Travel

Adventure Travel in Riviera Maya and Cancun, Mexico

Want to go diving in cenotes, ride ATVs in the jungle and fly on ziplines?

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Until recently, I thought vacationing in Cancun or the Riviera Maya on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula was just playing golf, sunbathing and snorkeling. Not so. The asteroid that hit the Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago and caused the death of the dinosaurs, according to a study reported in Science journal, created a unique topography - essentially a mega-sized slab of limestone through which ground water drips creating cenotes. Vacationing in Riviera Maya or Cancun, you can dive or snorkel in cenotes, swim or raft in underground rivers, steer ATVs or amphibious buggies in the jungles and ride lots of zip lines.

1. Xplor: An underground playground for soft adventures

Rafting in an underground river at Xplor, Riviera Maya, Mexico

At Xplor, there's an entire world of underground adventures including swimming and rafting in underground rivers. Above the earth's crust, there's a network of zip lines that looks like freeways in the sky, and a three-mile track where you can drive an amphibious buggy through the jungle, into caves and on suspension bridges over water.

2. Rio Secreto - Tops on Riviera Maya Things to Do List

Rio Secreto

Touring Rio Secreto's was a highlight during a trip to the Riviera Maya. You don a helmet with a lamp and a guide takes you on a combination walk and swim to experience the wonders of Mexico's longest underground cave system in a natural, untouched state.

3. Untouched Nature at Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve

Floating downstream in Sian Ka'an, a Biosphere Reserve in Mexico and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, I thought about the Mayans who created these waterways centuries ago. I was swimming behind a boat toward the end of a day that included kayaking among mangroves to watch birds, motoring past a dozing crocodile and photographing more than a dozen different species of birds.

4. Scuba diving and snorkeling in cenotes in a Yucantan undergtround cave system

Diving in an underwater cave system near Cancun, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

If you want to scuba dive or snorkel in a cenote while you are in Cancun or the Riviera Maya, read about our experience diving in Dos Ochos, an underground cave system in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

5. Hidden Worlds: Ride a SkyCycle through the treetops

Riding a SkyCycle at Hidden Worlds, Riviera Maya, Mexico

While riding a SkyCycle through the treetops at Hidden Worlds you can stop to enjoy the scenery and listen to the birds sing. The family-oriented Hidden Worlds adventure park is tucked into the jungle, with places where you can ride a zipline or rappel into a cenote. The staff is bilingual at this non-profit park (proceeds go to benefit various Third World causes) and many of the people working at the park are members of the local Mayan community.

6. Punta Venado: Play on 2 1/2 miles of private Caribbean beachfront

An ATV tour at Punta Venado, Riviera Maya near Cancun, Mexico

If you want to escape from crowded beaches, go horseback riding along a beach and in the surf, take an ATV ride through the jungle, or go kayaking and snorkeling off a private, pristine beach, plan at day at Punta Venado.