Xavage por Xcaret — Attraction in Quintana Roo

Short story: despite meeting the height and weight restrictions specified on their website, I was humiliated in front of my family and denied access to services for “being too big.”

Long story: I booked this experience though my hotel’s concierge a month ago, and being including in the price of my hotel was a major selling point for choosing Xcaret hotel. I took the hour commute in the early morning with my family of 3. Upon arrival, my family and I were asked to step into a private office where I was told I might not fit in their life jackets and harnesses because they only stock a size large. I expressed to the employees that I read the weight limits prior to booking my visit. I cited the language that specifically said “to ensure that the harnesses and life jackets are comfortable and safe we ask all guests to weigh less than 300lbs.” (Paraphrased here, but read to them there). I explained that I weigh 265 and specifically lost 30 pounds recently to make sure I was under weight for all of these activities at Xcaret properties. So they had me try on a large life jacket and it actually fit fine. There was room to tighten it and all was good. Then they asked me to sit down and try it. Still good. Honestly comfortable. Not even “hold your breath good.” Then the woman yanked the life jacket up by the shoulders and told me it’s too loose and the life jacket slips up when they pull on it. and that’s a problem in case I fall in the water and they try to pull me out by the shoulders. I politely explained that “too loose” is not a characteristic of someone that’s “too big” for your life jacket. This wasn’t making sense at all. I asked to speak to a manager and Abner entered. Abner blindly supported his staff and stammered to come up with explanations about how the life jacket fitment was incorrect. He tried to give me some nonsense about there not being “four fingers” on the side but couldn’t explain that at all when asked to demonstrate. He did not care about the fact that I met the terms, conditions, and restrictions of this park. He told me I could try the other jackets and harnesses for the other activities but the issue would be the same (and that was clearly going to be an exercise in futility. Their mind was already made up about me). I could “maybe do one of the ropes courses today but nothing else.” My child cried in the room at not being able to experience a day at Xavage. But they didn’t show a care in the world about this. My wife was blown away by the whole endeavor, because honestly I’m not a HUGE guy and I thoroughly researched what it would take to go on these rides. It wasn’t adding up. I visited nearly all of the other parks at Xcaret with similar equipment and there were no problems fitting into anything. Zip lines, jet boats, harnesses, life jackets, seatbelts, everything was fine elsewhere. Abner blamed my hotel concierge for not informing me of additional restrictions at the park. But upon my return to the park, I met with the concierge and we reviewed all of the documentation regarding this park. There were no further restrictions for them to have informed me about and I met the criteria to participate. When I jumped back into a transport (with Abner escorting me out of the park) the bus driver and the staff member (one of the red shirt employees) were honestly confused as to why they denied me services (and so was my concierge). They said they see people far larger than me having no problems daily. Not once during this endeavor was there a single apology, a single ounce of sympathy, nor a single...

We had a lot of fun here! The experiences are pretty unique. However, I can’t give it 5 stars for many reasons.

This park is only for thrill or adventure seekers who are in good physical shape. Do NOT bring young kids here as there is nothing for them other than a water park. You will also NOT enjoy this park if you haven’t been to the gym for a while, aren’t in great shape, or have any sort of medical conditions.

For what you get it is very expensive. Maybe that’s why the park was virtually empty. The grounds are beautiful. It’s all very well built. But it was a ghost town. No lines which was nice. But it is for sure not popular.

In my mind there are only 5 attractions here.

Monkey. It is extremely difficult. I am 29 and in decent shape and barely made it through the second most difficult course. Hardest thing I’ve ever done. I could not imagine doing the black course. Others in our group hardly made it through the lowest level. It was often times more scary and physically demanding than it was fun. It felt safe enough. But man. Was it hard.

Dragonfly was a highlight. Great guides. Awesome boats. Super fast and fun. But hold on tight! This is intense. This was the best the park had to offer by far.

Hawk was very slow and very short. Not worth the long walk to the tower. It was not memorable and we didn’t want to do it again. I’d say it was mostly for kids. Very mild and yeah. Very very short.

Puma was good fun! The off-road vehicles where great and the course was interesting. Not very hard though. We did it twice and felt we had mastered it and seen it all.

Barracuda was alright. Great guides but pretty mild rapids and overall a very short experience. The do a good job simulating rapids, but it’s all pretty forgettable.

The other things we did not do as they were for kids (the splash park) or very slow and boring looking (the kayaks).

There are also more gift shops and things to buy than there are rides. It feels like your being funneled through them constantly to squeeze more money out of you. We didn’t like the looks of any of the merchandise and did not buy anything. We also did not buy pictures as they were overpriced and poor quality.

The food was okay. Nothing special. However, don’t expect any alcohol. None to be found.

Also. Sunscreen. They take it to exchange it with their stuff. We made sure to buy environmentally friendly stuff before we came. It was not biodegradable, but it was all natural ingredients and sport/waterproof. The stuff they give you is not good at all and we got sunburned.

So yeah. It was good. But not great. Maybe save your money. I can’t strongly recommend this place, but understand why...

All the staff, like every single person are very friendly, welcoming and seem very genuine, top notch customer service. All employees wear clear name tags. Every activity's personnel gives you a strong confidence that you are in the hands of professionals, they even train on property before the start of work day. Special thanks to Ramon at rafting! I truly hope employees get fairly rewarded! Also have to mention Eduardo at speed boat. All equipment looks to be in great shape. We've done zip lining many times before, but were still pleasantly surprised with this activity at Xavage. The park is slightly expensive-ish (compare to Xcaret), but we had a great time. Its well organized, almost no wait times. Again, compliments to the staff, as they really impressed me with unbelievable customer service! Best price for entry tickets available online (we ended up paying $260 for 2 people), parking is free. Buffet was good, lots to choose from, only wish they had Vegan options clearly marked. Food and drinks are included with the entry ticket, making it very convenient for visitors. Lockers are provided with no extra charge, make sure to bring a towel and change of clothes, as you get completely soaked at rafting. Another perfect detail - Children: 25% discount from 5 to 11 years old on the adult price, children under 4 years free - and thats because kids can only use the water splash area, making it perfect for families with teenagers and little ones, so that everyone can have fun at this park, this works great for adults visiting without kids as well. Rest area was nice. One recommendation to the park management - there seem to be no wildlife present, so if maybe a bird, butterfly or agouti enclosure can be added. As an animal rights activist, I advocate for sanctuaries or natural habitat set up, not a zoo like. You have done a great job adding animals in Xcaret, maybe same can be done at Xavage, to promote the feel of...