Parque del Jaguar — Attraction in Quintana Roo

To visit the Tulum archaeological site it is now necessary to enter this park. Access to the park costs MXN 415 per person while entry to the ruins costs MXN 100 per person. So this new arrangement has increased the cost of visiting the Tulum ruins to MXN 515 per person (i.e. an increase of more than 400%).

The park serves to protect turtle nesting beaches, coral reef and mangroves. Its purpose is not related to the Maya ruins. A vast amount of money has clearly been spent on unnecessary and/or useless infrastructure and structures in the park. The most noticeable of these is the huge donut shaped viewing platform. This platform must have been hugely expensive to construct and, being made mostly of steel, will continue to cost a fortune to maintain especially being so close to the sea. Worst of all, there's nothing to see from the platform. This, probably explains why almost nobody bothers climbing the 25 meters to the top.

At the southern end of the park there is a viewing tower. Unlike the circular platform, the viewing tower has an elevator but this wasn't working. Bizarrely, just like the aforementioned circular platform, there's nothing of interest to see from the so-called viewing tower. Unsurprisingly, almost nobody bothers climbing up this either.

The new museum is underwhelming as most of the exhibits are reproductions. It's still a work in progress so I will reserve judgement but my expectations are low. However, with a huge space to air-condition and a large number of under-employed staff, this under-utilized museum must have very substantial running costs. I expect it will soon share the same run-down fate as the Maya Museum in Cancun.

And then there's the huge fleet of electric buses to shuttle tourists from the parking area to the ruins, a distance of less than 200 meters. If you are not in a condition to walk to the ruins you are unlikely to be able to walk around them so, for most visitors, this service is superfluous. A few golfcarts to assist visitors with mobility issues would have sufficed and cost a fraction of the price.

In summary, although the Jaguar Park serves a worthwhile purpose, it is a very badly conceived and managed facility which, because of unsustainable running costs, will surely go to ruin is just a few years. In the meantime its creation is used as a reason to extort more money from tourists who, in the vast majority, are there to see the archaeological ruins and...

Thoroughly enjoyed a full day in the park- JUST PREPARE IN ADVANCE! Me and my partner did some research about the fees and the no plastic rule which made the experience a lot better! I also love nature, so I personally loved it! So as well as preparing in advance, here are some tips to make the most out of jaguar park: 🐆 💵Spend a full day there; since the entrance fees are quite expensive, we dedicated a whole day to beach hop, explore the ruins, enjoy the wildlife and see the museum! This truly made the fee worthwhile. 🚴🏾‍♀️Hire bikes (if you are fit enough to); having our own bikes meant that we were able to explore the park at our own leisure! The park is fitted with bike parking stations all throughout the key stops along the park. 🚎BUT, the transport shuttles are very regular and reliable if you get tired. The stretch between the ruins and the museum is quite far, so would recommend getting the shuttle for that! There was a nice bridge and the big metal structure you can climb up which made nice views. 🥪 Pack a lunch; we are travelling on a budget, so we made some sandwiches and bought it with us in a recycled cardboard box! We left snacks with plastic packing behind, but bought some apples and bananas which made good snacks🍌🍎 We ate this by the lighthouse (one of the stops) where we were also able to get some canned water. 💦 we actually didn’t have our bags checked entering the park (from La Costera), but we didn’t risk bringing water in plastic bottles. We didn’t have reusable ones, so we drank lots just before entering and bought cans of coke and water which are avaliable at many points! So if you are smart and buy a few cans, I wouldn’t worry about dehydration! Although- none of the water stations worked, so do buy cans! ☀️ But the park can get very warm (we went in June) so we definitely needed lots of sunscream and hats for cycling.

Overall, I would recommend! It is a shame however that this was...

One star is generous! We’ve visited the ruins two times before the new “jaguar park” changes. Before, you would drive up, free parking, pay for the ruins at a booth. I don’t remember how much it was, but I think it was anywhere from 60 to 80 pesos. The ruins was a nice walk with beautiful scenery. We just visited today and we were extremely disappointed with all the changes that they have made. We now paid 150 pesos for parking, 830 pesos for two adult adults to “enter” Jaguar park ( Which is really nothing additional to the experience, Just Transportation), And 100 pesos per adult for the ruins. They also make you dump out all of your water, Which is ridiculous. We were traveling with young children, my husband and me ( while being 30 weeks pregnant), And could not have any water in the extreme heat. It is extremely confusing, You don’t really know what you’re paying for, they are sending you all over the place just to get to the ruins. by the time we got to where we needed to go, We were met with a giant flight of stairs. No one Mentioned that these New remodels were not compatible with wheelchairs and strollers. We ended up getting so upset that we turned around and went home without seeing the ruins. We have always loved to Tulum, which is why we have visited throughout the years. But we definitely won’t be coming back here, and for sure be talking shit on it to everyone we know. We feel extremely scammed with our money, Which is something we have never felt before And like everyone was trying to take advantage of tourism in a really...