When visiting the Riviera Maya, there are countless activities to choose from—but we’re here to let you in on one you might not have heard of yet: Xenses Park.
Out of all the Xcaret parks, Xenses is by far the most unexpected. Designed to awaken your senses (hence the name!), this park offers a playful and surreal experience that’s totally different from your typical adventure.
From mind-bending optical illusions to clay rivers and sensory tunnels, we’re sharing why Xenses Park is the most unique experience in the Riviera Maya.
What is Xenses Park Known For?
Xenses Park is one of five amusement parks under the Xcaret brand, each offering a different kind of adventure in the Riviera Maya.
This park was designed to take you on a one-of-a-kind sensory journey. It’s a playful, hands-on experience like no other.
The park has two main paths: the Path of Feeling and the Path of Doing. Each one tests your senses in unexpected ways. You’ll see, hear, touch, taste, and feel your way through illusions, textures, scents, and sounds that challenge your perception.
As photographers, we loved Xenses for its creative setups and mind-bending illusions, perfect for fun and unique photos. Like you can see from our official Xenses pictures, we got some totally unique and captivating pictures from around the park.
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Is Xenses Park Part of Xcaret?
Xenses is one of the five parks operated by Xcaret. It offers a playful, sensory experience that’s completely different from the rest. You might notice two versions: Xenses and Xenses Insomnia. Both offer similar attractions but operate at different times of day.
What Time Does Xenses Open
Xenses runs during daylight hours, from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm. Xenses Insomnia is a nighttime experience available only in spring and summer. Each version plays with light, sound, and perception—just at different times, offering totally different vibes.
🤑 Save up to 15% on Xenses tickets by booking online 👉
Xcaret Park
Xcaret Park is their flagship destination. It’s packed with cenotes, underground rivers, and colorful cultural shows from all over Mexico.
Xplor Park
Xplor Park is all about adrenaline. It’s the world’s most visited zipline park and also features the new Taboganxote 5-in-1 mega slide. You can also experience Xplor at night with Xplor Fuego, where you zipline under the stars and explore glowing caves.
Xel-Ha Park
Xel-Ha Park is an eco water park built into a natural inlet. You’ll snorkel, float, cliff jump, and explore cenotes. Adventurous visitors love the big corkscrew slide and the relaxing, crystal-clear waters of Xel-Ha’s natural attractions.
Xoximilco
Xoximilco recreates the ancient canals of Xochimilco, Mexico City. It’s a festive night of food, music, and Mexican culture. You’ll float along on colorful boats, enjoy a three-course Mexican meal, and dance to live music from across the country.
As frequent Xcaret visitors, we’re always impressed with how clean, well-run, and professional each park is. Staff are friendly, organized, and truly enhance the experience.
What’s included With Your Xenses Park Tickets
With your Xenses ticket, you’ll get access to the park and over 50 fun and quirky scenarios, including two main experiences: the Path of Feeling and the Path of Doing.
Path of Feeling at Xenses Park
Path of Feeling takes you on a unique adventure. You’ll start with the playful Way of Dwarves and Giants — perfect for fun and weird photo ops.
Then, head into total darkness in the Xensatorium, an underground cave where you explore different ecosystems using only your senses. You’ll feel plants, hear frogs, and smell earthy scents — all without seeing a thing. It was honestly unlike anything we’ve ever done, and walking in complete darkness really tested our bravery. If you’re up for a challenge, don’t skip this!
After that, stroll through a lush jungle and end in the Xitric Garden, where you can pour yourself fresh lemonade straight from a tree — we thought that was such a creative touch.
Path of Doing at Xenses Park
Path of Doing might be even wilder than the Path of Feeling. You’ll wander through a Mexican-style pueblo where you won’t be able to tell if you’re going uphill or downhill — we still have no clue how they pulled that off!
Then, you’ll soar over the park on the Bird Flight, which seriously feels like flying. To wrap it up, you’ll cool off in underground saline and clay rivers — so much fun!
Fun photo opportunities are everywhere. One of our favorite parts of the day was striking silly poses at all the crazy, creative photo spots.
Each ticket also includes a locker, which is big enough for a towel, change of clothes, and other bits. Showers are available so you can rinse off before heading out.
🤑 Save up to 15% on Xenses tickets by booking online 👉
What’s Not Included With Your Xenses Park Tickets
While you can absolutely have a great day at Xenses without any add-ons, there are two we highly recommend — the Xcaret transportation and the Photopass!
Xenses Park Photo Package
We were so glad we got the Xenses Photopass. It gave us the chance to take incredible, mind-bending photos that we couldn’t have captured ourselves. One of our favorite parts of the park was posing at all the creative photo spots — it had us laughing nonstop.
You don’t need to buy the photo package when you purchase your ticket. When you arrive, you’ll get a bracelet that you scan at the photo stations around the park. Large screens let you review your photos throughout the day.
If you fall in love with your shots, you can buy the Photopass at reception. They’ll email you a link to download your photos. We ended up with 298 high-quality pictures — totally worth it!
🪖 The 5-in-1 mega slide at Xplor is finally open
Xenses Park Transportation
As for the Xenses transportation, it’s hands down the safest, most comfortable, and most convenient way to get to and from Xenses. We love that the buses are clean, air-conditioned, and always on time.
To use this option, simply select “add transportation” when booking your Xenses ticket online. They pick up from most hotels in the Riviera Maya, or from set locations in beach towns like Playa del Carmen.
Of course, you can also drive or take a taxi. But we don’t recommend taxis. In our experience, they tend to overcharge, and the cars are often in poor condition — dirty, run-down, and sometimes even missing seatbelts.
Is There Food at Xenses Park
There’s also an on-site restaurant called Xnack. You can order hot meals like burgers and pizza, or grab snacks and drinks if you want something lighter. Meals aren’t included in your ticket, but you can pay for whatever you like directly at the restaurant.
P.S. Not many people know this, but you can enjoy your meal inside one of the air-conditioned Xcaret buses. It’s a pretty cool spot to relax!
Xenses Gift Shop
Lastly, one of the best things about the Xcaret Parks is their high-quality and unique souvenirs. You’ll always find some classic items, like those adorable Mexican dolls, at every park. But each park also has souvenirs designed especially for that location, which makes them extra special.
If you forget to pack essentials like sunscreen or water shoes, don’t worry — the souvenir store ‘The Giftery’ has you covered.
Get over 400 of our favourite activities, sites, restaurants & secret spots in The Riviera Maya Mexico, on Google Maps!
How Long Does It Take To Go Through Xenses
Xenses is the only half-day park in Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya. It usually takes around five hours to explore the entire park. Even though there are over 50 awesome things to do, most activities only take a few minutes. So, you move through the park pretty quickly.
The park opens at 8:30am, but the two main areas — the Path of Feeling and the Path of Doing — only open after 9:30am.
That said, just because it’s a “half-day” park doesn’t mean you have to leave early. We ended up staying way longer than planned. We arrived at 8:30am because we’re big believers in “the early bird catches the worm.” We were glad we did!
We had the pinwheel area — the heart of the park — almost all to ourselves. It was the perfect time to get our Photopass pictures. We managed to take fun photos at all the optical illusions in the pinwheel before the crowds showed up, and highly recommend doing the same.
Even though we arrived early, we were having such a great time that we ended up repeating some of the activities. We didn’t leave until 4:30pm, which means we spent a total of eight hours in the park!
💦 Visiting the all-inclusive Xel Ha water park? Here’s what you must know
What is There to Do at Xenses
Like we mentioned earlier, there are over 50 things to see and do at Xenses Park — many of them being fun and quirky photo opportunities.
Here are some of our absolute favorite attractions:
Slide Into An Underground Cave
This slide was way faster and more exhilarating than we expected! You’ll land in cool water inside a cave — perfect after walking in the heat.
Birdflight
You’ll get strapped into a harness that lets you glide belly-down through the air, making you feel like you’re flying. Some surprise drops made it extra fun!
Sludgerama
This is one of the weirdest sensations we’ve felt — but we liked it! You’ll float through soft, slimy clay inside a dark underground cave. At the end, jets of water rinse you off completely, so you’re not left covered in mud.
Floating In A Saline River
Because the water is full of salt, you float effortlessly as you drift along a calm underground river. We loved how relaxing it was — and the view of the ancient stalactites above made it unforgettable.
🤑 Save up to 15% on Xenses tickets by booking online 👉
Xensatorium
This one is not for the faint of heart. You walk through a pitch-black tunnel where you can’t even see your hand in front of you. You’ll rely on your other senses to guide you — touching plants, hearing frogs, crossing bridges, and smelling earthy scents.
Walking Through "El Pueblo"
We still can’t figure this one out. It looks like you’re going uphill, but it feels like you’re going downhill — or maybe the other way around? It’s one giant optical illusion, and we loved all the weird and funny photo spots along the way.
If you get motion sickness, we recommend taking a pill before exploring this part — it really messes with your balance!
El Chavo Del Ocho House
Inside the Pueblo, you’ll find a fun exhibit dedicated to Chavo del Ocho, a beloved Latin American TV show from the 70s and 80s.
Drink Lemonade From a Tree
Yes, really. Somehow, there’s a working tap in a living tree — and it pours out cold, refreshing lemonade. So fun and creative!
Native Birdlife
We were so excited to see two of our favorite birds from the Yucatán Peninsula — bright pink flamingos and colorful macaws — up close and personal. We’ve traveled through the region before, but never got this close to them. It was such a cool experience.
There’s still plenty more to see and do at Xenses, but these were definitely our favorite moments!
📸 Watch Our Experience at Xenses in This YouTube Video 👇
What to Wear at Xenses Park
Since Xenses Park is in the Riviera Maya, you can expect it to be hot and humid almost all year round. We wore shorts and breezy shirts, but honestly spent most of the day in just our bathing suits.
If I could do it over, I’d wear lightweight exercise shorts and a sports bra instead. That way, I’d feel a little more covered but still comfortable. Of course, what you wear totally depends on what makes you feel confident and at ease.
We definitely recommend packing water shoes to protect your feet from the rough ground — they’ll make a big difference. Or, you can buy a pair at The Giftery at Xenses Park.
Also, bring a change of clothes so you can rinse off at the end of the day and head home feeling fresh and dry.
Is Xenses Family-Friendly
Most of the Xcaret Parks are family-friendly, and Xenses is no exception — though we’d really only recommend it for kids aged 5 and up. The only activity that may not work for smaller kids is the Birdflight, which has a minimum weight requirement of 60 lbs (30 kg).
Even though we don’t have kids yet, we could totally see Xenses being a fun day out for younger kids, older kids, and adults too. The attractions aren’t too intense or scary, so almost everyone can join in. But they’re still fun, creative, and surprising enough to keep the whole family entertained.
Compared to Xplor — which is Xcaret’s adrenaline-packed zipline park — Xenses is much more kid-friendly and laid-back.
What To Expect At Xenses
You can obviously choose to do Xenses Park in any sequence you prefer, but here’s exactly how we spent our day at the park and had an awesome time:
After arriving, we entered the Pinwheel, the central hub that connects to all the attractions and facilities. We headed straight to the dry photo spots here before it got crowded. Definitely recommend doing this first!
Then we grabbed a locker, changed into our swimsuits, and got ready to explore.
We started with the Path of Feeling, which opens before the Path of Doing at 9:30am.
First up was the Way of Dwarves and Giants—a fun walkway and a great photo opportunity.
Next came the Xensatorium, a pitch-black cave where you use your senses to explore different ecosystems. You’ll walk through the darkness and emerge into tunnels with flamingoes, macaws, and a cascading waterfall. It’s technically the dry zone, but your feet might get a little wet.
We hit the waterslide next—it’s fast and refreshing and drops you into an underground cave.
That’s where the wet zone begins. From here, we moved straight to the Bird Flight.
Next up, we floated peacefully through the saline river.
Then came Sludgery—a clay river that felt soft, squishy, and super weird (in the best way)
By 1pm, we were starving and headed to Xnack for lunch and a coffee break. We skipped the courtyard tables and sat inside the Xcaret bus, which had air conditioning! After lunch, we took more photos near Xnack.
Since it was still early, we revisited the Path of Feeling to see the birds again.
We also went back to the Pueblo to get extra photos—we’d missed a few the first time.
We spent our last hour showering, getting changed, taking final pictures, and browsing The Giftery.
Tips For Visiting Xenses Park
Here are our top tips to help you make the most of your day at Xenses Park:
Arrive Early
Arrive early to get your photos at all the photo spots in the Pinwheel before the crowds arrive. That’s what we did, and we were able to take our time without holding anyone up.
Book Your Tickets In Advance
Book your Xenses tickets online at least 7 days in advance to get a discount.
Get A Xcaret Park Bundle
Save money by getting a Xcaret combo ticket. If you book two or more parks, you can save up to 20% on tickets. If you only have one day for Xcaret experiences, we recommend visiting Xenses during the day and Xoximilco Floating Fiesta at night. It’ll be a big day, but so much fun!
Purchase the Xenses Park Photo Package
Xenses is all about fun, mind-bending photo ops. Even if you’re unsure about getting the Photopass, still take photos throughout the park. You can check them out at the end of the day and decide if you want to buy them. We were so glad we did — they turned out way better than anything we could have taken ourselves!
Bring a Change of Clothes
Bring a change of clothes and a towel. After all the activities, you’ll want to rinse off and head back to your hotel feeling fresh and dry.
Motion Sickness Pills
If you get motion-sick like I do, I recommend taking a pill before walking through the Pueblo. I forgot mine and was okay, but I would’ve enjoyed it more without the dizziness.
Planned Ahead
Just a heads-up — the park is closed on Sundays, so plan your trip around that.
🤑 Save up to 15% on Xenses tickets by booking online 👉
Is Xenses worth it - our honest thoughts
If you’ve made it this far, you’ve probably guessed that we had an amazing day at Xenses — and we totally recommend it! Especially if you’re after something unique and different.
Our top tip? Get a combo pass so you can visit more Xcaret parks. Xenses is smaller than others like Xcaret or Xplor, but still totally worth it.
If you have any questions, drop them in the comments — and feel free to share this with a friend who’s heading to Mexico soon! 👇
