Water Activities at Excellence Riviera Cancun

One of the biggest highlights of our Cancun vacation were all the water activities. The all-inclusive package includes a few non-motorized water activities. When we were in Cancun in 2010, we managed to capsize a hobie cat, but this time around, we were careful not to go out when it’s too windy. Here is Captain John commandeering our hobit cat!

On our 2010 trip to Cancun, we did a day trip to Chitchen Itza and Cenote Il Kil, which was just breathtaking. This time around, we wanted a different type of excursion. The sales people at the resort are pretty aggressive when it comes to selling tour packages. I don’t know why they highlight the buffets on the longer tours, especially when we were already have all you can eat at the resort. By the way, here are we clowning around in the pool, pretending to crocodiles…

We ultimately decided on the jungle tour, which was a reasonable half day trip. Instead of speed boats, we picked the wave runner style boats! It’s like a water motorcycle for two. You drive your own boat and follow the tour guide through the mangrove channels of Nichupté Lagoon. The ride was quite thrilling, and I managed to grab a quick photo as we were zooming along…

It took about 45 minutes to reach our destination, Punta Nizuc, a beautiful coral reef. After tying up all our boats, we pulled out our snorkeling gear from the storage compartment under our seats. This was our first time snorkeling, but John had no trouble with it as he has always been a swimmer. It took me a while to get the hang of it after a quick lesson from the tour guide,  but I was quickly swimming among all the colorful fishies!

The water was actually crystal clear (unlike our photos), and we could see every detail of the fishes and corals. Schools of fish were swimming around us, but they didn’t seem bothered by us at all. You’re required by Mexican law to wear a life vest at all times, but if you’re a good enough swimmer, it’s not too difficult to dive into the water with your vest on.

Since John drove the boat to the snorkeling site, it was my turn to drive on our way back. This is hilarious… I don’t know how to drive a car or ride a bike, but here I am driving what is essentially a water motorcycle! The backseat driving was kept to a minimum (hah), but I did have a hard time parking the boat at the dock. I crashed into another boat, but everyone was okay. Phew!

P.S. We even managed to get a quick, blurry selfie on our way to the snorkeling site when the tour guide stopped the group to go check on one boat that was falling behind.

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