Xavage Adventure Park
Posted on December 12, 2019 by Ching under Travel.
Here are some highlights from our visit to Xavage, the newest of the Grupo Xcaret theme parks. Grupo Xcaret has nine experiences altogether. Xavage happens to be the most extreme one and it’s the one that we chose to do first because it was on top of both Jay’s list and my list of things to do while on this #VacayWithJayJay trip.
Jay and I weren’t the only ones excited about our day at Xavage. I think everyone in the group was too. Here are some group photos of us that we took using the escanea stations throughout the park.
It turned out to be a beautiful day and we pretty much had the park all to ourselves. We didn’t have to wait in line for any rides/activities at all.
How it works.
A day at Xavage is not cheap. For those who are not staying at Hotel Xcaret where the park admission is included, a day at Xavage will set you back $60 per person ($30 per child) for basic admission or $135 per person ($70 per child) for the full experience. Both basic and full access includes your lunch, drinks, and snacks. The main difference is if you do the basic admission only, you just get the ropes couse and kayaking so you don’t get all of the other awesome rides. If you do the full experience then you get to do all the rides as many times as you want.
Since we were staying at Hotel Xcaret, we had unlimited access to all of the Grupo Xcaret parks so we didn’t have to pay for admission. It’s kind of like going to Disney where your wristband gets you into the parks/rides, etc.
So, since we pretty much had run of the park, we just went right for it. We chose the most extreme activity, Puma, for our first one. Puma is the monster truck experience. Here’s a video of us with a bit of intro to what we’re about to get ourselves into. Some pictures follow.
The next activity we did as a group was Dragonfly. Dragonfly is the high-adrenaline jet boat ride. There was another couple that went on the ride with us but we pretty much had the boat to ourselves.
Check out the awesome Go Pro footage Brian got in the above video.
The jet boat driver attempted to get us a bunch of great photos from the park cameras but boat was going so fast that the camera only caught us a couple of times. The rest of the pics pretty much just had a sliver of the boat in the corner.
Since we were already wet from having been splashed multiple times in the jet boat, we decided to just go for it. Our next activity was Barracuda, which is a simulated class 3 rafting experience. The park cameras got several great pics of our group during this activity. Here are just a few of them.
We also got some really good Go Pro footage of the rafting.
After this we decided to change into dry clothes and have some lunch. The buffet lunch was actually really good for having been included. I thought they would cut corners and just give you something really basic but you have lots of options, from traditional Mexican foods to American stuff like burgers and hotdogs. The guys even got to try some crocodile meat.
As far as drinks go, the non-alcoholic beverages and juices were all included but I think tequila and other things were extra. I don’t know for sure because we didn’t bother with it. Since the activities are so extreme, they do not let you do them if you’ve had some alcoholic drinks for safety reasons.
I did not bring long pants/leggings on this trip so Brian loaned me a pair of his shorts to wear so my legs wouldn’t get chaffed from the harnesses. That happened to me when we did the zip lines in Jamaica a few years ago. Anyway, that’s why you see me in Brian’s shorts in some of the pics.
After lunch we hit the zip lines or Hawk activity. This one is actually a laying down zip line instead of a sitting one. It was my first time with this type of zip line. We were really high up and had excellent views of the entire park, which was super awesome. It started out kind of slow but then went faster in parts. I would describe it as kind of like a solo roller coaster ride but instead of up and down you got flung from side to side as you turned on the curves. It was a nice long ride.
Contrast the pics of me above with the pics of Brian below. He never looks like he’s having any fun but, trust me, he’s having fun on the inside. LOL.
Here’s a short clip Brian got of the ride. Enjoy!
The Snake area is an open water park for people and their children to hang out. Everyone was busy doing activities and there really weren’t any children when we were there so the park was pretty much empty. It was a very nice water park with lots of slides and activities for kids to do. There were plenty of lounge chairs around too. I could see it as a nice chill spot for families to hang out after they are exhausted from all of the rides/activities.
As for us, we were not tired yet. We (well, most of us) were ready to take on our next challenge — the ropes course. I must admit, I didn’t mind saving it until the end (maybe partially hoping we would run out of time, LOL) because it looked quite intimidating. This area of the park was called Monkey. I really liked that they named the park areas after animals that kind of fit the activity. They had signs at the park that pointed you to the areas using these names (Puma, Dragonfly, Barracuda, Snake, Hawk, Monkey, and Crocodile) which made it really easy to navigate the vast park grounds and not get lost.
The ropes course was massive. We were quite fearless in the morning but then as the day wore on, and it sprinkled on and off a bit throughout the day, it started to look even more daunting. Tina, Justin, Jay, and I all still decided to go through with it. Becca and Brian opted out and just waited for us at one of the picnic tables.
Here are some pictures of me going through the course.
No Go Pro video this time because (a) Brian had our Go Pro and (b) I think it had pretty much run out of battery by then.
Tina and I did most of the course together and were right behind each other. In some really shaky parts, I preferred to go through the course all the way by myself because when someone is doing it with you then you have to contend with not just your weight and movements shaking the obstacles but then the other person’s weight and movements as well. It really tests your balance.
The interesting thing about the ropes course is they offer four levels. They are (from lowest/easiest to highest/toughest) Green at 26 feet, Blue at 46 feet, Red at 82 feet, and Black at 118 feet. We originally thought we were going to go for Blue (level 2) but after being tired from all the activities and the course being wet from the rain, the four of us agreed to do Green (level 1) instead. We wanted to go through it quickly because everyone wanted to hit Puma (everyone’s favorite) one more time before we had to head back to the hotel.
The one activity we didn’t get to do was the Crocodile, which was the kayaking activity. We were worried that it would take too much time and we wouldn’t have time to hit Puma again. Anyway, missing that gives us a good reason to return to Cancun and visit the park again. That place is really cool.
The ropes course took a lot longer than we expected, even at the easiest level. Part of the issue was it started sprinkling again while we were in the middle of the course. While we wanted to finish quickly, we also had to be extra careful.
It was a relief to finally finish it because it was a total body workout. That ropes course is no joke! I can’t imagine doing it at 120 feet above the ground.
By the time our group made it back to the Puma area, we only had about a half an hour before we were due back at the bus pickup area. Brian, Becca, and I opted not to go on another run and just watched the others. Brian and I used the opportunity to take a selfie while waiting for the trucks to make their way back.
Tina and Justin rode together. Jay had a solo ride. I took some videos of them with my phone, since the Go Pro was dead at this point.
Anyway, you got the driver’s perspective in the earlier videos. These two are from the vantage point of the spectator. Puma was super fun. I would totally do it again if we ever go back.
This next picture is of the Xoximilco gondolas. I found out that the park is Xavage during the day and then at night it transforms into Xoximilco with carnivals, games, music, and lots of drinking. So, basically, while there’s no drinking during the day and lots of drinking happens at night. LOL.
Xoximilco is one of those awesome parties that you don’t remember. Supposedly, people who go often don’t remember how they made it back to their hotel room the next morning. I can’t say that I wanted to get piss drunk but I’m all about experiences so I also wanted to experience while we were in Mexico. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time on this trip and these pictures are all I got. But, again, it’s the perfect excuse to go on a return trip.
Overall our Xavage experience was amazing and it was the perfect start to our awesome Mexico adventure. Until next time. GNG.
Related Stories
Replies to "Xavage Adventure Park"
« Dinner at Cantina Los Faroles « this post » Our Day at Xenses »
Our Day at Xenses on December 16, 2019
[…] one of the nine parks that are part of Grupo Xcaret. Xenses was a totally different experience than Xavage. Here’s short video clip that explains […]