Spring Break in Mexico With the Family

Recent weather in the Caribbean leaving you scratching your head about a family escape? Did you always think of Mexico as the land where college students went to escape the watchful eye of Mom and Dad? Now, mega resorts promise big spring break fun for families, with several different experiences for different age groups.

Vidanta combines luxury with family-friendly in a big way — at the Nuevo Vallarta property, for instance, there are 27 pools alone and a recent expansion added two new Grand Luxxe resort towers that include a Sky Garden and Sky Lounge rooftop pool with 360-degree views of Banderas Bay. Despite there being a lazy river, that doesn’t

mean kids just have to laze around if Mom and Dad opt to relax. Two Kids Clubs offer supervised fun for ages 5–12 with weekly theme nights like pajama or pirate parties that include babysitting. Special nature activities spotlight local floral and fauna, like iguana tours and a turtle tour, where the little ones visit a “camp” with biologists and learn about eggs, help replant them and participate in sunset releases on the beach. Learn to compost and pick seasonal fruits and veggies during a tour of the resort’s organic La Huerta garden or grab an easel and paint with other kids on the beach.

At Vidanta in Los Cabos, opened in February, the activities are a little bit more chill, but the Vidanta Joy Squad coordinates activities both on the sandy stretches of beach and at the resort’s pools. The Grand Mayan two-bedroom suites are perfect for families, and with a kitchen, living room, a private terrace with plunge pool, two bedrooms with two king-sized beds and two bathrooms with a Jacuzzi tub, you may not even want to leave for the cornucopia of fine- and casual-dining experiences on-site. There’s 15 bars and restaurants, and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course at Vidanta Riviera Maya, but the real show-stopper here is JOYÀ, the first Cirque du Soleil resident show in Mexico. The performance is inspired by Mexico’s culture and natural beauty, but kids of all ages will enjoy this jewel of the jungle dinner theater extravaganza.

© Kaye E | Dreamstime.com

Several of Melia hotels’ properties in Mexico are kid-friendly, including Paradisus Cancun, Paridisus Playa del Carmen La Esmeralda and Family Concierge at Paradisus La Esmeralda. The latter’s lavish digs include a pirate ship with its own slide in the center pool, and suites that sound more like a honeymoon in paradise: 517 square feet with a private pool, personalized pillow menu and laundry service. Don’t worry about bringing all of the accoutrements for sand, since your kids will get a beach kit upon arrival, along with child-sized bathrobes and slippers to match yours. The all-inclusive new Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Esmeralda’s YHI Spa even has kid’s treatments like hair braiding, strawberry facials and a 60-minute Princess package with a chocolate manicure and pedicure and sweet treats at the end.

Barcelo Maya on the Mayan Riviera’s 93 miles of Caribbean coast along the pristine Yucatan Peninsula give the complex of five resorts a leg up on the beach game, but the activities here at the collective 2,751 rooms push it over the top. Thanks to $50 million in renovations, there’s an entertainment center with a kids club, water park, bowling alley and 18-hole golf course. Swim with some of nature’s most extraordinary creatures at the dolphinarium at Barcelo Maya, enjoy babysitting services, a waterpark and a disco club for kids, too.