Travel Guide Playa Del Carmen Mexico
Written on Jan 23 2024
Needing a winter retreat from the cold in Philadelphia, I found myself back in Mexico at Playa Del Carmen. Located just south of Cancun in Quintana Roo province, this coastal gem is worth a visit!
the infamous portalThere are mainly two options on where to stay while in Playa Del Carmen. The resorts are located in Playacar which is a gated community on the south part of the city. Everything here will be a bit pricier and may feel less like actually being in Mexico. The second option is to stay in the city which extends northward down fifth avenue. This can be a noisy option due to the many partiers of the beach clubs. However, this can be a very econonomic way to have a vacation while feeling like you are participating in local culture.
Zazil Ha is a neighborhood just north of the central area of Playa Del Carmen. The main road near this neighborhood is Avenue CTM and hosts some of the best food you will find for the best prices. If you want to eat with the locals go here.
My favorite in all of Playa Del Carmen
views from the rooftops of zazil haFor once this was an easy task! Just a 3-4 hour direct flight from Philadelphia, this is an easy destination to reach. Once off the plane you can hop on a bus that will take you to the center of Playa Del Carmen.
A fairly large airport with 4 terminals that can be fairly overwhelming if it is your first time out of the states. Terminal 3 is where I have flown in and out of every time I visit. As soon as you are outside of the terminal you will be swarmed with taxi and shuttle services offering you a ride. You can haggle with the price if you would really like to get a private ride, but I do suggest just walking to the AVO bus ticket line and purchasing a ticket for the next bus to Playa Del Carmen.
Located just outside of each terminal at the airport it is very convenient to take the bus for once. On a delirious enough day you might think you are a rock star being shuttled to your next show.
Playa Del Carmen specializes in beach clubs, resorts, tours and activities. Scuba seemed to be a fairly large draw and there were several companies that would take you out.
baja camarones y arrachera tacosJust like America, all the beaches are public in Mexico. (Exceptions apply) However, with the unrelenting sun you will probably want to bring an umbrella. If you want to travel light without the umbrella, a sunbed is a great idea. You can find people who will rent them along the beaches for 200 pesos. You can also rent a sunbed at a resort of beach club, but they will have a minimum spend of 300-700 pesos. This seems to be a fairly common practice of every beach I have visited in Mexico.
just 200 pesos to rent a sunbedLocated all over the area these are natural healing springs that you can visit to swim in. I opted not to visit one while I was there, but it seemed like something that could be reached by tour or taxi.
Another great idea to free your mind and relax is a Mayan sweat lodge. A two-hour experience where you will be sealed in a dark hut while incense is burned around you.
Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip:
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It is always something when traveling abroad that you learn. After a few trips through customs and all of a sudden I forgot how overwhelming it can be when you are at an airport with no service.
Every other time that I entered a different country my phone would automatically switch the network over to a local provider. However, this time it did not and I was forced to figure out a solution to the problem and also not miss the bus. On your phone you can choose which network provider your phone connects to. Just keep trying one of these until someone will give you service. In this particular case, I had a Verizon number and knew that they partenered with TELCEL for their service in Mexico. As soon as I joined that network my phone dinged online with a text message notifying me that I had 5GB of data on Verizon while I was out of the country.