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Summer Solstice 2016 Is Coming to Sandos Caracol

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Unleash Your Mayan Spirit

Rays of sunlight burst through the green canopy of the jungle. The soft white sand heats up beneath your feet. The smell of copal smoke reaches you, permeating the surrounding air. Summer has come to the Riviera Maya, and with it, all the meaning of the solstice.

June 20 marks the Summer Solstice, the first day of summer and the day when the sun stays longest in our sky. A season begins for honoring our connection with the sun and the earth, a time to look within ourselves to celebrate the light of our consciousness.

Here on the coast of the Riviera Maya, we welcome the beginning of this wonderful season with our Summer Solstice celebration. On June 20, 2016, Sandos Caracol Eco Resort will offer its guests a full day of celebration, Mayan culture and Mexican traditions to honor this significant date.

Solstice Celebrations

To kick off the Summer Solstice and welcome the sun at Sandos Caracol, first we will offer a sunrise meditation session on our beach; there’s no better way to recognize our relationship to the sun and everything it gives us in our lives. We’ll also have a real Mayan shaman to cleanse your energies for the new season with a Mayan purification ceremony using traditional copal smoke.

Sunrise meditation on the beach

Mayan purification copal

At 11 in the morning, we’ll start our beach party known as the “Sun Tribute” with a variety of games, drinks and live music to celebrate the beginning of summer in true Caribbean style. There will also be eco tours during the day so guests can explore the hotel’s different ecosystems, from mangrove to jungle, while learning about the region’s captivating Mayan legends. To enjoy a little culture, we’ll have Mexican cooking classes with the Sandos Caracol chefs, along with a Mayan artisan fair with handicrafts made and sold by the people who live in this region.

An Evening of Mexican Culture

When the sun finally goes down on the longest day of the year, our night of Mexican traditions begins at Sandos Caracol. Head to the resort’s central avenue, where you’ll discover a world of music, cuisine and more. We’ll be serving a tasting of traditional Mexican “cazuela” dishes from all across the country, along with our Sun Dinner with stands serving traditional Mexican food and drinks for you to enjoy.

Traditional Mayan drinks

There will be live bands playing all kinds of Mexican music, from the marimba to jarocho, and Mayan traditions like a purification ceremony and the Mayan ball game known as “pok ta pok”. Kids will love the Xcalacoco Land play area and the Mayan facepainting stand, and we’ll also have live shows at the theater with performances of Mayan and Mexican legends.

The following video will give you an idea of just how we celebrated Summer Solstice 2015 last year:

The Xcalacoco Experience at Sandos Caracol

This Summer Solstice celebration is one of our four big annual events that make up part of our Xcalacoco Experience at Sandos Caracol Eco Resort:

Equinox and Solstice events Mexico

In addition to honoring these four meaningful dates in Mayan culture, the Xcalacoco Experience also boasts an extensive program of daily activities so you can discover the nature and culture of the Riviera Maya. During your stay at Sandos Caracol, you can swim along a river through a mangrove forest, cool off in the crystal clear waters of our cenote, learn how local Mayan people cook, and witness spectacular nighttime events in our stunning outdoor settings.

We hope to see you soon at Sandos Caracol Eco Resort to celebrate the Summer Solstice 2016 with us, or any of our other annual events! These special dates give you the chance to experience the best of Riviera Maya history and Mexican culture, along with gorgeous natural surroundings, during your beach vacation.

To learn more about our events, shows and eco activities at Sandos Caracol Eco Resort, visit us online at XcalacocoExperience.com

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