Hotel Xcaret Arte: How to Maximize your Vacation ++ Complete Packing List

You’ve pulled the trigger and booked your trip to Hotel Xcaret Arte: Congratulations! There is so much you can do to to get prepared now so you can relax later. Go ahead and download the apps for both the hotels and the parks/activities, and there are some great Facebook Xcaret fan groups that are a wealth of information. And this is your one stop source for all information Hotel Xcare Arte! Start with Hotel Xcaret Arte: The Ultimate Guide, then come back here. You can follow the links below to skip between sections quickly!

Complete Packing List

Planning your Itinerary

Building Your Wish List

Getting There

Once you book your flight (likely to Cancun), you can enjoy the airport transfers included when you book with Xcaret. Once you step off the plane, you go through customs, grab your bags, and head directly outside. Do NOT speak to or make eye contact with the people trying to talk to you as you exit, they are trying to get you to pay them to take you where you need to go, which is not necessary. Once you head outside, you should see someone in a pink shirt holding an Xcaret sign (and double check the logo). They will have a binder that includes your information. That’s who you need to talk to! If you happen to have landed in Terminal 4, it’s even easier – Xcaret has a dedicated lounge area.

Once you’ve identified your contact, they will escort you to the Xcaret bus and store your luggage underneath. These buses are for both Hotel Xcaret Mexico and Hotel Xcaret Arte. You’ll get a refreshing sparkling water on the bus, and some paperwork to fill out. Just sit back, relax, and let the anticipation build!

Complete Packing List

Hotel Xcaret Arte (HXA) was a family trip for us (me, my husband, and 2 young adult kids with their significant others). As the mom of family trips, I always pack waaay more medicine, first aid, sun block, etc than I could possibly use myself so I have enough for any issues that could arise for any of the 6 of us. For the purposes of this article, we will assume you are packing only for yourself, and that your stay will be 7-8 days (the most popular length for a stay at HXA.

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Lets get started!

Many people like to travel carryon only for ease of travel. While I aim for that if I will be dragging luggage around from city to city on a trip to Europe, in this case I don’t see any issue with checking a bag unless your airline has a particularly bad history of losing luggage. The process of getting you to and from the airport is so streamlined, the most you have to do is take your luggage off the baggage claim at the airport. So with that in mind, I chose to check one medium sized bag and carry on a small backpack.

Contents for Small Bag or Backpack on the Plane:

• passport, ID, travel confirmation documents, travel credit card (make sure there are no foreign transaction fees), and cash (bring a mix of pesos and USD). This travel organizer makes it easy to keep everything in order!
• any prescription meds and necessary OTC meds (in case the worst happens and your luggage is lost)
• whatever you need to stay occupied – book, headphones, Kindle, phone with downloaded shows, podcasts, or books, etc. *Don’t forget to bring your charger*! For many reading this, the flight to Cancun is much shorter than hopping the pond to Europe!
• a swimsuit and coverup, as well as flip flops or sandals (if you aren’t already wearing them – we arrived in the dead of winter, so I was wearing boots!). Your luggage will be routed from the airport transfer bus to the bellhops, so you may not see it immediately when you are checked into your room. You will be happier if you are prepared so you can hit the pools, rivers, or beach immediately!

Clothes:

• Swimsuits: This will be your primary attire, whether at the resort or the parks. For an 8 day trip, I would recommend at least 5, a combination of 1 piece and 2 piece suits. The guys could probably get by with 3-4. Definitely bring more than 1-2 – the suit you wear in the mud at Xenses will NOT be wearable again, and you may not want to re-wear the suits you use for cenotes or the river swim at Xcaret Park. Here are some swimsuit options that passed the test for us! Resort style high waisted two piece, one piece with cutout, and another high waisted two piece with smocked top.
• Swimsuit coverups: a sarong, a couple of cute sundresses that can double as coverups – you will need at least 4! My daughter was a big fan of this classy coverup, and I wore this simple sarong the most.
• swim shirt (rash guard) and swim shorts: if you are going to Xplor, Xenotes, or Xcaret park, you will be glad to have them! Bring 1 long sleeved and 1 short sleeved. I loved this one I got for my son! They are good for sun protection as well as keeping everything in place while you are having your adventures!
• short sleeved shirt/tank: you will be shocked how few “regular clothes” you need. 2-3 are plenty!
• shorts: same as above, go with no more than 2!
• dresses/jumpsuits/rompers: likely every night you will be going to a restaurant of some sort. They won’t all be dressy, but if you like dressing up for dinner like I do, go ahead and bring 6-7! I got this jumpsuit and this sundress before going!
• wrap or cardigan: 1 is all you need, and you may not even need that, but it’s good to have! I got this super cute light cardigan before our trip and absolutely love it!
• shoes: you will need 1 pair of flip flops for every day around the resort and some parks, 1 pair of swim shoes (these and these worked for us) for Xplor/Xenotes, and 1 pair of cute sandals for evening. That’s it!
• underwear/socks: I’ll leave this up to you!
• sun hat: that Mexican sun is no joke! I went with this one!

Toiletries

• blister bandaids: for wearing with those wet swim shoes! These are amazing and saved my toes!
• anti chafing stick: I like Chub Rub, no residue!
• curling iron/straightener as needed (just know it may be fairly humid so your hair is not likely to cooperate anyway! I am in love with this travel set from Chi, and it’s a great value for the money!
• sunscreen – note that all sunscreens need to be reef-safe. I used this face sunscreen and it worked perfectly with no breakouts! I like spray sunscreens – this is a good reef-safe brand!
• aloe for sunburns
• toothbrush/face wash/make up – you know what you need for the basics!
• any OTC meds or vitamins you didn’t already pack in your carry-on – you want to keep your body happy and running well! My personal list of OTC meds: Tums, pepto bismol tablets, immodium, pepcid or other acid reducer, dramamine, small amount of cold medicine/cough drops, hydrocortisone, and allergy meds. Also recommended are probiotics (especially important for a trip to Mexico – this strain has been proven to be specifically good for travel – we took it for a few weeks prior to travel and had zero issues!)

Miscellaneous

• waterproof phone case – these cases float, so no worries about losing a phone in the bottom of a cenote, and they did a great job keeping our phones dry.
• Electrolyte Powder – my favorite is the Liquid I.V. tangerine hydration multiplier.
• mosquito repellent – not a fan of the smell of the spray or the chemicals, so we used these bracelets!
• money for tips: recommend $400 for 8 days – they will accept USD, but I think it’s polite to convert to pesos.
• waterproof fanny pack or dry bag – there are lockers at all the parks, but there’s always a few things I still want to keep on hand!
• straws – they don’t have any at the resort, so if you need them for your drinks, bring them with you!
• bluetooth speaker – this one is tiny, but mighty!
• GoPro/camera equipment – you will want to take underwater photos/video in those gorgeous rivers throughout the property. The GoPro is my husband’s territory, and he says the extra batteries are a must!
• paper copies of passport and important documents
• portable charger and wall charger for all electronics
• sunglasses – protect those peepers! These have UV protection, plus are cute and beachy.
• Tumbler – you need to keep those drinks by the pool cool! If you are staying in Artistas (the upgraded casa), they sometimes provide these, but reports are inconsistent. For instance, only 4 of the 6 of us received them.
• Water Bottle for the parks. I brought the Brita filtered water bottles. I’m a big water person, and wasn’t sure how the taste would be. Plus I wanted something more portable than a Yeti, and figured some extra filtration wouldn’t be a bad thing!

Planning your Itinerary

This part is so much fun! Now would be a good time to refer to Hotel Xcare Arte: Adding some Adventure – The Parks/Activities to familiarize yourself with all the options – there are quite a few! I found it helpful to plan out our days in a color coded Excel Spreadsheet. That may not be for everyone, but I definitely recommend mapping out your days visually in some way, even using a pen/paper.

With so many included activities, try not to give in to the temptation to max out all your days at different parks. You will end your vacation more exhausted than you started, plus you want an opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous resort! Start by learning about the parks and activities, as well as the restaurants you want to target for reservations. Some parks or excursions will take all day plus some. If you want to do a tasting menu at Encanta that day, you should choose an excursion with a shorter time commitment.

Decide how many days you want to devote to the resort, then make a ranked list of activities outside the resort. For me, a perfect schedule is approximately half and half. Do you love adventure (Xavage)? nature (Xenotes)? Tequila(Xochimilco)? Think about what you enjoy, and there will be an experience (xperience?) for you!

Next up, time to choose the restaurants! Hotel Xcaret Arte: Best Restaurants, Bars, and Nightlife provides helpful information to narrow it down. You will find the most recent links to all menus there as well. If you have picky eaters in your crew like I do, it’s peace of mind to know everything will be able to find a meal that suits them!

After you’ve chosen your activities/parks and restaurants, look at the unstructured time you have left. I like to keep a list of on site things I want to do, but also don’t want to “schedule” – pools to visit, resort activities, exploring the area…I don’t want to get home and think “Ooh, I forgot to do XXXX”. I also think it’s helpful to front load activities while your fresh earlier in the week and save extra resort time for the end of your trip!

Building your Wish List

Now that you know what you want to do and when, you are ready to fill out the resort’s “wish list”! This is how you communicate your arrival and departure times, and reserve the parks and restaurants that require reservations. The resort says is is available 30 days prior to arrival, but I started emailing customer service at hxagservice@hotelxcaret.com about 8 weeks prior to arrival, just to see if I could fill one out early. After my 3rd daily email, they got back to me and sent the document that needed to be completed. Below is the most current form with all the options.

The wish list also contains lots of great info regarding restaurant and park hours, and the exact pick up and drop off times for the excursions that require reservations. If you are in Casa de los Artistas, you also have access to the Hotel Xcaret Mexico (HXM) restaurants. You can write in reservations for HXM as well (including for the Sunday Brunch), although they will not be confirmed until 30 days prior.

Once your wish list is confirmed and your shopping complete, start counting down the days!

Additional resources for information:

Hotel Xcaret Arte: The Ultimate Guide *Start Here*

Hotel Xcare Arte: Time for Adventure – The Activities and Excursions

Hotel Xcaret Arte: The Best Restaurants and Bars + Menus

Hotel Xcaret Arte: Diving into the Resort and Grounds