Playa del Carmen Favorites

Favorite thing: In case you are curious about the beach at Playa Del Carmen after hurricane wilma - the answer is "they are great!" I was there the entire month of november 05. Playa came back sooooo quickly. By the time i left even much of the leaves were back on the trees!

Fondest memory: The locals really pulled together to get Playa up and ready for tourists. I was on one of the first planes ot arrive in Cancun after the hurricane. I had Playa to myself for awhile, which was really pretty cool! But i felt for those who went without the tourist dollars - so y'all get down there and help make up for time lost!

Favorite thing: My favorite thing about Playa del Carmen is my memory of how it used to be! Beware that Playa is not a sleepy fishing village with a few tourists (anymore) but more like a small Cancun (of 10 years ago). If you need t-shirts there is no shortage of shops that sell them but don't expect any local art or artisanal goods. And the food costs on 5th avenue are out of sight. If you want to eat for a reasonable price... eat a taco at a local place or at El Venado y el Faisan out on the highway (still the same great food after many years). The restaurants along the main drag (5th ave.) are spotty in quality, uniformaly over-priced and full of surly waiters. And the hawkers somehow think that being insulting will endear them to you. I aplogize to all Playa lovers but as a person who lives and travels regularly in latin america I think one can expect more.

Favorite thing: while i stayed at a lovely place a few blocks from the bus station and a few more from the ferry, most of the nicer places are at least 10 blocks north of the ferry on avenida 5 (5th ave).

Fondest memory: playa is by no means the rugged yucatan, but it has lovely beaches and no highrise resorts. if you move east, away from ave 5, you can find great cheap food. i felt safe the entire time.

Favorite thing: When you stay at an All-Inclusive hotel you seldom use money but you´d better tip the maids and waiters to get a better service from them even though tips are suppossed to be also included. It´s vital to have a fairly good amount of $1 bills for a week stay. $2 per day for the maid, $4 for the waiters and so on. Then, bring at least $50 in one dollar bills.

Favorite thing: Puerto Aventuras describes itself as: "the only gated community resort on the Mexican Caribbean coast." Now, I don’t know exactly why you need to be "gated" in one of the most tourist-friendly areas of the world--it seems a little excessive. Some web sites and travel agencies say it is "in" Playa Del Carmen, which is wrong--it is about 35 minutes outside of town, halfway between Playa and Akumal. Puerto Aventuras is basically a very large oceanside retirement community for Americans and Germans (yep, the old WWII vets living side-by-side), which also hosts several lavish all-inclusive resorts, a marina, golf course, and some nice restaurants and shops. Don’t get me wrong, the setting is absolutely stunning, the grounds and roads are superbly well kept, and everybody is really happy. But this type of place (with gates) never make me feel safe but instead make me feel trapped inside. Locals have nicknamed Puerto Aventuras "Gringo Town" (gringo meaning white person) and say it is "very American." I agree. I had a great time staying on a resort here but I’d rather hang out with the locals, they’re generally nicer than the foreigners. You could literally live in Puerto Adventuras for years and not learn anything at all about Mexico.

Favorite thing: We were not able to get on the Fat Cat catamaran tour as it was fully booked for our entire stay and after I got home I checked alltournative's website and you can get a 10% discount for booking online.

The only downside to this is the weather, the closer you are to the vacation, the more accurate weather forecast you can get so you know if it will be a good day for your trip.

Favorite thing: Playa del Carmen is a really cute town to walk around in, but it can get annoying with all of the people trying to sell you things there.If you really hate to be harassed about buying things then don't bother coming to Playa, although it is better than other places, it can still become annoying.

Favorite thing: Some years ago this was a sleepy fishingvillage, but it's fast growing to be a popular touristresort. Still it is much smaller and calmer than Cancun which lies just one hour north. If you want a smaller place with less tourists you can head to Tulum one hour south. But Playa del Carmen has a lot to offer so you should stay a few days.

This is a good place to use as a base for exploring the rest of the Yucatán peninsula. Hop on a ferry and after half an hour you are at the island of Cozumel. Here you can find some of the best snorkelling and diving in Mexico, and some say of the whole world. In Tulum you can find some great ruins overlooking the sea and the beach. Three hours drive takes you to one of the most magnificent maya ruins; Chichén Itzá. It might be a long and bumpy ride, but believe me; it's worth it!

There are also plenty of cenotes, underwater wells, around. You can find both small and large, crowded and lonely. Tour organizers can take you on all kinds of trips around the area. There are two big "theme parks" nearby, one is Xcaret and the other is Xel-Ha. Other places nearby are Aktun Chen, the Sian-Kaan reserves and the ruins at Cobá. You could go on an organized tours to all of these places, but you could also just take the bus and go by yourself.