Today, we have a tour to go to Tulum and Xel-Ha. Tulum is about an hour and a half south of Cancun. Tulum is the only ruin in Riviera Maya that was built overlooking the sea. The ruins are situated on cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on the Caribbean sea. It is also one of the best preserved Maya ruins.
Since we had to leave early, we decided to order room service so that we can get ready while waiting for the food. It's really convenient and we don't have to waste time walking to and from the restaurant.
We started with the journey to Tulum and it was a little more than 1 hour ride. The tour guide kept us entertained in the bus by sharing the Mayan history. It was quite interesting.
We reached the bus station of Tulum and got off the bus. We were told to start putting on bug spray as there were a lot of bugs around. Then we had to take a small car to reach the entrance and waited there while our tour guide went and got the tickets for us.
The tour guide explaining the area to us in more details.
After we finished listening to the introduction, we went through the opening to begin our adventure.
It was really hot that day when we went, so the kids were grumbling and not too happy. One tip: bring a foldable umbrella if you can. There is barely any shade during the tour, so it does get really hot and we were walking for about 30 to 40 minutes.
The ruins were beautiful and unique. I have never seen anything like that.
I had to beg the kids for a couple family pictures as they didn't want to due to the hot weather.
We saw many iguanas around and everywhere in Cancun.
At this time, the tour guide told us that we had 45 minutes of free time to walk around and she will meet us at the bus station where we got off.
So, we kept walking and finally saw the beautiful Caribbean ocean that we were waiting for. The most iconic structure in Tulum was the Castillo, which is on the edge of the cliff overlooking the clear turquoise Caribbean ocean.
After the family picture above, the kids wanted to leave but we wanted to walk around. So, my brother and sister in law took the kids with them so that we can explore more and meet them later.
When we finished exploring the area, we called them and found out that they were enjoying themselves at Starbucks. We went there and once we felt the full blast AC, we didn't want to leave either. It was so cool inside the store and I could just sit and fall asleep there.
Unfortunately, we came with the tour, so we had to make it back to the bus on time, if not, we would be stuck here.
Our next stop was Xel-Ha, which is an all-inclusive water park where you can go snorkeling, ride bikes, zip lining, jump off the cliffs, river tubing, etc. The ticket price includes all meals, all activities except swim with the dolphins.
When we reached Xel-Ha, it was around lunch time. So after we got the tickets from the tour guide, we decided to walk towards the restaurant.
On the way, we saw a beautiful model of Tulum.
We also saw the dolphins, so the kids took a little break to watch them.
Then we went to the restaurant for lunch.
We finished lunch before my brother's family, so we took some pictures while waiting for them.
Once everyone was ready, we went to change into our swimsuits to get ready for snorkeling. Xel-Ha provides the snorkeling gears which is pretty convenient.
One thing to note is that you cannot use the regular sunblock at Xel-Ha and needs to use the biodegradable sunblock so that it doesn't cause any harm to the marine life and coral reefs in Xel-Ha. The biodegradable sunblock breaks down naturally and minimize damage to the environment.
After snorkeling, we decided to go to the river tubing. In order to get there, we had to either bike or take the bus. The boys rode the bikes while Maddie and I took the bus since Maddie only knows how to ride a 4 wheeler and they only have 2 wheeler around.
Soon after dinner, it was time to leave and go back to the hotel. When we reached the hotel, we went back to our room to freshen up while the kids went back to the kids club.
Tonight, we booked the Japanese restaurant which I believe is their most popular restaurant as I had a hard time booking it for prime hours. They gave us a really late time slot but we were okay since we had some food at Xel Ha.
First they served us our drinks. The little glass is their special, which is Lychee sake. It's my most favorite drink of the trip. I had to ask for a second glass.
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