See my Youtube version of the Selvatica Gimme All Ecopark adventure!
Selvatica is a unique adventure ecopark in the Yucatan jungle. In this eco park, you can enjoy a circuit of zip lines, suspension bridges, ATVs and cenote swims. Unlike other parks, Selvatica does escorted services with a prior reservation in small groups.
Selvatica is located about 12 miles (19 km) west of Puerto Morelos, between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. I booked this tour on their online website. An online chat box will appear and I recommend that you ask for a discount code. There are several a la cart activities to choose. I could not limit myself to the a la carte and chose the “Gimme All’ option. This is about 6.5 hours.
The park has a transport from the Hilton in the middle of Playa Del Carmen for $30 USD for two people. The trip is about 45 min.
The entrance from the street is easy to pass by because it’s inset from the street and has a Jurassic Park like feel to the gate. After that it has an Indiana Jones feel.
While looking around waiting for the tour start we read that Selvatica meaning ‘pertaining to the jungle’ has a unique story. There was once a gum tree tycoon who the locals affectionately called Carlitos. He had a booming gum industry. He became concerned with the effect this industry had on the local Mayans becoming a local tribesman himself and abandoning his business. The story is that he faked his death to erase the basecamp/industry and allow the jungle to return to it’s natural state.
I immediately wondered if he would approve of this new park? After being through the park I admit it does seem very eco-minded with only basic non-invasive equipment and small group tours.
The Lobby and food courtyard have an all-natural exotic jungle feel.
We arrive at the park at 8:30am per their recommendation with our start time of 9:00am. We were the first to arrive so I got several pictures of the entry and court facilities before anyone else arrived.
The inverted helmets are for their Seed of Life program.
I had fun looking at the old style decor they had set-up. The other members of the group arrive and we gear-up then proceed to a welcome stage. We split into groups of 25 people at the most. Our guides are Lilo and Jesus. They we both very friendly, informative and fun.
One of the jungle zip-line towers we approach after our stage introduction.
The view from the first zipline tower of an old ‘crashed plane’ provides jungle adventure ambiance.
Everyone is happy and excited to be here.
One of the ziplines has you landing in the water pond.
Our group of 25 people that we stay with throughout the day.
Tricky balancing act required to walk over these treetop suspension bridges, though no one fell off.
After the suspension bridges you finish with a bungee swing down to a clearing, have lunch, then proceed to the ATV ride. Getting there via this open air jungle truck ride.
After the ATV ride it’s time for a cool dip in a cenote. There are different height jump platforms and a hang-on zip line into the water. Quite a refreshing change after the ATV dirt ride.
Some people are really showing off their jumping and diving skills at this cenote. I only do one zip into the cenote then one high jump into the water. The rest of the time just enjoying watching people and filming.
After riding back to the main zipline course it’s time for the finale superman flight zipline. You get 2 of these rides.
The superman flight was the most unique and exciting zipline I have done. I had my GoPro Hero 10 attached to my right wrist and angle it to get the best view of the flight through the jungle. With arms outstretched I had the perfect camera angle setup. At first you are way above the trees. I pass by the cameraman who is hanging from another line to get pics of your fly by. I decend into an open jungle path wondering if my outstretched arms will hit the branches and they do just hit. They instruct you to pull your arms in and put your head down as you enter the end of flight hut. I do this at the last possible minute.
Back at the food courtyard we get another meal and our guides entertain us with music. You’re also provided with tablets to view all the pics taken of you by the various camera people you never even noticed were there taking your pics. Of course purchasing the whole package is the better option than a single pic. You can split the price with some others.
We are given a seed to plant into one on the helmet buckets as part of the Seed of Life program to plant trees. We then say goodbye to our guides and board our van transport back to Playa Del Carmen. All in all a very exciting and accomplished day.
