We've snorkeled here and also at Xel-Ha and Yal-Ku and there isn't a lot to see in terms of fish. Most of the fish will be found at the offshore reef and snorkeling excursions there always cost extra. But Xcaret is a fabulous place to visit and, frankly, I'd do other things there than snorkel anyway. The most popular attraction is the river float and is something you can't do many other places in the world. There are actually 2 rivers with a single walkway down to both of them. At the fork in the walkway you can go left or right, but you should definitely go the left, through the tunnel and the beautiful entry into the water with waterfalls. If you find yourself looking into a dark cave entry instead, you went the wrong way. This river float is mostly covered and not very interesting. The more open river float is beautiful with several surprises along the way. Allow an hour to do it. There are NO fish to be seen along these rivers so taking snorkel gear is useless. At the end both rivers meet ocean water and you can see blue tangs below you even without gear. Exit the river(s) here and explore more of the park. There's a lot to do.

We also went to Xel-Ha (same owners as Xcaret), which is advertised as a big open aquarium, and while the water is beautiful, we only saw blue tangs, and then mostly only where feeding was taking place. The other activities at Xel-ha seemed minor compared to Xcaret. We were all disappointed in Xel-ha, but it's a good choice if you want just a quiet place to sit and swim. Xcaret is where you go to do things!

If you have time, the private tours of Rio Secreto are fabulous. And the new adventure-park called Xplor is simply amazing! It's owned by Xcaret too and is right next door. The layout is breathtaking and beautifully designed---mostly underground. The zipines are the best we've encountered. If time is limited, take the cave swim instead of the one involving rafts.

We're going back this November (2010) for a 3rd time and can hardly wait! Anyone can feel free to ask me questions at restace@yahoo.com.

[PinkJellyFish06]

Thank you so much for your advice! I am pretty sure that we will stick with going to Xcaret! I have heard so much good stuff about this place. We were hoping to see some fish, but I guess we could always try to snorkel off of the beach there. I am really looking foward to the lazy river!! Do they have tubes that you float on?

[swimmom2]

We went to xcaret last week and they did charge to rent snorkel gear. It was $10.00 I believe plus a $20 deposit which you get back. We saw a variety of fish. We also did both underground rivers and enjoyed both. Some people were wearing their snorkel gear in the rivers and there is not much to see plus they were kicking others with fins.:eek: Do not advise this. You are required to wear lifejackets in both underground rivers. They do have an inlet that has tubes to float on. Hope this helps.