A Couples Adventure Playground at Xplor: Playa del Carmen, Mexico

The moment we stepped foot in Xplor I could feel my adrenaline pumping and my heart racing. I admit I have a phobia of heights and the thought terrifies me but I knew Xplor was more than ziplines and there was no way I wasn’t going to experience all of what Xplor had to offer.

Xplor is located about 50 minute drive from Moon Place Resort, where we were staying but only about 6 km from Play del Carmen. The park is 59 hectares of zip-lines, amphibious vehicles, rafts, underground rivers, caverns and grottos for hours of adventurous fun. When you need a break from all that adventure, a smoothie and juice bar can be found throughout the park and buffet to reenergize at “El Troglodita” Restaurant. Can I just say, fresh guacamole!

Zipline Course

Despite my obvious fear of the ziplines, harnessed with helmet secured I made myself climb the spiral stairs to the first zip. I had the support of my husband, Cory, and friends, Julie and Brad of Sober Julie, so how bad could it be? I was more and more scared as I reached the top; they wanted me to do what?! Jump off a perfectly solid platform high above the trees. That seems perfectly logical. I suspect you are sensing the sarcasm but guess what, I did it!

Just look how much fun I had; you can hardly see the terror in my face, in fact it doesn’t even look like I was scared. For those of you who need extra confidence, they offer tandem harnesses where you can dual zip with a partner. Friends, Julie and Brad were able to zip tandem-style but my husband needed a larger harness so I was lucky enough to enjoy it all by myself.

I was so focused on getting my confidence up for the next zip when I realized our friends Julie and Brad had disappeared. I discovered I wasn’t the only one afraid of heights and had walked down to ground level where we met up later. For those that aren’t sure they can do the complete course, don’t worry; there are stairs to ground level should you decide this zipline course isn’t for you but if you decide to stick with it, you will be happy you did.

Cory and I completed the zipline course, each line at varies heights, between 45 metres above ground and 8 metres below ground, or with different features, such as this waterslide, all were equally as fun. There are 14 ziplines in the course split between two courses, one slightly higher than the other.

Partway through the zips I was much more relaxed and looked out over the treetops to a magnificent view. For those with a bit of a phobia, like I have, take a chance and push yourself out on a limb to breathe in all the adventure Xplor offers. I was so glad I pushed myself to do this; the feeling you get above the treetops and the view alone are worth a little fear to overcome.

Caverns and Grottos

Once we had completed the zipline course, we ventured into the caverns and grottos where stalactites and stalagmites could be enjoyed along a windy path towards the 400 metres of lighted stalactite rivers where you can swim your way through gorgeous water in a life vest or take another path towards the rafts.

Xplor’s history began 65 million years ago when a 10 km-diameter asteroid crossed through the Earth’s atmosphere and struck the Yucatan peninsula, putting an end to an era and generating a series of changes giving rise to new lifeforms. For millions and millions of years nature sculpted the underground landscape of Xplor. 

We chose the windy raft course and had a lot of fun weaving through the caverns. Cory and I have experience with paddling kayaks or canoes so we found it easy to maneuver the raft through the course but for those who don’t, just work together and you will make it through just fine.

Amphibian Vehicles

Although we loved every part of the park, from ziplines to smoothies on the hammocks and that oh-so-delicious guacamole, I think our favourite part was the amphibian vehicles. We have farm experience with All-Terrain vehicles but nothing as fun as the water and land course through caverns and up hills that the Xplor course offers. We laughed through the whole course, bouncing around and even had to stop to help one crazy driver who ended up hung up on a rock.

If you have back or health conditions you will probably want to pass on this one but for those with a sense of adventure, you will love this!

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Disclosure: Images taken by Xplor and purchased by us on our sponsored experience at the park. All opinions are 100% my own.