Desert beaches and wild jungle
by Joan58
Playa del Carmen is a little town along the 'Riviera Maya' 68 kilometers south of Cancun. Not very time ago it was just a little fisherman's village. Time have changed and progress has touched it. Now Playa del Carmen is the second important tourist town on the coast. It has many shops, a wide variety of restaurants and accomodations that range from five-star quality to rustic.
Playa has some of the finest beaches and coral reefs on the coast. A peculiarity of its beaches is that the white fine sand is composed of shell and coral powder. That's why the sand is never hot. I like to walk on a wild desert beach, away from the crowded fitted out ones. Just you, the sand, the sea, the sky and a mysterious jungle in the backround...
Cenote Cristallino, a beach alternative
by ciaobella55
This cenote is in Puerto Aventuras not far south of Playa and can be easily accessed by colectivo, see my tip re transport.
It's a beautiful crystal clear cenote, one part is open like a lake, the other is partly covered like a cave. The water is cool about 25' and very refreshing. It's a nice change from the beach, and usually there are very few people there.
Entrance fee is 40 pesos, there are bathrooms available.
Public Transport to Cancun
by k_kane
If you are in or around Playa Del Carmen, and you want to visit Cancun, then the sensible thing to do is to go to the main bus station in PDC where you can take a fully air conditioned bus for 32 pesos (less than 2 dollars) to Cancun each way - the buses leave every 10 minutes. The trip takes approximately one hour and you can get off in the hotel zone or downtown. I wasn't sure which to get off at and got off downtown, where I caught the R1 bus which loops around the hotel zone - the cost is a meagre 6 pesos!
Great food and good prices
by trvlrtom about Babe
Of the many places we ate at during our two visits to Playa, Babes was probably our favorite. The food is tasty and relatively inexpensive for Avenida 5. There are many options for Thai noodles along with some other dishes. You can some several times and get variations to try something different. They have good drinks too. The atmosphere is casual and fun, with a whimsical 1950s era pinup girl/bamboo bar decor.
More good local inexpensive Mexican
by Dabs about El Fogon II
I had seen El Fogon recommended several times on Playa del Carmen websites, missed it on our first visit so I made sure we tried it on our 2nd visit (Dec 2004). It's a little off the beaten path and frequented mostly by locals but since the Avenidas (avenues) go in increments of 5, it's only 5 blocks from 5th Avenue where most of the tourists eat. We tried their speciality dish of tacos al pastor, chorizo tacos and queso fundido con chorizo
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sea turtle
Coba
overlooking the caribbean sea
Xaman-Ha - Roadside Marker (2007)
