We did tequila tasting, sailed on a catamaran, went snorkeling to see an underwater museum/ swam with some fish, rented a scooter to cruise through the streets of Isla Mujeres and even took a day trip to Tulum! Here’s my ultimate Playa Del Carmen Travel Guide.
This was my first time ever in Mexico and it exceeded my expectations. We stayed at an all inclusive but we did so much exploring off resort. Mexico’s culture and history is so beautiful, there is so much to see and do. I can not wait to go back and explore what more there is to offer there.
THINGS TO KNOW
Currency: The official currency is Mexican Pesos (MXN). 1USD = 17MXN & 1CAD = 13MXN
Rates do fluctuate so please know this is only an estimate.
Language: The Official Language is Spanish. But almost 40% of the country can speak english.
VISA: If you’re from the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, or any country in the Schengen, you will not need a visa to visit Mexico. Please click here for more information.
Weather: The two months with the most rain is normally September and October.
Peak Season: The busiest months are March/April, July/August and Christmas and New Years. The mid season is January/February and May/June. And, the lowest season is September/ October.
When to visit: All year around! But in my personal opinion I would steer clear from travelling to Mexico in the months of September/ October as you are likely to encounter more bad weather.
TRANSPORTATION
Bus: There is only 1 bus service from the Cancun airport and that is the ADO. This works best if travelling alone and also have a hotel that is close to the bus station in Playa Del Carmen.
Rental Car: If you are not staying at an all-inclusive and will be doing a lot of travelling of site seeing. A rental car may just be the best option and least expensive for you. The cheaper ones are just outside the airport and will pick you up when your flight arrives and take you to the office.
Taxi: Taking a taxi from the Airport to Cancun or the Hotel zones can be VERY expensive. I would not recommend just hoping into a taxi unless you want to pay a lot.
Private Transfer: A Private transfer is the best option if you are looking to get to your hotel the fastest. This can range anywhere from $50.00-$150.00 USD per person. Tip: You can save $10-30 USD if you book round trip
Colectivo – Travel as the Mexicans do! This is the ultimate budget travel. This was my favourite way to travel while we were in Mexico. They usually are a minivan that acts like a bus, picking up people at terminals and along the road. You can ask your front desk about routes they should have all the information you need.
ULTIMATE PLAYA DEL CARMEN TRAVEL GUIDE
THINGS TO DO
Spend a day on La Quinta Avenida
(Also known as 5th Avenue) With our all inclusive package we received the free shopping tour into Playa Del Carmen. We were picked up from our resort at 10am and the first stop on the tour was ‘Matis’ this was a silver jewelry store, we spent about 45 mins here. We then went for Tequila tasting next door for about an hour (The tequila in Mexico is WAYYY better than tequila in Canada WOW). Once we were done at these two locations we had a van pick our group and bring us downtown Playa Del Carmen. We were dropped off on 5th Ave and had about 2 hours of exploring. The town of Playa Del Carmen is awesome!
There are local shops, a mall and lots of restaurants in this area. You can book for tours from the operators on 5th Avenue as well
Catamaran to Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres is an island where the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea meet.
This was easily my FAVOURITE thing we did the entire time in Mexico. We took a van to Cancun where we caught our catamaran. We set sail around 2pm and about halfway to the island we stopped to do some snorkeling at an underwater museum. Once we arrived to the island we spent about 2 hours until we had to set sail home. We actually got to have a sunset cruise back to Cancun which was absolutely stunning!
Things to do on Isla Mujeres:
– Playa Norte Beach
– Punta Sur
– Rent a moped or golf cart (easily the best thing to do on the island) Highly recommend
– See an underwater museum
– Shopping spree. There is sooo many cute little shops around the island.
*We booked this tour through sunwings office at our resort.
Day Trip to Tulum See Post Here!
Tulum is one of the most picturesque places I have ever seen. This town is about an hour away from Playa Del Carmen. We took one of our days to do a day trip to Tulum. Tulum is such a cute town known for its beaches, there are so many things you can do and see! I have another blog post coming shortly about our day trip to Tulum! I will link it here as soon as it is complete :).
Visit a Cenote
Cenotes are basically sinkholes that have been found all over the Yucatan Peninsula. They were worshipped by the Mayans who performed sacrifices in some of them. They are now used as swimming areas. There are about 6,000 cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Top Cenotes: Cenote Azul, Cenote Dos Ojos – The Bat Cave, Gran Cenote, Cenote Ik-Kil
Nature Theme Parks
You can find the majority of the parks on highway 307 along the Cancun to Tulum stretch. There are a number of theme parks that let you experience most of the awesome adventures that are in the Mayan jungle and its natural habitats. You can discover cenotes, Mayan Ruins, underground rivers at these theme parks.
Top Theme Parks: Xcaret, Xel-Há Park, Xplor Park, Emotions Native Park
Visit a Beach:
– Parque Fundadores
– Mamitas
– Calle 2
– Punta Esmeralda
– Playacar
– Xcacel
– Akumal
WHERE TO STAY
There are so many options of where to stay in Playa Del Carmen. You can either do the all-inclusive route or you can find super cute boutique hotels right downtown Playa.
Grand Sunset Princess: $$
Family Friendly resort or you can do the Platinum for Adults only. This was the hotel we stayed at. The resort is huge and has 3 different resorts all in one. I loved this resort so much that I would even go back to stay again.
Paradisus La Esmeralda All Inclusive Playa Del Carmen: $$
Family friendly all-inclusive four Diamond resort with 3 pools, 5 slides and giant water bucket. Paradisus also has 22 restaurants and bars on site.
Hilton Playa del Carmen: $$$
All inclusive resort with beachfront or swim-up suites. 10 restaurants and bars
Blue Diamond Luxury Boutique: $$$
This resort looks absolutely beautiful and is where I hope to stay on my next travels to Playa Del Carmen.
Blue Diamond is an adults only hotel with all inclusive option and overwater bungalows.
Panama Jack Resorts Playa del Carmen: $$
Family friendly hotel with all inclusive option and lots of pools.
Andaz Mayakoba: $$-$$$
All inclusive luxury hotel with 4 on site restaurants and private beach access.
AirBnB
is also always a great option in Playa Del Carmen (and you can save up to $62CAD using that link to sign up!).
WHERE TO EAT
Pez Vela: $$
A Swing bar! This is where we at for lunch while we were in Playa for the day. It is a seafood restaurant and is a bar that has swings, located right on 5th ave! We ordered some guacamole and fajitas which were delicious!
Alux: $$$
This place is all about the experience. It is located just a little out of downtown Playa but the restaurant is literally located in a cave. I wish we would have got here for a meal but it is on top of the list for our next visit! It is on the pricier side but if you are celebrating a special occasion this place would be the perfect spot!
La Parrilla Playa del
Very authentic Mexican restaurant. Supposedly this place has out of this world taco’s!
Hijos de la Tostada $$-$$$
As you can probably tell by the name this restaurant serves tostadas and focuses on seafood. Supposedly the Chapulin cocktail is a huge hit! Ask for one 🙂
Karen’s Restaurant: $$-$$$
Great spot for drinks. This is another bar with swings. Our friends stop here and said their drinks were awesome and you can even get a little bottle of tequila with your photo on it! How cool.
SPANISH TIPS
Hello – ‘Hola.’
Good morning – ‘Buenos dias.’
Goodbye – ‘Adios.’
See you later – ‘Nos vemos.’
How are you? – ‘Cómo estás?’
Good night – ‘Buenas Noches’
Nice to meet you. ‘Mucho gusto.’
Yes – ‘Si’ No – ‘No’
Water – ‘Agua’
The bathroom – ‘El baño’
Beer – ‘Chela’
Can I have a Mojito – ‘Puedo tomar un Mojito’
Thanks for reading my ultimate travel guide to Playa Del Carmen. If you are travelling to Mexico any time soon I hope you have the most amazing time! Please comment your experience in Mexico I would love to hear all about it.
It is such a beautiful place. I cannot wait to travel more of Mexico soon!
xx Kenzie
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