Best Places in Mexico for Families Who Like Activities

Whether you're looking for a family fun in the sun at an all-inclusive resort or a day trip to see Mayan ruins, there's always WOW-factor just around the corner when you visit Mexico with kids. From the Cancun Riviera and Cancun Hotel Zone to the stunning Riviera Maya and Tulum, get ready to acquire more nearly the beautiful beaches, accurate Mexican nutrient and awesome activities to make your stay a memorable 1.

Over the years, nosotros've had to dispel a lot of myths most travelling to Mexico with kids. Just like any place on earth, if you employ good common sense there are lots of ways to stay safe, have fun and try new things — yes, fifty-fifty if you lot (gasp!) leave your gated resort.

Nosotros've done Cancun with kids at least iv times, and nosotros've too taken them to resorts in the Mayan Riviera and to some of the most incredible attractions off the resorts, likewise, during various mean solar day trips from Cancun and other hot-spots. We've had but positive experiences and I can't expect to share all of the things you may want to add to your own family trip to United mexican states.

Later on so many trips to Mexico with kids, here'due south my list of must-dos, focused primarily around the Cancun, Riviera Maya, Puerto Morelos and Tulum areas. Brand certain yous read all the way to the end, because I saved the most important recommendation for last!

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Mexico with kids: i. Stay somewhere fun!

If yous're going to be in Mexico with kids, yous want a resort that will evangelize family fun on the daily. We actually enjoy both Cancun and the Riviera Maya.

In that location'due south also the Riviera Cancun, an area that encompasses more but the famous Cancun Hotel Zone. It'south in Quintana Roo, which is a Mexican state on the Yucatán Peninsula, and offers more sunshine, white sand and warm water than you could mayhap soak upwardly in but ane visit.

First, choose what'due south more of import to you: an outstanding beach or a resort that has a ton of built-in activities. So far, we haven't found i resort in Mexico that offers both.

The Yard at Moon Palace has an unequalled h2o park.

If you're after perfect sand, turquoise h2o and stellar ocean waves, I'd propose sticking to the Cancun Hotel Zone, which offers dozens of hotels and resorts along a prime number stretch of embankment. I wouldn't hesitate to take my kids to the Hard Rock Hotel Cancun; although there'south an onsite kids' club for those age 4 and upwardly, it's definitely geared toward the age 4-6 oversupply and too much of it takes place indoors, in my stance. There isn't a whole lot else going on here for the elementary schoolhouse-aged kid, but tweens and teens will probably enjoy the more grown-up temper, killer pools and artisan cuisine. Plus, the beach. You just tin can't beat the beach you'll observe in this office of Cancun.

We've also stayed at Beach Palace, only we didn't love information technology. (Y'all can read my Beach Palace Cancun review to find out why.) Nosotros spent a mean solar day at the Royalton Cancun Suites hotel here as well, and — though cute and sitting on this amazing embankment — it's not somewhere my kids thought they'd desire to stay.

But 10 minutes from the Cancun Hotel Zone is the Cancun Riviera, where there are two outstanding all-inclusive family resorts you should consider. Just take note: the beach here is subpar to what y'all'll notice in the Cancun Hotel Zone. It'due south rockier, more prone to sargassum, and the water is nearly never articulate. I'm an bounding main girl through and through and very, very rarely go in the ocean when we stay in the Cancun Riviera.

But what it lacks in body of water fun, information technology more than than makes up for in resorts that accept a never-ending supply of on-resort activities for families. another resort nearby that's likewise actually family unit-friendly: the Royalton Riviera Cancun .

Be sure to read my detailed Royalton Riviera Cancun review and The Thousand at Moon Palace Cancun review .

From waterparks to arcades and more food choices than fifty-fifty your pickiest eaters will be able to complain about, both the Royalton Riviera Cancun and The Grand at Moon Palace deserve to be short-listed for your vacation. Both are equally platonic for strollers as they are for teens who are comfortable strolling resort grounds on their own and coming together up with new friends. We've stayed at both resorts twice and they never fail to impress. Nosotros'd return to either in a heartbeat.

The Grand Velas in Mexico is everything a luxury v-star resort should be — but it's also an all-inclusive.

One of the best Mayan Riviera resorts also happens to exist i of the best resorts nosotros've ever visited anywhere in Mexico and the Caribbean: Chiliad Velas. You'll find this is sort of a hybrid betwixt what you find for families in Cancun and the Cancun Riviera; it's got a more chill vibe while beingness incredibly upscale and exclusive. It's on a very pretty beach that'southward more perfectly sandy similar Cancun only with body of water water that can be unpredictable like the Cancun Riviera. And there are certainly resort activities for kids and families but in a more understated mode than the in-your-confront-all-activities-all-the-time approach than you'd become at The K.

My Yard Velas Riviera Maya review is a must-read if yous've got a salubrious budget to visit Mexico with kids.

United mexican states with kids: 2. Play in the ocean.

I know, I know. This is pretty obvious. But if you're staying somewhere like the Cancun Riviera and you're an ocean snob similar me who prefers seaweed-gratis turquoise water, it's worth a mean solar day trip to a great embankment if your resort doesn't have one. That's where staying somewhere like The Yard at Moon Palace has extra benefits, since you lot have free access to other Palace Resorts during your vacation. But rent a taxi to take you to and from one of its sister backdrop, like Beach Palace, and yous can use the resort as your own — including the restaurants.

The waves in the Cancun Hotel Zone can't be beat and the water is usually perfectly articulate and really warm.

When y'all're traveling to Mexico with kids, pick your hotel based on what you like most about a beach holiday. If it'southward big waves and turquoise h2o, you want to be in the Cancun Hotel Zone.

Mexico with kids: 3. Visit the Mayan ruins.

Although I appreciate a good all-inclusive resort vacay where the goal is to simply get some dominicus and fun, there are plenty of reasons to leave your resort and take your kids to see more of what Mexico has to offer. There isn't annihilation much more quintessentially "United mexican states" than the Mayan ruins.

If this is your first trip to Mexico with kids, yous might feel near comfortable using your resort'southward activities desk-bound to book a tour; it's usually a i-stop-shop where you pay a flat fee per person that includes your transportation, meals and entry fees. Just that convenience does come at an inflated price compared to doing it on your own.

CID Private Transfers can assist y'all customize solar day trips from Cancun, including a stop at the ruins of your pick. We wanted to exercise the ones in Tulum and rolled some other fun into a day abroad from our resort. Y'all'll need to take Mexican pesos with you (not American dollars) and then you tin can pay to get into the ruins, eat tiffin along the way and tip your driver, but the overall cost of your personalized mean solar day trip will exist far less than booking a typical resort tour.

Wear practiced walking shoes and bring sunscreen and hats — there isn't much shade to be had at the ruins and spending fourth dimension in Tulum with kids is a lot nicer when those kids are protected from estrus stroke.

Head to Tulum with kids to visit aboriginal Mayan ruins where they'll learn about Mexico'south origins.

Yous'll also need pesos if you need to visit a public washroom across your resort walls. Information technology'southward only 5-x pesos but if you need actress toilet newspaper, you'll be charged extra. And, yep, you get your toilet paper handed to y'all on the way into the washroom! Another strategy might exist to grab a ringlet from your hotel room and popular information technology in your day-pack to bring information technology with you.

Equally an bated, we also hire CID Individual Transfers for all of our airport transfers when they aren't included in our resort package.

Mexico with kids: 4. Swim in a cenote.

There are and so many things to do in Cancun with kids away from your resort — like swimming in cenotes.

Unless your resort has a cenote onsite (and there are a few that do), this is an amazing experience that my kids however talk most years after. We folded this into our 24-hour interval trip wish-list and spent an afternoon at a cenote near the Tulum ruins. Just don't forget to bring towels and swimwear.

A cenote is basically a natural swimming hole — some are bigger than others, and the h2o is usually freshwater (rather than table salt water) and quite absurd. Information technology's unlike swimming in the ocean and if there'southward a "tunnel" to swim through that connects 1 cease of a cenote to another, at that place may be bats upwards in a higher place. That takes some getting used to, but I've never had i fly anywhere almost me. Cenote swimming is a brilliant way to cool downwards on a super-hot twenty-four hour period in Mexico.

If you accept room in your luggage for swim googles or fifty-fifty a full-face snorkel mask, these would exist great to bring for your cenote visit, too.

Looking for a carry-on only packing list for your family vacation? I've got you covered.

Mexico with kids: 5. Go to a cream party.

One of the reasons y'all absolutely must go a new daily activity guide from your resort'due south front desk (or kids' gild) is to spotter for a foam political party. Obviously not every resort is going to offer this, but it's worth looking for. We went to i at the Royalton Riviera Cancun and it was sooooo fun! Bring forth your goggles and go along your mouths shut (soap doesn't taste good), and get ready for the cleanest fun yous'll have in United mexican states.

Ane of the most fun things to practise in Cancun, Mexico, is hitting up a foam party!

Mexico with kids: 6. Build a sandcastle.

What would a beach vacation with the kids be without sandcastles? This is the free stuff that make some of the most lasting childhood memories.

No family trip to United mexican states or any other beach destination would be complete without sandcastles. No tools required.

United mexican states with kids: seven. Eat ice cream for breakfast.

You lot're on vacation, correct? And so those strict food rules you take at home tin relax a little — or exist thrown out the window completely. When we're at dwelling house, my kids know that dessert is a weekend care for. But when we're on vacation, nosotros've been known to eat water ice foam for breakfast. Only considering.

It's OK because this is what moderation is all about: if your seven-mean solar day holiday out of your 365-solar day twelvemonth results in eating dessert for breakfast or having a liquid luncheon by the pool, so exist information technology. I guarantee your kids will remember how yous bent the rules with adoration.

K Velas is probably the all-time spread-out resort in United mexican states at least in function because information technology staffs puddle concierges to attend to your every need — including ice cream for breakfast if you wish.

Mexico with kids: eight. Exercise family karaoke.

Fifty-fifty if your resort doesn't have its own family-friendly karaoke bar like The Grand at Moon Palace does, y'all can bring along a cheap bluetooth karaoke microphone and have a individual karaoke party in your room (merely use your smartphone and look upwardly karaoke songs with lyrics on YouTube).

If there'southward a karaoke bar in the Riviera Maya y'all want to sing at, information technology'due south the one at the Grand Velas. Open to families until 10 p.one thousand. each night!

Mexico with kids: 9. Be audacious together.

Encourage your kids to try new things — whether that'due south eating a local nutrient they haven't tried before or braving an activity that makes them a bit nervous, tackling something together can strengthen our family bonds.

On one of our twenty-four hours trips from Cancun, to the Tulum ruins, Miss Q and I were standing at the top of a steep wooden staircase that ended several feet above the ground beneath, where waves were crashing over jagged rocks. She was nervous to climb downwardly merely we did it — together.

Mexico with kids: 10. Consume the churros. Beverage the smoothies.

I have had many-a-churros in my solar day. But nothing like you'll find in Mexico. If you lot're out and about off the resort, you tin even notice them warm and freshly sugared, right out of the deep fryer. A street vendor in Puerto Morelos as well drizzled his churros in what must exist described as condensed milk sky. (And it was less than a dollar for 8 of them.)

Needless to say, you lot can't be the only i ruined for churros for the rest of your life, so make sure your kids try them, too.

And while you're having your churros and eating them, too, we demand to talk about resort smoothies. Oh, sure, they may be sugar-laden slumber-stealers, but if your kids aren't ordering at least iii a day from the swim-upward bar, are you even doing your family unit vacation right?

PRO TIP: One way to reduce the sugar content in all those smoothies is to nab some bananas from breakfast and keep them in your beach bag. When your kids want a smoothie, encourage them to take a banana with them to the bar and ask for information technology to be blended in with no additional sugar or simple syrup. The assistant will sweeten it up nicely!

The best family resorts in Mexico, similar The K at Moon Palace, always have nifty smoothies.

Mexico with kids: eleven. See a show. Or exist in the bear witness!

The quality of evening amusement at resorts varies wildly, but kids are easy to please and rarely the critics we think they'll be. So take them to the shows each nighttime, even if Yous retrieve they sound kind of lame. You might be surprised when a fire-dancer or circus artist blows you lot away.

When you need to know what to do in Cancun with kids, beginning with your resort's amusement programming.

At a lot of resorts, in that location are as well opportunities throughout the week for your kids to get involved and be in a show, too. In some cases, they will rehearse all week with the amusement staff, while in others they may just get invited upward on phase spontaneously. Even shy kids may be more likely to participate in something like this on holiday, where there's no fearfulness of being laughed at or teased by classmates in the oversupply.

United mexican states with kids: 12. Swallow at a swim-upwards bar.

Consume in your swimsuits then go right back to family fun.

Information technology might not feel too comfortable donning a towel and sitting down for your resort lunch in wet swimwear, and so every visit to Mexico with kids must include eating at a swim-up bar! Yous might have to ask for menus, but chances are good that a four- or five-star resort will offer meal service right to your swim-up barstool.

This is the ultimate in both fun AND efficiency.

Mexico with kids: 13. Walk on the embankment.

Is at that place anything better than sand below your toes and warm water lapping at your feet? (No. The answer is no.)

OK, and so this wasn't exactly a coincidental stroll on the beach — but we do plenty of those on our tropical vacations, and you should besides when you visit Cancun with kids. (Photograph credit: DreamArt Photography)

Well, if y'all love long walks along the beach, Cancun's Hotel Zone will totally exist your jam. From our home base at the Difficult Rock Cancun or Embankment Palace, for example, we could walk for ii hours in either direction and still not reach the end of the embankment!

Across swell exercise, this too gives you lot a chance to cheque out some of the other backdrop forth the way for time to come visits. I similar to use these walks for individual i-on-once with my kids, where we accept hours to merely talk.

United mexican states with kids: 14. Become to a waterpark.

If y'all aren't staying somewhere with a dandy waterpark similar the Royalton or The Grand, consider getting a day pass for a resort that has one. Day passes can exist a more cost-constructive fashion of customizing your holiday itinerary; maybe your budget doesn't allow for a full calendar week at The One thousand, so perhaps a twenty-four hour period pass is a proficient use of your money.

Simply retrieve to make sure it includes food and beverages, and maximize your time at the resort by arriving every bit early as possible and leaving every bit late as yous're immune to.

Even if your resort merely has a single waterslide, it'll provide hours of fun during your vacation.

Mexico with kids: 15. Lookout man the sunrise.

My kids are generally pretty early on risers, only they're never awake on their own earlier sunrise. And then I frequently selection one morning of our vacation to wake one or both of them upwardly to come out onto the balcony or the beach to see the sun come up over the ocean.

In that location'southward always something special about those first cracks of pink and orange low-cal fusing and breaking through the night sky. It'south of import that kids see and appreciate the dawning of a new day, fifty-fifty if yous do it in complete silence. Being the first ones down at the beach also has its benefits if you lot're at a resort where saving your loungers each morning is de rigueur.

Wondering where to watch the sunrise in Cancun? All of the beachfront resorts and hotels with ocean-facing rooms offer stellar viewing right from your balcony.

Mexico with kids: 16. Play video games. (Yes, really.)

Yep, aye — yous're here to be outside in the sunshine, playing in the fresh oceanside air. I get it. But sometimes it's OK to take a break from all that outdoor time or to fill your nights with things your kids love to do at dwelling.

And my kids Dear video games. So we usually notice ourselves at resorts that have at least an arcade game — though some accept full-blown XBOX or PlayStation studios or even multi-level game zones that would make a carny drool. Nosotros carve out time simply for video games because this is their vacation, too.

Some of the all-time kids clubs in Mexico have areas for even the most serious gamers.

Mexico with kids: 17. Have a cannonball contest.

Permit'south say your resort doesn't offering an Insta-worthy beachfront. That'due south OK! You lot can accept loads of fun in the puddle — even if information technology doesn't have a proper deep end.

Enter the family cannonball competition! As long equally yous have a good five or six anxiety of depth to play with, cannonballs are everyone's friend. Fix dissimilar rules for the kids versus parents, create a unique scoring system or have a prize for the best cannonball of the day — no matter how your competition goes down, be sure to capture information technology all using the wearisome-mo and flare-up options on your smartphone and then yous tin re-live the fun again and over again when you get dorsum home.

The K Human being won this round for the most stylish canonball technique.

Mexico with kids: 18. Become snorkelling in Puerto Morelos.

I'm a certified SCUBA diver, so it's non often that I suggest snorkelling as an excursion. Yet, for a US$25 taxi ride into Puerto Morelos down the Riviera Cancun'due south coastline (or about $40 if you lot're coming from Cancun proper), you'll salve a pile of money by organizing this on your own rather than booking a snorkel bout through your hotel.

At that place'due south a great little dive and snorkel store in Puerto Morelos chosen Wet Gear up . For Us$35 per person, your adventure includes a life vest, snorkel and mask, the boat ride, toll of access into an unmarked marine park and two fully guided snorkel sessions.

Head to Wet Prepare with your kids and snorkel in Puerto Morelos. You won't regret information technology.

The water is quite shallow, so it actually feels like you're snorkelling in an aquarium. And all of the coral is still in fantastic shape, so you're guaranteed to encounter lots of sea life. I even came face up to face with a big green turtle!

Kids who aren't confident or experienced snorkellers have the pick to swim with a guide, holding on to a ring for actress rubber.

PRO TIP: If you accept a mask and snorkel that you love, bring them along. The ones Wet Set up offers are very basic.

One time yous render from snorkelling, you can walk virtually 25 feet toward the embankment and country at Don Ernestos — an open up-air, thatched-roof beachfront bar where you can relish lunch.

And tequila.

Oh, certain, yous tin can get other drinks, too, including virgin cocktails for the kiddos, merely if the owner is in that location, ask for an education in tequila. From reposado to mezcal, we learned what is and isn't tequila, how it's anile and why there are different colours.

The ceviche and craven wings are fantastic, the pina coladas are enormous, and you can't beat the salty breeze running through your ocean-tussled hair.

One of our favourite restaurants in Puerto Morelos is Don Ernestos on the beach, right beside Wet Prepare's Swoop Shop.

Mexico with kids: 19. Swallow real tacos.

Not far from the Puerto Morelos embankment where your snorkel adventure will conclude is Colonia. This essentially means "the village," and it's where the locals live, store and dine. While there were few tourists effectually, it notwithstanding felt completely safe — because we went there with a couple of locals likewise as ex-pats who live in Puerto Morelos several months a twelvemonth.

And this is where you need to eat existent Mexican tacos. Just be certain to inquire almost the current safe climate before you leave Wet Fix. Remember: you want to use good mutual sense when you leave your resort, especially when visiting Mexico with kids. In that location are even places in Toronto I wouldn't visit alone or afterwards nighttime, for example, and things tin change in Mexico from i visit to the next in sure areas. And then enquire for the lay of the state every time you get. You can't be too street-smart.

Los Mezquites is a concrete slab of a eatery in Colonia. There are no doors or walls. And with no more than viii tables, and seating for mayhap eight more effectually the grill, nosotros probably would accept driven right past it had our hosts not told us it was our destination.

The best tacos in Cancun (well, the Cancun area) can exist plant in Puerto Morelos at Los Mezquites. Just exist sure to continue your wits about y'all and employ common sense before venturing into this less tourist-y function of the expanse.

The chef was cooking marinated meat — pork, chorizo, beef, chicken — similar a boss. It was not-end. I asked him how much meat he cooks every day: 40 kilos (that's more than 88 pounds).

Later on inhaling 3 whole tacos and sharing 1 magical taco-like creation full of meat and melted cheese, information technology wasn't difficult to understand why the joint is busy from the time information technology opens in belatedly afternoon until it finally closes down around 4 or 5 a.m.

The bonus? It cost less than U.s.a.$3 per person to eat. (Nosotros paid double, considering that extra bit of money for usa is aught, just it can do a lot for a family in Mexico.)

Mexico with kids: 20. Practise a professional family unit photo shoot.

No affair how hard I try, I can't seem to plow Big B into an Instagram Husband. So I rely on pro photographers when we're on vacation to assist capture memories with me in them. (Photograph credit: EDUARDO GARCIA)

OK, I told y'all I was saving the best for concluding. And that's a photo shoot! Inevitably, one parent is the resident picture-taker — and that means there are few photos of that person every bit a event.

And, frankly, even though I take pretty good photos considering I'chiliad untrained and amateur, I'm nonetheless no professional. (Photo credit: DreamArt Photography)

Relying on other guests' (a) kindness to terminate and aid accept your family photograph and (b) power to have one that you'd want to frame is iffy. Many resorts accept onsite photographers and y'all can become some amazing shots for a pretty reasonable investment.

In our experience, it's been cheaper to practice a family photo shoot on vacation than it is at home with local photographers. The shoot itself is usually free and you pay for the private shots you love, discarding the remainder. At that place are also almost always package deals that make getting a bulk number of photos cheaper the more you select.

(Photo credit: DreamArt Photography)

No matter what you pay, the effect is priceless because your entire clan will be defenseless in that moment in fourth dimension forever, together.

DISCLAIMER: We accept occasionally been invited to stay at various resorts to facilitate reviews. Many of our vacations and the additional activities on those vacations, all the same, are self-funded. In either case, opinions are my own and honest recommendations are my raison d'être.

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Source: https://mommygearest.com/mexico-with-kids/