Pit Stops - Pitstops for Kids

Little America: a classic Wyoming travel center

February 26, 2014 By Amy Hagstrom

If you find yourself driving on I-80 through Wyoming, you’ll need a pit stop, and trust us, they’re hard to come by. Your oasis: Little America, the somewhat odd rest stop complex with an even odder name.

Located at exit 68 of I-80, Little America is the only show in miles, and it delivers: families can find a shaded playground, a few picnic tables, a large mini-market, a quick service dining option with burgers and pizza, a repair shop, gas station, and motel. Soft-serve ice cream cones are 50 cents, and other snacks such as donuts and chips are great deals also.

Dotted throughout the Little America grounds, amid colonial style buildings and parking lots, are wooden penguin cut-outs and penguin statues. These whimsical decorations seem very out of place unless you happen to know that Little America is named after Admiral Richard Byrd’s 1929 base camp in Antarctica. Even so, the Sinclair gasoline dinosaur looks ready to pounce on the unsuspecting birds.

All in all, it’s certainly a bizarre-seeming place, but most welcome for travelers to or from Salt Lake City or the Yellowstone National Park region.

Photo credit: rayb777

Date last visited:

June 2013

Admission cost:

free

Why Reno, Nevada should be on your family travel radar

February 5, 2014 By Amy Hagstrom

Never considered spending family vacation time in the Biggest Little City in the World? I get it: Reno, Nevada is usually a stop-over for road tripping families, a pit stop en route to Tahoe, Vegas, or the San Francisco Bay Area. However, Reno has grown in both population and stature, helping this ‘little city’ deliver big on family-friendly attractions. The city is affordable (hello, casino-hotel deals), close to outdoor recreation, and its calendar is packed with kid-friendly events. Here’s why a Reno family vacation is worth considering:

1. Mt. Rose hiking and skiing:

Yes, Lake Tahoe skiing is adjacent to Reno, and yes, we love Tahoe skiing. But for families who want to save vacation cash by staying in Reno and don’t relish the idea of a commute, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe provides the absolute fastest access to slopes. And Mt. Rose is a four-season destination: in summer, hikes on Mt. Rose range from half-mile nature walks to full day adventures. Mt. Rose is the second tallest peak in the Lake Tahoe Basin and the highest in Nevada. Mountain biking reigns here as well.

2. Virginia City:

Located only 30 minutes outside of downtown Reno, Virginia City offers a true glimpse at Old West mining history and a genuine feel for Northern Nevada. Tour museums, walk the boardwalks of the historic streets, take part in living history exhibits, enter crumbling mines (not for the feint of heart!) and check out saloons with sordid pasts (yes, there are more than a few). En route to Virginia City, look for the wild horse herds that still run free in this part of the country.

3. Scheel’s Sporting Goods Store:

Scheel’s is more than just your average sporting goods store. In fact, it’s starting to get a bit of a cult following in travel circles, aka Wall Drug in South Dakota. But intend of kitchy goodness, Scheel’s offers 248,000 square feet of retail space, earning it the title of World’s Largest Sporting Goods Store. Scheel’s features a 65-foot tall ferris wheel, two 16,000 gallon aquariums, 32+ flavors of fudge in the Fudge Factory, 14 presidents in the Walk of Presidents (random!), a NASCAR Simulator, and a 35-foot tall Wildlife Mountain in addition to 85+ specialty shops that feature the hottest brands in clothing, footwear and sports equipment.

4. Great Reno Balloon Race:

Every September, Reno becomes a premiere destination for balloon enthusiasts. The Great Reno Balloon Race is the largest free ballooning event in the world. Bring the kids, enjoy free entertainment, and take in a truly spectacular sight. There are fly-overs, tethered rides, glowing balloons, pre-dawn events, and more.

5. Pyramid Lake:

Thirty miles northeast of Reno, prehistoric Pyramid Lake is perhaps the most unusual natural landscapes you’ll ever encounter. Intrigued? This vast, pure jewel in the heart of the Northern Nevada desert mountains stands out like a eye…and is filled with trout. Plus, we hear it’s the default photo on the iPad. If it’s good enough for Apple, I’ve got to check it out.

Photo credit.

Fun winter activities for kids in NYC

January 31, 2014 By Sharlene Earnshaw

Winter is considered by many to be one of the best times of year to visit the bustling city of New York. There are so many fun activities for both children and adults alike that you can be sure to keep your kids entertained during your stay. If you are currently looking to organize your trip you will be able to find many cheap hotels in New York online. With this in mind, here is a quick overview of some of the best winter activities for kids in the Big Apple.

Ice-Skating:

Taking the kids ice-skating is always a wonderful way to keep them entertained and active for a few hours in a family-friendly environment. New York is home to a number of ice rinks including those at Manhattan’s Rockerfeller Center, the Pond at Bryant Park and Central Park’s Wollman and Lasker Rinks. Admission costs are reasonable making this an affordable and incredibly fun day out for everybody.

Museums:

New York simply teems with exciting and interactive museums meaning that there will almost certainly be something to suit everyone depending on your children’s age and interests. Popular choices include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and the New York Hall of Science. Your children will be able to enjoy a fun and interesting day out in an educational environment.

Snow Days:

On special snow days in New York fun activities are organised across the city’s many parks. These activities tend to include sledding and snowman building as well as musical concerts and hot chocolate intervals. Lower Highland Park even hosts an unforgettable sleigh-riding fest for all the family to enjoy. When it snows you will be able to find information regarding the city’s snow days and activities on the NYC parks website.

Zoos:

New York’s celebrated zoos offer plenty of entertainment for the kids in the winter months. The city’s Central Park Zoo is home to a wonderful collection of colourful animal species as well as a large number of indoor exhibits for when the weather turns. Bronx Zoo and Prospect Park Zoo are all well worth a visit in the winter as there are less crowds and many animals are often more active than in the hot summer months.

Bowling:

Taking the kids bowling is the perfect way to spend some quality time as a family on any New York City vacation. The Big Apple is home to a number of top bowling alleys including Manhattan’s Lucky Strike Lanes, Brooklyn’s Melody Lanes and Queen’s Astoria Bowl. Your children will be able to benefit from the various child-friendly ramps and bumpers whilst enjoying a little complimentary popcorn and soda.

New York City has so much to offer even throughout the coldest and wettest months of the year. If you don’t mind braving the weather then there are plenty of outdoor activities to keep you and your family busy. Otherwise, indoor venues such as museums, theatres and play spaces are sure to go down well with the kids!

Photo credit: wiki commons

Beyond the San Diego Zoo: three Balboa Park museums you’ve overlooked

January 31, 2014 By Amy Hagstrom

Over 20 museums and family attractions await kids at Balboa Park in San Diego, but I bet you’ve only heard of a few of them, the famous San Diego Zoo most likely one of them. While families need days to see them all (and hours to see some), the following three Balboa Park museums for kids you’ve overlooked include:

Museum of Man:

Before touring the Museum of Man, I didn’t have a clear concept of what this museum contains. Since many families might feel the same, here’s my unofficial take: the Museum of Man is one part archeology museum and one part natural history museum. Plus, it has an excellent (though small) children’s section off the upper floor. This set of rooms have space with marketplaces and household items for kids to play in and dress up with.

The main floor of the museum currently houses an exhibit on ancient Mayans, and upstairs is space for a primate exhibit, plus a wing on ancient Egypt, complete with mummies and naturally preserved remains (parents are warned at the door). A temporary exhibit space is across the street; at the time of my visit, it housed a fascinating–though not for kids–exhibit on the history of torture.

The museum is smaller than most, but what exhibits it does have are very well done.

Museum of Photographic Arts:

Sometimes, kids will rebel against a traditional art museum, but love photography galleries. If this might be the case with your children, consider a stop at the Museum of Photographic Arts. We loved that the manageable galleries showcased only a handful of photographers, and that each introduced the artist and his or her take on the subject. There’s a great social photography experiment with abandoned or discarded instant photo prints stretching across one wall, and at the time of our visit, a wonderful exhibit by San Diego’s kids showcased what youth in the city deem ‘their San Diego’. You can tour the museum in just about an hour.

Museum of Art:

We love a museum with lots of family free days and art activities, and the San Diego Museum of Art has both. When you enter, look for the kids activity books just past the front desk; kids can go on a scavenger hunt around the museum, which makes their visit instantly more fun.

A kids’ art studio is located downstairs across from the stairwell, staffed most days by artists who help kids make creations of their own. Upstairs, collections of European and American art from realists to impressionists reign, with Baroque among the most prominent. Like the other museums on this list, the Museum of Art is not overwhelmingly large by any means, and can be toured by most families in under one hour.

If you have more time:

The San Diego Air and Space Museum is a solid pick for a half-day excursion, and the San Diego Natural History Museum is the place to be with animal-loving kids.

Have just a few extra minutes?

A great place to head before catching a cab or trolley, or for a picnic lunch is the free Botanical Building and lily ponds. Located adjacent to the Museum of Art, this building is open to the Southern California air and a welcome escape from the bustle of the museums.

Getting around:
Park the car and forget about it! Once in the park, access everything via the free tram. Balboa Park’s tram system operates daily 8:30 am to 6 pm. The second stop is the Visitor’s Center, a good starting point to head out on foot.

How to get to Balboa Park:
Driving, park in Inspiration Point lot. As an alternative to hunting down parking, consider getting to the park via the Old Town Trolley tour. You’ll want to plan to spend the whole day hopping on and off this sightseeing trolley to get your money’s worth, but it’s time well-spent in parts of the city you’ll want to visit anyway.

Xcaret eco park Mexico: culture, conservation, and adventure

January 22, 2014 By Amy Hagstrom

The Riviera Maya boasts three major eco theme park opportunities between Cancun and Tulum, all within easy access to area hotels and resorts. Families will definitely want to experience at least one during a Riviera Maya vacation, but which one? In the most basic terms, Xel Ha focuses on water activities and aquarium life, Xplor offers the most extreme sports, and Xcaret eco park Mexico centers around conservation, culture, and eco-wonders.

Because Xcaret offers the most well-rounded programming while still not skimping on adventure, we opted to spend our eco-park day here. We were not disappointed…if anything, we needed more time. Xcaret offers so much, it’s almost overwhelming. The park grounds are extremely well-kept (think Disney in Mexico) and even though the many paths through the park are well-marked in both English and Spanish and park maps are available, you still won’t know quite where to go first.

Animal protection and breeding programs:

Xcaret has won awards for their aggressive conservation and breeding programs. From the park entrance, we started our tour at the macaw nursery, where Xcaret staff are aiding this endangered population with their breeding program. We could view incubators and baby macaws in the nursery, then see adults in the lush jungle throughout the macaw area. Babies are released into the wild at a certain age.

Closer the the center of the park, Xcaret’s aquarium is a great place to cool down after seeing the macaws, and families can view a second breeding center, this time for the endangered sea turtles. Toward the back of the aquarium, a sea turtle exhibit leads to a nursery area where baby sea turtles are making their way out of their rubbery eggs in the sand, and outside, adolescents swim in large pools awaiting their own release into the wild. In addition to the sea turtles, the aquarium houses numerous tropical fish and reef animals, including a great display on jellyfish.

As you walk throughout the park, animal enclosures include those for jaguars, howler monkeys, manatees, and more, in addition to a beautiful butterfly enclosure with–yes–another breeding program. We watched staff collecting butterfly eggs to nurture in to larvae. All the animal spaces were on par to those you’d see at a world-class zoo, and all animals looked very well cared for.

Water play and adventure:

After viewing the animals, we were very ready to get in the cool water of the park’s river system. These natural rivers, partially underground xenotes, are the real deal, but they have been ‘theme parked’ up a bit. Walls, bridges, and tunnels have clearly been added, as well as theming with stairs, emergency exits, and the like. We definitely suggest swimming in the more wild xenotes along the Riviera Maya, but these rivers do make for a fun addition.

They’re also a great way to cool off: we decided to swim through the Manatee River (there are three in total), and the swim took us about 45 minutes. The river meandered through caves and tunnels, then past the sea turtle and manatee areas, where we could view the animals underwater on the opposite side of a plate of glass. Within the rivers themselves are tropical fish (though you’ll see more toward the end of the river as it nears the ocean). The only downside: the occasional snorkel littering the floor of the river.

Snorkel gear is provided at the start of the river system, with lockers and a rather ingenious locked bag system included: simply store your belongings in a large duffel bag, and the staff will lock it, give you the key, and send the bag to the end of the river, where it will be waiting for you. This service–locker, bag, and gear–is included with the Xcaret Plus ticket option (a $20 upgrade that also includes a buffet meal). Unless you are bringing your own snorkel gear (which is permitted), the upgrade is a great deal.

In addition to snorkeling the rivers, ocean snorkeling is available in the protected bay (like the rivers, it’s a bit ‘themed’, but does contain natural fish that can come and go from the adjacent ocean). There are also natural freshwater pools available for swimming.

Culture and eco-archaeological sites:

Of all the offerings at Xcaret, we believe they do Mayan and Mexican cultural exhibits best. Throughout the park, there are numerous shows and exhibits–we were lucky enough to see the Mayan traditional dance and show in the Mayan village and the Papantla ‘flying men’ pole performance. At night, the Experience Mexico and Mexico Espectacular shows take visitors through musical traditions from Mexican states and showcases traditional Mayan ball games…one played with a ball of fire! All performances are impressive and entertaining as well as educational.

On display through the park are a Mexican hacienda visitors can tour, a Mayan village, and Mayan ruins. You never know when you’ll experience a performance or walk past a performer in traditional costume.

Looking for additional Riviera Maya adventure? Check out our video on eco tours and activities in the region:

Date last visited:

August 2013

Admission:

Xcaret admission is on par with major theme parks everywhere. At the time of our visit, one-day adult admission was $89 (or $119 for Xcaret Plus), with kids 12 and under half price (and kids under five free). Two-day admission is available, and while you could certainly use two days to see everything, we personally recommend spending your additional precious vacation time exploring the other eco attractions along the Riviera Maya, unless you have numerous days. Standard admission does not include transportation, but hotel pick up can be added to the admission. Otherwise, numerous taxi stands will take you where you need to go (for a standard fare of $10 for the Playa del Carmen area).

Dining:

Just like in any theme park, there are numerous restaurants and snack stands in Xcaret. With Xcaret Plus, one buffet meal comes with admission. (Xel Ha does have a completely all-inclusive option for a lower admission cost.) Additional snacks and meals will set you back, but the food quality is very good. We snacked on traditional Mexican corn on the cob and loved the wide array of toppings available. (The experience has changed the way I will eat corn!) It’s possible to bring water bottles and other snacks into the park in backpacks, though you won’t want to carry around too much.

Hours of operation:

Xcaret is open 365 days a year, with the majority of their crowds during their high seasons of mid-summer, spring break, and winter holidays. It goes without saying families should try to tour the park on a low-peak time to have the most pleasant experience. When we toured at the end of August, crowds were few. Daily hours vary by season.

Directions:

Xcaret is located along Chetumal-Puerto Juarez Federal Highway (the highway that follows the coastline from Cancun), adjacent to Playa del Carmen.

Disclaimer: we experienced Xcaret as guests of the park, for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own.

ATV adventures and snorkeling with Punta Venado

January 20, 2014 By Amy Hagstrom

There are as many Riviera Maya eco-tours as there are amazing natural wonders along this part of the Caribbean, and each offer something a little bit different. We’ve reviewed the fast-action activities with Alltournative, but for a change of pace, a day with Punta Venado offers both ATV adventures and snorkeling, plus relaxation.

Don’t worry: the kids will still be highly entertained with Punta Venado, located on almost 2000 acres and along 2.5 miles of pristine private beach. But you’ll enjoy some downtime as well. The eco-park is comprised of two sections: the Punta Venado ranch, with activities ranging from horseback riding, ATV-riding, and snorkeling, to the Blue Venado Beach Club, which sits on pristine white sand and offers a lovely open-air restaurant, cabanas, and miles of coastline. Families looking to get the most of their stay will take advantage of both.

We started our day at Punta Venado with an ATV tour through the jungle. Since we experienced a brief downpour during our tour, the dirt paths were nice and muddy…perfect for some messy fun! The ATVs seat two, and adults must drive (age 16 and up). A guide takes your through the jungle to a dry cenote cave, where you get off the ATVs to explore a bit. If you’ve been swimming in cenotes earlier in your trip, this field trip isn’t too big of a thrill, but still fun. We then continued on ATVs to a cenote pool, where we jumped into the fresh water to cool off and wash the mud off our legs from the drive. This pool was very fun for the kids to explore, as it included a small creek-like waterway at one end, surrounded by jungle.

We rode on to Punta Venado’s private beach (as pretty as any along the Riviera Maya) where their snorkel and dive shop team outfitted us to snorkel on the Mayan Reef. The reef sits only feet off the shore at this location, making Punta Venado the only place we knew of in the Riviera Maya to snorkel the reef directly from shore. Even though the water was choppy after the morning storm, we were able to reach the reef area fairly easily (we were given fins and life jackets in addition to snorkels and masks), and our guide offered recycled water bottles filled with soggy tortillas…perfect fish food! The tropical fish surrounded us to access the food (which is squeezed from the bottle), making for a very impressive showing.

On a calmer day, we could have accessed more of the reef, but even in not-ideal conditions, we saw hundreds of fish. We swam back to shore to ride the ATVs back to the ranch area.

When booking a Punta Venado tour, families can choose between a menu of options: in addition to ATVing and snorkeling, we opted for lunch at the Blue Venado Beach Club, a short dirt road drive away. This private beach club is directly on the water, offers bathrooms, showers, a restaurant, a bar, and beach cabanas. After lunch, you’re invited to stay as long as you’d like. If you have your own snorkel gear, you could certainly snorkel off the shore here as well, and if not, the body surfing is great.

Tip: Eco-tours are expensive: if you want a more economical day, opt for the beach club only. Access is free: we were told the only requirement is to buy $20 worth of food or drinks per person from the restaurant. At $20/person, this is the cheapest excursion in Riviera Maya. If you have a car or rent a taxi, access to the beach club is directly off the coastal highway linking Cancun to Tulum.

Date last visited:

August 2013

Cost:

Punta Venado ATV tours are $83/per person. They also have an option called All In, which includes everything on offer for $150/per person.

Directions:

Look for the Punta Venado and Blue Venado Beach Club sign right after Calica on the Riviera Maya.

Disclaimer: we experienced Punta Venado as guests of the tour company, for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own.

What to do in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

January 15, 2014 By Amy Hagstrom

Wondering what to do in Playa del Carmen? Our family loves outdoor excursions, but we like fun city adventures as well. While in Riviera Maya, we wanted to give our kids a taste of local city life as well as geological wonders, so we spent an evening on Playa del Carmen‘s safe 5th Avenue. This pedestrian-only street spans approximately 10 blocks and is lined with shops, restaurants, bars, and souvenir stands. You can find everything from authentic Mexican handicrafts to cheap touristy t-shirts along 5th Ave, plus glimpse plenty of local color, street performers, and live music.

Have your cab driver drop you off at the beach and playground area at the top of 5th Avenue (any driver will know to take your there), and start with a snack of fruit kabobs or watermelon spears from a vendor while admiring the sand sculptures on the beach and watching the cruise ships off the shore. Kids will enjoying playing on the large beach play structure, and teens can poke around the open-air shops lining the beach.

Continue down 5th Avenue stopping in stores along the way. Our sons used the experience to souvenir shop with their own money, which meant a lesson in bartering with street vendors. After some successful purchases, we headed into some of the high end shops lining the avenue to window shop as well. Look for ‘fish spas’ where tiny fish nibble at your toes for $15 (didn’t try it for that price!) and avoid posing with exotic animals (their handlers will try to persuade you to buy photos of your kids with them, and the practice perpetuates illegal animal trafficking).

Throughout 5th Avenue, you’ll find street performers such as Mayan dancers and magicians, and plenty of restaurants vying for your patronage. For the most authentic Mexican cuisine, head all the way down the avenue to the end (you’ll know the block by the large fountain in the center of the intersection) and eat at La Cueva del Chango.

La Cueva del Chango is tucked away down a side street at Calle 38 and known (and loved) by locals. The ambiance of the restaurant is as big a draw as the food: diners enter a lush garden setting where they’re seated either in the shade of beautiful vegetation or under the open-air thatched roof building of the main restaurant. With only a few dozen tables, the location is intimate. The open kitchen is fun to view, and the wait staff is bilingual, the better to help you make your selections.

They offer breakfast all day (a good option for kids who may be pickier eaters) but our waitress was excellent about steering us toward good options for the kids on the dinner menu, too. (Kids can also order amazing smoothies.) I ate the most delicious halapeno cream soup, then finished with grilled tuna steak. The kids settled on a Mexican specialty: molletes. This dish is simply grilled cheese with pinto beans, which can be topped with salsa and/or guacamole. Everything we ate was amazing, and in the glow of candlelight in our (seemingly) own Mexican garden, we felt worlds away from lively 5th Avenue.

Date last visited:

August 2013

Directions:

Getting here is easy. Hire a cab for about $10 from any Playa del Carmen or Playacar location, and pick up another from any of the many taxi stands located at cross-streets along 5th Avenue.

Disclaimer: as I disclose whenever applicable, our family ate at La Cueva del Chango as guests of the restaurant, for the purpose of review. This hospitality came with no expectation of a positive review.

Photo credit: Homeaway.com

Whale watching in Southern CA with Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching

January 14, 2014 By Sharlene Earnshaw

Luck was with us the late December day we boarded the whale watching boat out of Dana Wharf. Winter is prime time for whale watching in Southern CA, and the ocean was as calm as glass and the sun was shining warmly. I grinned at the many passengers wearing green and sporting Michigan State gear in prep for the Rose Bowl to be held several days later. I was sure they were basking in the warmth of the SoCal sun and 75 degree temps.

The captain of the Dana Pride coasted the vessel north along the shore and we enjoyed seeing the beaches that we love to visit. He stopped at a buoy with sun bathing sea lions that barked and swam in the water next to our boat. It was another 30 minutes or so of smooth cruising as we listened to the captain tell us the pattern of the grey whales we were searching for. Between the months of November and April, they make their migrations north and south from the feeding grounds of Alaska to the warm lagoons where they give birth in Mexico. Typically they swim close to shore and thus we were looking for them there.

The water was so calm that day and the inversion layer so unique that suddenly the captain turned the ship out to sea. He had spotted a whale spout far off the coast. We spent the next 30 minutes speeding out the 5 miles to follow the grey whale swimming south. The boat pulled up alongside the whale and we watched with fascination as it spouted, surfaced several times, then fluked (showed it’s tail), and dove to the bottom to eat. Captain Todd is one of the cofounders of the Grey Whale Foundation and he shared lots of great information with us about their migration, speed, breeding, eating, and more. School groups have the opportunity through the Foundation to get classroom experience and to take field trips with Dana Wharf Whale Watching to see the grey whales in person.

Spotting the whale spout 5 miles off the coast was a truly magical opportunity. We might not have seen a whale that day if it hadn’t been for such calm water. Regardless of the luck of future trips, whale spotting is guaranteed. If a whale isn’t found on a trip, passengers receive free passes for a return trip to spot a whale. As luck would have it, Michigan State won the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Must have been partly due to the luck of the whale!

Taking kids on a whale watching cruise is a fun experience, but planning ahead can ensure a good trip without some of the difficulties that can arise. It is great for kids at least 3 years or older. It’s helpful if you don’t have to worry about your child running around on a bumpy ship, falling down, or not being interested in seeing a whale (which can be far off and with only the top of it visible).

Wear layers. No matter the weather or sun, speeding along the ocean can feel very cold. Bring beanies to keep their heads warm and tuck long hair into pony tails or braids.
Bring sunscreen, sunglasses, binoculars, chapstick, and snacks. Drinks, snacks, and burgers are available for sale in the small galley. Salty snacks and full tummies can help prevent seasickness.
Most trips are calm and short enough that seasickness isn’t a problem. We prefer using SeaBands because they can relieve and prevent symptoms without the drowsiness of medications.
Plan on needing to hold your kid’s hand and have your own hand free to hold a rail. It can get bumpy and you will need to walk around (to go inside if it’s too windy and cold, go to the restroom, etc.) Carry a backpack or bag that is hands-free.
Take a few pictures but don’t hold your iPhone over the railing to take a picture. Need I say why? (No, it didn’t happen to me but my heart stopped when I saw other people doing it!)
Don’t stress about getting to the front of the boat. There were way too many people up there for us to get to see anything. Ask a crew member which side of the ship to stand on. They know which side of the whale the captain will pull the ship up alongside.

Grey whale watching season is from November to April but going whale watching is a great experience all year long. Blue whales, humpback whales, fin whales and more can be spotted during different seasons. Dolphins typically are found daily and seeing them swim, jump, and play in the boats wake is a thrilling experience. It’s like a front row seat at a SeaWorld dolphin show.

Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching is one of the first outfitters taking guests whale watching since the 70s. Call (888) 224-0603 or book online for future dates.

Date last visited:

December 2013

Distance from the interstate:

Dana Point is located right on the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1).

Rate:

$45/person. Call Dana Wharf for tour times and departures, or check the schedule here.

Michelle McCoy lives in sunny SoCal with her husband and four kids. They love finding all the quiet corners in Orange County when they have time after school, work, and church. Michelle is the SoCal Destination Guroo for Trekaroo and loves sharing her findings with other families.

Disclosure: Michelle and family experienced whale watching as guests of Dana Wharf, for the purpose of review. All opinions are her own.

A day with Alltournative tours: Tulum and Jungle Maya adventure with tweens and teens

January 13, 2014 By Amy Hagstrom

Mexico’s Riviera Maya is rich with geological and cultural excursions for active families. It’s system of cenotes (underground rivers) and abundance of Mayan ruins are accessed by many tour operators, but which one to pick? We spent the day with Alltournative Tours, a leading eco-archaeological guide service specializing in active, adventurous tours.

Like most local tour companies, Alltournative works with Mayan property owners and archaeological sites to gain access to some of the most impressive (and most fun) sites along the Yucatan peninsula. We opted for their Tulum and Jungle Maya tour, which offers a history lesson at ancient Tulum and explorative fun in the jungle in their Mayan eco park.

We started the day at Tulum, the beautiful Mayan ruins on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea. (Alltournative will pick up from most Cancun and Riviera Maya hotels.) Right away, we knew our bilingual guide, Robbie, would be fantastic: a native of Mexico City who is part-Mayan himself, Robbie was passionate about the Mayan culture, knowledgeable about their history, and great about tailoring the educational content to kids. Tulum is open to the public and easy to access on your own, but once on-site, we saw the value of a guide: many of the sites have little information in English to explain their significance. Without Robbie, we wouldn’t have known what we were looking at most of the time. We toured the sites for approximately 45 minutes, then Robbie left us to explore on our own for another hour. We opted to take a much-needed dip in the ocean at the beach on-site (voted by National Geographic as one of the most beautiful in the world!) then took advantage of some photo ops.

We rejoined Robbie and the Alltourative transportation and drove the short distance to the Sac-Actun xenote cave system. Located on Mayan property at a small eco park run by Alltournative, we were given lockers, took showers to rinse off, then met the Mayan family who owns the property for a short purifying ceremony in the Mayan language. (The cenotes are spiritual to the Mayans, and treated with upmost respect.)

We were then led to an opening in the underground xenote system, where we rappelled down to swim in the cool, fresh water. Popping out through a cave entrance a few meters away, we climbed into the back of a Mercedes Benz all-terrain truck called an Unimog and enjoyed a bumpy ride through the jungle to Alltournative’s series of zip lines.

I expected this jungle ride to be merely a means to an end (the park is divided into two sections), but instead, it was one of the kids’ favorite parts, due to driver Willi’s sense of fun. Willi took the Unimog along the pot-holed dirt road at a rolling pace, to the delight of the boys.

Once we’d departed the vehicle, we were outfitted for zip-lining (still with our faithful guide Robbie) and shown how to climb the steep ramps to the zip line towers. We took two lines across the jungle, then were surprised by an entirely new-to-us zip-line experience: zipping into water. The last line concluded in the cool water of an open xenote, which was all kinds of fun. We swam to the shore, then grabbed snorkels and masks for a swim through the Nohoch Nah Chiich cenote cavern. Note: If this itinerary seems whirlwind, that’s because it is! We recommend Alltournative to families who have active kids looking for fast-paced outdoor fun.

The Nohoch Nah Chiich is renown to divers (scuba is offered at this location for cave-certified divers), but for snorkelers, it’s a pretty easy swim through open-air caves with the guide. The swim takes about 15 minutes, and stalactites and stalagmites are pointed out along the way, in addition to hanging bats. Using your mask, it’s an unique experience to see the cave bottom as well as look up at the ceiling.

By this time in our day, we’d worked up quite an appetite. Last but not least, we were shown to the Mayan dining area and kitchen on-site, where the family owning the land prepares authentic Mayan cuisine. Tables as communal, and food is buffet-style, with a traditional Mayan soup, empanadas, beans, rice, chicken, and tortillas. Beware the hot sauce…it’s truly hot!

After the meal, guests are returned to the first section of the park to retrieve the items in their locker, offered a MAYArita (their version of a margarita), and invited to rest a while in the many hanging hammocks and lounge chairs dotting the landscaped jungle space.

Alltournative has photographers who shadow you during your tour, and they ask you to view your photos on computer stations before leaving. The photo packages are expensive, but if you don’t have your own underwater camera or video camera to capture the action, they may well be worth it. (You can always take your own photos.)

A word about sustainability and ecotourism: We were impressed by how well the flora and fauna were cared for at the Alltournative eco park site, and liked hearing how our ecotourism aided the Mayan people who owned the land. The xenotes here are spotless, and while they don’t have a completely ‘wild’ feel due to being part of a tour, they are clearly authentic (as opposed to aided by human construction at the large eco parks along the coast). If you have dive experience, you can certainly seek out more isolated xenotes on your own, but for an introductory family experience in a safe environment, Alltournative will fit the bill nicely.

A note about Coba: Alltournative also offers a tour of Coba, the Mayan ruins further inland. This tour does take longer, with a longer drive, which is why we opted to tour Tulum instead. However, it is still possible to climb the ruins in Coba, which can be a draw to families.

Date last visited:

August 2013

Cost:

the Tulum and Jungle Maya tour we experienced runs $129 for adults and $99 for kids. Alternatively, families can book the Jungle Maya only for less, but we don’t recommend skipping Tulum.

Directions:

It’s not possible to drive to Alltournative’s eco park on your own, so leave the rental car at your hotel and let them pick you up.

Disclaimer: we experienced Alltournative as guests of the tour company, for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own.

Swim with whale sharks in Cancun Mexico

January 8, 2014 By Amy Hagstrom

One of the most memorable excursions in Cancun for my family was to swim with whale sharks. These harmless giants can be found in the open water approximately 20 miles off the coast of Cancun (past Isla Mujeres) from May to September, and if you’re visiting the Riviera Maya area during this time period with older kids and teens, it’s definitely an activity to consider.

Who to book with:

We booked our swim with whale shark excursion with Solo Buceo, a dive and snorkel operation located in Dreams Cancun. The dive shop is located in the heart of the Cancun hotel zone across the street from the hotel (right on the water) and is easy to reach via taxi from most area resorts.

We liked that Solo Buceo departs directly from their shop for the whale shark areas, so there’s no shuttle transfers to waste any time. The shop is scenic in itself, set against the bay with plenty of thatch roof cabanas to sit under while getting ready, signing waivers, and the like. The staff was all very friendly during our visit, and very efficient. Our reservation was listed on a dry erase board behind the counter with our guide already assigned to us before we even approached the counter. Our guide Santiago was fluently bilingual, and the whole experience was very professional.

At Solo Buceo, whale shark excursions leave early in the morning. Our boat departed promptly at 7 am, which meant a 5 am wake up call at our Puerto Morelos hotel room. It’s not fun to get up so early on vacation, but the early departure had a purpose: we were the first boat to set out in search of the whale sharks, and when we arrived at the snorkel site, only one additional boat had beat us there. By the time we left, we were surrounded by a dozen or more boats, with more arriving by the minute. A whale shark excursion is not cheap, so we appreciated this added touch of a semi-private experience.

What to expect:

Our guide Santiago explained some of what we should expect before we got on the boat: whale sharks are gentle and harmless, but they’re also wild animals…it may take time to find them, and there’s no guarantee of a sighting. The boat ride out to the open water where they swim takes approximately an hour, and snacks and drinks are provided. The small boats hold about 10 passengers max.

What we were not told: the ride through the open water can be very choppy, and it’s very easy to get seasick. I had read reviews suggesting a motion-sickness remedy, so we did have sea-bands on, but they were of little help. While we didn’t get too sick on the ride out, our stomachs were queasy enough that once in the water, a few of us felt quite sick. Remember, this is open ocean, so it’s not possible to see the bottom of the ocean floor: once you have a mask on and are looking down, you’re bobbing on the water (with some significant waves) without the aid of a horizon to orient yourself. This combination makes seasickness more likely. I was not surprised to feel seasick, as I succumb to motion sickness easily, but even the more hearty in our group were affected, as well as several additional people on our boat. The remedy: lose your breakfast in the ocean, not the boat, please!

Swim with whale sharks:

Seasick or not, swimming with the whale sharks was an amazing experience. About an hour out into open ocean, we spotted a group of about 30-40 sharks and entered the water. Our guide went with us and was invaluable in his help pointing out where the sharks were (look down!, under you!, over you!) and keeping kids (and adults) out of their way. Swimmers may not touch the sharks (doing so purposefully will get you a seat back on the boat), but it’s sometimes hard to get out of their way! By avoiding the tail, we got the hang of it eventually.

We spent approximately 1 hour in the water, taking breaks in the boat as needed, allowing the whale sharks to swim under us, around us, and even over us. When in a lucky position, it was possible to see their huge, gaping mouths open to eat the baleen they feast on, and we even spotted manta rays as well. We were given life jackets to wear (it’s optional to upgrade to wet suits at an additional cost), so even the youngest among us (age 8) had no trouble on the open water. We appreciated that all the child equipment fit well (not always the case) and that all our masks and snorkels were in great working order. Younger children might be afraid given the open ocean and depth (not to mention the huge animals) but once we’d taken the plunge, all our worries were put to rest. These whale sharks are truly peaceful to swim with, and our guide in the water was very attentive, helping to keep kids close.

On the return trip to Cancun, sandwiches and sodas or waters were handed out to those of us who could keep a lunch down, and we stopped for 15-20 minutes just off Isla Mujeres to take a warm-water dip in the crystal clear, shallow water off the island. For those of us who had felt ill, this swim was very refreshing.

When we arrived back into the bay, we could still see boats departing for the whale shark area, and were so glad to have spent time with these giants solo. Expect to spend about four hours total from the time you depart the bay to the time you return.

Tip: Bring an underwater camera, and wear biodegradable sun screen. For some reason, sun screen cannot be applied in the boat, so remember to apply while still on the dock. It’s easy to burn in the morning sun.

Date last visited:

August 2013

Cost:

$119 for adults, $89 for kids

Directions:

Any taxi can take you to Dreams Cancun, where the doorman or bell services staff can point out Solo Buceo. From Puerto Morelos, the ride was $40 US (though this rate had to be negotiated ahead of time…when we made the mistake of asking only at the end of our drive, the rate had climbed to $90).

Disclaimer: we experienced swimming with whale sharks as guests of Solo Buceo, for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own.