Stranded at Xcaret: Police Rescue 100+ Tourists

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — A rapid response from the Quintana Roo Secretariat of Citizen Security (SSC) resulted in the rescue of more than 100 tourists, including children and elderly individuals, who were stranded for over three hours on Thursday night at the exit of the Xcaret ecological park. The incident was caused by the insufficiency of the ADO transport service, which failed to meet the demand of visitors and workers on the Riviera Maya-Cancún routes.

Families with children and older adults were left without transportation for more than three hours until the SSC deployed a rescue operation to ensure their safe transfer to Playa del Carmen. The incident, documented by a tourist who requested help through the media outlet Diario Cambio 22, highlighted the inadequacy of the ADO transport service given the large number of visitors and workers who travel daily between the Riviera Maya and Cancún, jeopardizing the safety of those dependent on saturated routes along the federal highway.

The visitors, from various countries and including local residents, remained in the area for over three hours without transport or assistance. Faced with the critical situation, one of the tourists, Jhojan Espinosa, a Colombian national, sent a message for help to Diario Cambio 22, requesting support from the authorities for their rescue.

"Hello, good evening. This is Jhojan Espinosa, a tourist stranded at the exit of Xcaret park along with another 100 people who were not picked up by the ADO bus. We are stranded. There are elderly people and many children in a critical situation. Please help. As a media outlet, you can help us…"

Shortly after, the visitor documented the moment of greatest desperation:

"A man with a van approached to offer us a ride to Cancún. There are 16 of us tourists who were already desperate, with small children and elderly relatives. We did not find another alternative, but the driver went the wrong way on the federal highway. This is insane."

The account highlights the risk taken by several families who, in the midst of the confusion, accepted rides in private vehicles without any controls or safety measures, even traveling in the wrong direction on the Cancún-Playa del Carmen federal highway.

Immediate Response from the SSC

Minutes after the call for help, operational units from the SSC arrived at the location and implemented a rescue and safe transfer operation for all the stranded tourists. Images captured show the moment state police officers helped the visitors into patrol cars numbered 12304 and 12331, coordinating their transfer to downtown Playa del Carmen under guard and with constant accompaniment.

In a statement, the SSC reported that its priority was to safeguard the physical and emotional integrity of the tourists, guaranteeing adequate mobility conditions and immediate attention.

"In attention to the security and well-being of the Quintana Roo population, residents, and tourists, operational units were deployed to facilitate the safe transfer of the people to the city center, guaranteeing adequate accompaniment at all times," stated the agency.

The visitors expressed their gratitude to the Quintana Roo authorities and the newspaper for the quick and supportive reaction, which prevented further incidents in a poorly lit area far from urban routes. However, they also called on tourist transport companies, particularly ADO and the operators associated with Xcaret, to improve their logistical coordination and not abandon visitors, especially at night and with family groups.

The SSC deployment demonstrated the response capacity of state forces in emergencies involving tourists. Thanks to the timely intervention, all individuals were transferred without incident, setting an example of effective attention in the main tourist corridor of the Mexican Caribbean.