Xcaret Eco Park
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Location | Kilometer Marker 282 Chetumal-Puerto Juárez Highway, Municipality of Solidaridad Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
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Coordinates | 20°34′41″N 87°07′09″W / 20.57806°N 87.11917°WCoordinates: 20°34′41″N 87°07′09″W / 20.57806°N 87.11917°W |
Opened | 1991 |
Area | 81 ha (200 acres) |
Website | Xcaret Eco Park |
Xcaret Park (Spanish: el parque Xcaret) is a privately owned and operated theme park, resort and self-described ecotourism development located in the Riviera Maya, a portion of the Caribbean coastline of Mexico's state of Quintana Roo that has been designated as a zone for tourism development. It is part of Xcaret Experiencias Group which also owns the Xplor Park, Xel-Ha Park, and Xenses Park; as well as the Xichen, Xenotes, and Xoximilco tours and activities. It is situated approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) south of Cancún, and 6.5 kilometres (4 mi) south of the nearest large settlement Playa del Carmen along Highway 307. It is named after the nearby archaeological site Xcaret, a settlement constructed by the pre-Columbian Maya some of whose structures lie within the boundaries of the park's 81 hectares (200 acres) of land holdings.
From 2010 to 2015, Xcaret Experiencias has been recognized as one of The Best Mexican Companies (Las Mejores Empresas Mexicanas), a recognition promoted by Banamex, Deloitte México and Tecnológico de Monterrey.
The Ecological Park is built in the same area as the archaeological site and has the same name, Xcaret.
The land was originally purchased by a group of Mexican entrepreneurs, led by architect Miguel Quintana Pali. 5 hectares of the land was purchased in 1984.
When he began to clear the land, he started uncovering cenotes, sinkholes formed by collapsed cave ceilings weakened by 3 million years of erosion from underground rivers running through them and flowing into the sea. He saw the potential for tourism and formulated the idea of an Ecological Park open to the public, and soon joined forces with Oscar, Marcos and Carlos Constandse, achieving this goal in December 1990.