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Hotel Class: 
4 Stars - 5 Opinions
Playa del Carmen, Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, 77710, Mexico
of people enjoy staying here
5 Opinions
photo by Kaspian
The Resort
Dr. Taco's celebrates 250,000 tacos. Wow!
5th Avenue - By Night (2007)
I am headed down with my family and renting a place in playa del carmen. My siblings and I really want to take some surf lessons, we are all over 25 (if that matters), and since there are six of us in total (step sibs, sibs, and significant others) we would love it if we could find someone that would give us a group lesson, or lessons.
anyone know of anyone or anywhere local that we can go to sign up for something like this?
also, as we have been a PV family for a while I would love any other Playa del Carmen tips yo've got for a fun-loving hard-partying family out on the town
You will hardly ever hear "surfs up" in PDC. They are know for their calm waters. In the 15 years I have been going, I have never seen any surfing. But..they do have Kite surfing and windsurfing..depends on the weather. Usually March is when they have the kitesurfing competition. I am sure you can find lessons from one of the many tour huts on the beach.
I recommend you take your family to Akumal for snorkling or try one of the Cenotes. You can rent a car, take a cab, or use a coletivo to get to those places..or just book a tour.
I actually don't have the foggiest idea where these riders were going or why they were biking but I think we saw them closer to Chichen Itza several days prior to when I took this picture in Playa del Carmen. If anyone knows what they were doing, please drop me a note.
If you're one of those that keep saying Cancun's beaches are better... you're right, they are. So when you get to the Beach in Playa del Carmen... don't stay right where you get down to the beach, walk towards Cancun.
Five or ten minutes after the dock (not the one where you take the ferry to Cozumel, the one after the lighthouse), the water begins to get nicer and nicer!
This was the first time we did not use Apple or FunJet to get to Mexico so we didn't get the airport transfer to/from the hotel included in our package. I was seeing people estimating the cost of a taxi at around $45-$50 each way so we decided to arrange our transfer through our hotel for $71 round trip.
On the way from the airport, our driver was there as scheduled with a sign with our name on it and we were the only passengers in an air conditioned van. On the way to the airport, the van was full but we were on time for our flight.
This restaurant has a terrific atmosphere and terrific food. Everything we ordered was yummy and the service was great as well.
MY HUSBAND AND I WENT BACK TO PDC AND DISCOVEREDTHIS PLACE IS NO LONGER IN BUSINESS!!! Too bad!
As a traveller in Playa Del Carmen, a good part of your life away from the beach will revolve around 5th Avenue (Avenida Quinta). It's where you go for coffee in the morning, to look for something for lunch, to shop for everything from crafts to expensive silver or perfume, to people watch, to browse art, to have dinner, to go dancing, to see and be seen. Don't get me wrong, there are so many charming (and cheaper) restaurants and shops in the surrounding side-streets, but 5th is the blood and lifeline where everything else branches out from. 5th Avenue is a pedestrian-only cobblestoned street and on a nice warm evening, it can be intoxicating just to walk up and down the length of it several times.
5th Avenue is becoming more developed all the time and seems to expand in length at about a block a year. Sadly, more and more retail food chains are moving in pushing local businesses further from the centre of the action.
I love 5th, and I'd venture to say it's one of my favourite places on the planet because of the sights, sounds, and smells. Mariachis play on the corners, blues bands play at the "Bourbon Street Restaurant", there are open air restaurants ranging from quick pizza to tableclothed fine-dining, fire bursts from barbeques as they cook local chicken dishes or kebabs, Italian wine, French coffee and pastries, Mexican tequila, British draught, Cuban cigars, people dressed in Gucci, people dressed in beach-slob gear, people barely dressed at all, street performers, motorcycles on display, the occasional stray dog roams with its own intent. It is as though a joyous god took Mexico, Cuba, parts from all over Europe, and the Los Angeles Sunset Strip and crammed them all together into one single fantastic kilometre.
I put off writing this tip for so long because I find 5th so indescribable; in letters home I wrote, "Every day feels like Christmas here."
2007 Update: Way, way, way too many people on 5th these days! Just compare my photos against the year taken.
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Q: Transportation and Things To Do "Hi VTers, What's the best way to get to Playa Del Carmen from Cancun airport? We're travelling with an 8 mo old baby. Also..."
A: "Take either the shared buses which can be picked up at the airport as you exit the customs area and just before you leave the building. This is the best and easiest way..."
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