story and photos by Kayte Deioma
There are lots of things to do outdoors with kids in Cancun, from playing at the beach to exploring ancient pyramids, or boarding a pirate ship. If you want to escape indoors to escape the rain or the summer heat, try the Interactive Aquarium at La Isla shopping center.
A scuba diver perched on a sunken motor boat in a glass
tank on the front of the Aquarium beckons passers-by to come in for a look.
Being so close to one of the world’s great reefs, it’s natural that the reef is a primary focus of the Aquarium’s exhibit. Tanks are filled with colorful coral. Black light shows off the greens and pinks of this living organism.
For help with identification, dried corals, crustaceans and sea shells are labeled in a display case at kid level.
Shouts of “Look! Nemo!” come from near the Clown Fish tank, while neon yellow, electric blue and rainbow-striped Angel Fish draw enrapt attention nearby.
Translucent jelly fish, called medusas in Spanish, float gracefully through the dark. Both the top-feeding moon jellies and the bottom-dwelling upside-down jellies are well represented.
In the Flounder exhibit, you can watch these chameleon fish to blend into the ocean bottom as they swim from pale sand to dark gravel changing color and texture before your eyes to remain almost invisible.
The most interactive part of the Aquarium is outdoors, but awnings will protect you from the rain or sun, and if you get really interactive, you’ll be in the water and won’t care. With the help of a friendly staff person, you can pet the sharks in the shark pool, but give the turtles and rays who keep them company their space.
The most popular activity at the Aquarium is Swimming with the Dolphins in two outdoor pools. Depending on what time you schedule your swim, you’ll either meet the Atlantic or the Pacific Dolphins. Watching the Dolphins perform is included in admission, but swimming with the dolphins is an additional fee.
If you choose the Educational Program, you’ll spend a short while in the water petting and learning about the dolphins. For a bit more money, the Advanced Program makes you part of the show as dolphins circle you, jump over your head, kiss and shake hands, and finally a pair of dolphin noses pushing the bottom of your feet sends you flying through the water like Neptune rising. Dolphin swims may be cancelled in high winds, but won’t be disturbed by ordinary showers.
Swimming with the dolphins requires a reservation. You may be able to get one the same day, but if it’s high season, you should book in advance to get your preferred time.
If you’d rather watch than swim, the Jugo di Limon Seafood Restaurant provides a covered, ringside view overlooking one of the dolphin pools.
Interactive Aquarium Cancun
La Isla Shopping Village
Blvd. Kukulcan, KM 12.5
Zona Hotelera, Cancun
Reservations: (998) 883 0411, 01 (800) 012-0856
www.aquariumcancun.com.
The Interactive Aquarium is included in the Go Cancun Pass.
between staying home, going to the mall or maybe seeing a movie. If you happen to be staying at one of Reno’s kid-friendly hotels, you have a few more options.
over 125 games. In addition to standards like Dance Dance Revolution and shooting galleries, they have redemption games that are replicas of the casino games, where kids win tickets for prizes instead of cash. It doesn’t have much in the way of décor, but the kids don’t seem to mind.
Upstairs, the 24-hour Grand Sierra Bowl 50-lane bowling alley can provide additional hours of fun for the whole family.
For toddlers through pre-teens, the Family Museum in Bettendorf offers hands-on learning experiences that can keep youngsters entertained all day. My niece Becca, 9 and nephew Declan, 2, enjoyed their stay so much that we squeezed in a second visit before leaving town.
Making noise is always fun, so applying the mallets to xylophones made of different materials and banging on steel drums in a special sound-proof room in Rhythm Alley were perfect 2-year-old diversions that Becca also enjoyed.
In Watts Up with Energy, see how hard you have to peddle a bicycle to generate enough energy to run a light bulb, a blender or a blow-dryer. The Energy Hog, a giant pig in a leather jacket, holds an interactive display that uses computer games to
teach lessons on saving energy around the house.
For kids 5 through teens and adults, another great option is Michael’s Fun World. This was Becca’s favorite stop on our trip. Outdoors, Michael’s has a go kart track and miniature golf course, but on a rainy day you’ll want to head for the indoor fun.
A climbing, sliding playground that rises three stories into the rafters, a rock climbing wall and the inflatables are all included in the price of admission. There’s also a full arcade with video games, simulators, skill games and a couple lanes of Bowlingo requiring the purchase of tokens.
For hunters and warriors, there’s a separate room and a separate fee for laser tag. Wearing glow-in-the-dark green and orange vests, two teams face off against each other in a dark room, skulking among pseudo-structures to shoot the enemy’s vests and disable their lasers. They aren’t’ finished for good; they just have to recharge before getting back in the game.