Planning a family holiday to the stunning Riviera Maya in Mexico and considering a visit to Xel-Ha Park? Wondering whether you should pay for the extra add-on activities? Then read our reviews below before deciding.
We absolutely love Xel Ha, this was our second time visiting this incredible natural water park. On our first family trip a few years back, we didn't book any additional activities at all, and to be honest, you don't need to, there is more than enough to explore to easily fill an entire day with all of the activities that the entrance fee includes, the beautiful cenotes, lazy river, zip lines, cliff jumps, and snorkelling lagoons.
Because we loved our first experience so much, we decided to return for our second visit and wanted try something different this time by booking some additional activities. Before we arrived we had decided that Nanna would be taking the boys to swim with the dolphins but due to the discounts were were offered we ended up booking 3 additional activities (as well as the photo pass).
The 3 activities that we did were the swimming with the dolphins, high-flying zip bikes, and the stingray encounter. Here is our honest review, pricing breakdown, and top tips for making the most of your day out at Xel Ha.
Our #1 Tip: Never Pre-Book Activities Online (Always Haggle!)
If you want to experience any additional activities at Xel-Ha, our biggest piece of advice is to wait until you arrive at the park rather than booking online in advance. In our experience, when you speak to the ticket desk in person, you can haggle. Staff will almost always drop the prices significantly. For example, online pricing for the swimming with dolphins was around $109 per person, totalling over $300 for Nanna and the boys. By haggling in person on the day, we managed to reduce the total price down to $203 for all three of them, saving us over 30%.
Swimming with Dolphins
Swimming with the dolphins was a bucket list experience that Nanna really wanted the boys, Charlie and Louie, to enjoy. Since I am not personally a fan of anything swimming around me and touching my legs, I happily sat this one out with Mark, to watch from the shore.
We initially booked the lowest package and as mentioned above we did this on arrival and saved ourselves around 30% compared to the online price. However, upon arrival at the dolphin habitat, we were offered an upgrade to the next package up, featuring a smaller group size and more time in the water, for just an extra $10 per person. Looking back, because the park was quite quiet with very few people waiting around, we probably didn't even need to pay for the upgrade as we would have been put in that same group anyway.
The boys absolutely loved it, not only did they get to swim with dolphins but they also hugged, kissed and play games with the dolphins. Their favourite was playing ball where they would throw the ball into the water and the dolphin then pushed it back to them. In total they spent about 30-40 minutes in the water and there were 14 unique activities. The experience is supposed to include 2 dolphins per group but unfortunately, a few minutes into the experience one of the dolphins decided that he didn't want to play with the humans and was more interested in the other female dolphins so he swam off into another area.
After the experience had ended, Nanna and the boys went off to get showered and then we made our way over to the photo room. The woman started to show us our photos with no explanation so we asked if these were included in the Xel Ha photo pass that we had purchased and she advised that they were not, because the dolphin experience was a different company, Delphinus, which was disappointing. Quite a lot of time in the water had been spent taking photos with the dolphins but this is just so that they can sell them to you at inflated prices at the end. I asked the woman about the pricing before she continued to show us the photos and was advised that prices started at over $300 for 10 photos and over $400 for all photos. I immediately said no and we all walked off. Before we got to the exit of the dolphin area a member of staff had reached us and offered the 10 photos for half the price, based on principle I still said no, we had paid for our Xel Ha tickets, for the dolphin experience and for a photo pass, I was not willing to pay out again. This left a really sour taste after a fantastic experience.
Our Verdict
I would recommend the experience as it was brilliant and the boys loved it but just be aware of the hidden costs and if you do want to purchase the photos that they take, don't take the first price that they offer you. There is always room to haggle, even if you walk off and they don't run after you like the did wth us, you can always go back for the photo's later in the day.
The Zip Bikes
The next activity that we chose was the zip bikes. It's a unique experience that we haven't seen before where you cycle suspended high up through the lush tropical rainforest, across caves, and right over beautiful natural cenotes.
This activity cost $49 per person it is a fun challenge offering breathtaking panoramic views of the Riviera Maya landscape but it's not suitable for younger kids as the minimum age requirement is 10. Since Louie wasn't old enough to ride, he's now asking if we can go back when he's 10 so that he can do it.
Our Verdict
Whilst this was a nice unique attraction, I don't think its something that Charlie would be in a rush to do again and I really would have thought that this would have been included within the other activities and attractions without the extra charge.
The Stingray Encounter
Hands down, this was our favourite additional activity of the day! We have done similar Stingray encounter experiences before but the one at Xel Ha felt much more relaxed in natural surroundings and overall was far better.
It wasn't originally an activity that we were going to pay extra to do but due to booking the other 2 activities, we were offered this for just $30 for 3 people. Given that this is usually charged at $60 per adult it was a huge saving that we couldn't say no to.
We arrived at our pre booked timeslot and were given a quick safety briefing and then we were directed towards the sea. It's quite shallow here but our group sat along the wooden steps just in the water and we had a knowledgeable guide who lead detailed talks about the stingrays and brought them up close for us to touch and feel.
In this area there were dozens of stingrays swimming freely all around us and they didn't appear to be enclosed at all, as they were swimming beyond the location of the stingray encounter where others were swimming but appeared to keep coming back to feed here. Charlie's face when he suddenly realised the stingrays were swimming right behind him and brushing up his back was completely priceless.
Our Verdict
Out of the 3 activities that we did at Xel Ha this was our favourite. It's such a calm activity in a relaxing environment, the talks were interesting, the price was fantastic and there was no additional charge for the photos this time. It was great fun for both those in the water and those of us watching.
You can watch our full video on YouTube here.
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