Selvatica is an incredible adventure park south of Cancun with all kinds of extreme activities right in the jungle like off-roading, zip lining, and more. It’s family friendly and one of the top activities near Riviera Maya.
Off roading at Selvatica
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Selvatica
The kids and I had a crazy awesome adrenaline-filled adventure while we were down in Cancun when we headed south to the little town of Puerto Morelos home of Selvatica.
Selvatica is a full day of zip lining, driving ATVs, and swimming in cenotesout in the middle of the jungle. I must say it is adequately named because Selvatica means: “pertaining to the jungle”.
Selvaticaoffers even more things to do like the Skywalk rope course or jungle coaster, but I am only writing about the things we participated in.
Buy Selvatica Tickets
You will need to buy tickets in advance. Selvaticaaverages $99 per person, but it depends on how much or how little you want to do. I recommend getting the “Gimme All” package. This package is $139 for an adult and $69 for kids. This is what we did and it was wonderful.
Our day kicked off way to early for us, but it was so worth waking up for. And if I’m honest, we don’t wake up for much considering all three kids are teenagers at this point. You can add transportation to any package depending on where you are staying. We were staying pretty far away at Riu Dunamar and even that far out they picked us up. Granted, we got picked up pretty early!
We kicked things right off at arrival. We were given a locker to store our things in and then fitted with our first harness. You will change harnesses at least twice if not three or four times. It will depend on whattypes of activities you have chosen.
Safety
Now you might be worried about safety stuff. Well, I can assureyou it’s safe and I am always super nervous because I am scared of heights. I’ve often found that in Mexico they go above and beyond on the safety stuff. For example, in Mexico they make you wear helmets in caves or when you zip line when in the US this wouldn’t be required. At no time during our experience here did we not feel safe. We had an entire crew with us throughout the entire experience and they went above and beyond to make sure everyone was taken care of.
10 Zip Lines
The zip line course at Selvatica is extensive with 10 different zip lines of varying lengths. Along the way, some guests will have the chance to zip line upside down. If that is something you want to try, be sure to let them know.
There is one zip line that ends in water, which means you will get soaking wet. We didn’t realize that we would be starting off our day with this particular zip line. We did not get wet, so we had to skip part of the first zip. Instead, we walked down and watched everyone else get soaked.
If you just want to zip line, you can get a package that only includes the zip lines.
Bungee Swing
There are few things I hate more than a bungee swing. It’s just so unnatural to me to jump off a platform when I could just walk myself back down. This time I only had to be pushed off a little bit and I didn’t scream bloody murder. Mainly, because I was trying not to embarrass my children. They do not like it when I act like a baby while doing our activities. Next to the bungee swing was another one you could do where you drop straight down. All three kids did it no problem while I recovered from the swing.
Super Flight Zip Line
I’m not going to lie, Super Flight was intense. Mainly, getting all strapped in and being pushed headfirst off a platform way high up in the air is the intense part. Once you don’t plunge immediately to your death, it’s fine. In fact, it’s quite memorable. Just look how happy everyone looks on their way down.
You do this type of zipping twice. The second time isn’t remotely scary, because you now know what to expect.
Break Time
About halfway through your activities, you take a break. You go to a chill area for a small sandwich and water. I think they sold alcoholic drinks too, but I’m not positive. Lucky for us, we bumped into Travel Tom Tom the day before we did this activity. He had just spent a day at Selvatica and recommended we take a snack. This was definitely the right call. All three kids are teens and they are eating a lot, which means that a small sandwich was not enough. (After you are done with the whole day you are given a nice little meal.)
Planting Trees
Right after they serve you a little sandwich for lunch you will have the opportunity to plant trees. Anyone participating in any of their adventure programs is given the opportunity to plant a tree to help combat deforestation. You do not have to do it, but what kind of person doesn’t want to plant a tree. You even get to name it! I named my tree Mommy Travels. (I know, I am super original!)
Selvatica’s Seed of Life Program has planted over 300,000 trees so far! There is no additional cost to take part in the tree planting, so you don’t need to further strain your budget. The tree planting is included in your package, and the whole process is very quick and easy. We planted four trees.
Tarzan Rollercoaster
The Tarzan Rollercoaster is wild and a first for us. Jonah and Eden loved it, however, it was a bit rough for Noah and I. I’m guessing the heavier you are the rougher the ride. The ride is insane. You whip around like a crazy person all down the track. You can only see a small part of the track from our pictures, but the track was way more extensive than what you can see. I so wish I had gotten video footage of this crazy track.
Off-Roading a Polaris RZR Buggy
The off-roading at Selvatica is solid. For a while, I’ve wanted to take the kids off-roading, but it can be fairly difficult to arrange this. As long as you are 18 years old you can drive a Polaris here. They have ATVs as well, but since we only had two drivers we had to stick to a buggy.
Before you take off they will offer you glasses/goggles to wear. You will want to wear this because it is dusty!
Fresh Water Cenotes
Hopefully, you are headed to the cenoteas soon as you finish with the ATVs. You will be dirty after off-roadingand will want to wash off. Selvaticahas several cenotes, so you may or may not end up at the same one we went to. The one we visited had just opened. I’m so glad it did because it’s stunning. There was a slide there, but it wasn’t turned on. I don’t know if in the future it will be up and running, or if it’s something left over from when it was home to a gum extraction facility. This area has been used by ancient Mayans, explorers, and adventurers.
What You Need to Know
Stairs! – The most important thing you need to keep in mind is your ability to climb stairs. I am unsure how many stairs we climbed, but it had to have been hundreds. As long as you can get up there, you can zip line.
Plan to Purchase Photos – The photos they take are awesome. There’s no way we could have captured photos theway they did. They have photographers hanging out in strategic locations to guarantee they get a killer shot of you. If you haven’t purchased them in advance don’t worry. At the end of the day they will show you the photos they took of your group and you will have the opportunity to buy them then.
Lockers –Near the gift shop are lockers. The lockers are big enough to hold quite a bit of stuff for two people. The four of us needed two lockers, which was perfect since they provide one locker for every two people.
Dressing Room – Inside the bathroom are plenty of changing rooms. You can change into your bathing suit once it’s time to swim, instead of wearing it all day while you zip line.
What to Bring
There are certain items you will really wish you had with you for your day at Selvatica. You will not need to bring a life jacket, they will provide you with one.
- Swimsuit
- Towel
- Tennis shoes or flip flops
- GoPro
- GoPro harness either a handgrip, chest mount, or helmet mount. Plus, the float stick.
- Snacks
- Sunglasses
- Driver’s license – Anyone that is over 18 years of age and wants to drive needs a license.
- Hair elastic –Those with long hair will need to have it contained in a ponytail.
- Comfortable clothes that can get dirty –When you are in a harness you will want to be wearing comfortable clothes. I oncemade the mistake of wearing a romper to zip line in. Now I make sure I am always wearing jean shorts with a bit of length to them. No one wants to zip line with half their booty hanging showing.
- Cash – You will need to tip your guide team at the end of the day, so you will need some cash on hand. If you are unsure what to tip, I recommend no less than $5 USD for each person in your group. (For a family of four, this would be $20 USD.)
More Fun Excursions in the Cancun/Playa del Carmen area:
- Sea Trek at Aquarium Cancun
- Top 24 Cenotes Near Cancun
- 9 Adventurous Things to do Around Cancun
- Pac Chen Mayan Adventure
- Coba Mayan Ruins
- Tulum Ruins
- Ventura Park an Amusement and Water Park
- 7 Best Beaches in Cancun
Car Rental
If you are looking for a car rental I recommend getting the car at the Cancun Airport. It will make things easier. This entire area is easy to drive around in. Get a Cancun car rental for $11 a day!
Should You Get Travel Insurance?
Don’t forget travel insurance! I’m a fan of Travelex insurance, because of the variety of options. Protect yourself from possible injury & theft abroad. I have gotten extremely sick twice now out of the country and Noah has had seizures in other countries, so I always recommend getting some sort of coverage. Read more aboutwhy you should always carry travel insurance here.