Summer Fun at Mexico’s Velas Resorts

Mexico is a perennial favorite when it comes to family travel, but if it hasn’t occurred to you to go in summer, this might be the year to reconsider. Velas Resorts, which operates family-friendly properties in Los Cabos, Riviera Maya, Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta, is launching a whole menu of kid-centric fun this summer, with everything from zip lining and climbing walls to dedicated clubs for those hard-to-please teens.

The Grand Velas Riviera, for example, will offer a new Kids’ Art Gallery this summer, where young guests can paint with bright colors, inspired by the works of famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, and paint trucks, planes and such traditional wooden toys as the balero

(a wooden barrel-shaped toy and attached stick) and trompo (a spinning top) at the Mexican Toys Workshop. The resort is also now offering a new Bubble Bath Menu with ice cream soap bombs that explode with favorite local scents, like mango, strawberry hibiscus, dragon fruit, lemon and grape.

At Grand Velas Los Cabos, new activities for summer range from a workshop where kids can learn to make and decorate slime to tie-dying lessons. Children can also make their own soft serve ice cream, using their own favorite ingredients.

Kids bubble bath. Photo: Velas Resorts

At Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit, Lion King fans can enjoy treatments designed just for them at an oceanfront spa cabana themed after the new film, set to debut this summer. Children aged 3 to 12, for example, can choose from Princess Massage, Tarzan & Jane Massage or a Flower Shower Massage, complete with bougainvillea and hibiscus petals.

The Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit will also offer an Alebrijes Workshop, which immerses young guests in the legends and folk art of Mexico and encourages them to create their own spirit animal, like Pepita, the colorful beast that was part jaguar, eagle and lizard in the film Coco.

Meanwhile, at Velas Vallarta, kid-friendly activities include tennis clinics, cooking classes, human foosball on the beach and Behind-the-Scenes Eco Tours. Young guests can also take mariachi guitar and maracas lessons from a local musician or join Zumba classes, play water basketball and beach volleyball and enjoy puppet, bird and magic shows, as well as a weekly Mexican Fiesta.

The Velas resort collection also features complimentary stays for kids, discounted rates for teens, dedicated kids’ and teen clubs, a baby concierge and gourmet baby food and family spa credits this summer. Additionally, a dedicated Summer Camp with glamping, climbing walls, zip line, bungee, nightly shows and drive-in movies runs July 12–Aug. 11 at the resorts.