We just returned from the Grand Sirenis last week and had an awesome time. We travelled with three kids (11, 9 and 6). We only had a week but knew that we wanted to take in Tulum and Xel Ha. Both are only about 15-20 minutes from the resort. The tour that was offered was a half day in Tulum and half in Xel Ha for $112/person. We opted to go on our own so we could spend a whole day in Xel Ha.

We took a collectivo to Tulum one day (is cheap and safe except for the crazy Mexican driving). The collectivo drops you off on the highway and its about a 15 minute walk in to the ruins. The ruins were most interesting. It cost about $4.50/adult (kids were free). I think next time I would pay for a tour guide as we overheard some of them with info you can't get from the signs. We also had read to bring our bathing suits as there is a nice beach at the ruins. We stayed for two hours at the beach. The sand was gorgeous, the colours were gorgeous and the waves were a blast. I think this was one of the highlights of the trip for my kids. There are also many little booths/shops set up for some shopping.

There are also a couple of booths set up that sell prepaid admissions to X-Caret and Xel Ha for 10% off the cost at the gates. We were a little skeptical but saw another booth closer to the ruins that said the same thing. We didn't have enough cash so just bought the two adult tickets (still thinking maybe we would be scammed) but it was fine. You didn't have to use the prepaid admission on any specific day (unlike tours) but did have to use them within two weeks. There was even a specific ticket booth at Xel Ha for prepaid tickets. Everything at Xel Ha is now all inclusive (I believe he said that just changed mid December). This includes restaurants, buffets, fast food, ice cream, snorkel gear, towels, lockers and of course the drinks. I think we paid about $53/adult and $37/child. We loved Xel Ha. There were people from our resort that went to X-Caret (said they have an amazing evening show) but left before it started because it was just too long of a day with kids. Food is also expensive there ($25/person -adult or child- for the buffet). We stayed right until the 5pm closing.