North America / Mexico / Yucatan Peninsula / Maya Riviera / Playa del Carmen

Things To Do in Playa del Carmen

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Playa del Carmen Attractions

Playa del Carmen is best enjoyed from a lounge chair on the sand or during an evening strolling Quinta Avenida, paralleling the beach for 20 blocks north from the ferry pier. The area around the ferry terminal, predictably, is rife with trinket emporiums and chain eateries, but right around the plaza you'll find a small church with an ocean view and vendors selling sliced fruit and tasty tacos. Heading north, the avenue mellows into bistros, cool bars, sweet clothing shops, and sophisticated restaurants.

Playa's most active pursuits revolve around simply enjoying the good life. The hippest sandy beaches for swimming, sunning, and people-watching are north of Avenida Constituyentes; Central Playa's beach is more popular with local families and fishermen, and is home to several inexpensive hotels and restaurants. The best stretch of sand in this area, offering a breather from encroaching hotels, is Playa El Faro, between calles 8 and 10. The most beautiful beach, though -- and unfortunately the most crowded -- extends from Constituyentes north for 5 blocks to Las Mamitas and Kool beach clubs, between calles 28 and 30. Its gradually deepening waters and breaking waves farther out provide ample fodder for water play. The sublime sands farther north are increasingly being squeezed by condo developments.

Playa's offshore reef offers decent diving, though it doesn't compare to Cozumel or Puerto Morelos. Its primary virtue, which has earned it scores of dive shops, is access to Cozumel and a chain of inland cenotes. Reef dives generally cost $45 to $55 for one tank and $70 to $75 for two; two-tank cenote trips are around $110 to $120. Prices for Cozumel trips vary more and are noted below. (Cozumel dives almost always require you to take the ferry on your own and board the dive boat on the island.) Dedicated divers should look for the discounted multi-dive deals and dive/hotel packages offered by many shops. Cyan Ha (tel. 984/803-2517; www.cyanha.com), one of the first shops in Playa and still one of the most respected, has a second site at the Petite Lafitte Hotel. Tank-Ha Dive Center (tel. 984/873-0302; www.tankha.com) takes divers to Cozumel directly from Playa. Yucatek Divers (tel. 984/803-2836; www.yucatek-divers.com) specializes in cenote diving and in dives for people with disabilities. They also run snorkel trips to Isla Holbox north of Cancún from June to September, when whale sharks migrate just off the island's shores. The entire trip takes about 12 hours (including at least 3 hours travel each way) and costs $220. The Abyss Dive Center (tel. 984/873-2164; www.abyssdiveshop.com) has its own hotel. You won't go wrong with any of these.

Snorkeling isn’t good in Playa since you can’t reach the reefs by swimming from the beach. If you really want to snorkel, you’re better off in the waters around Akumal and Xel-Ha.

Countless watersports outfitters line the beach and La Quinta, offering excursions inland to cenotes, ruins, and adventure parks. Banana boating, tubing, and jet-skiing are just a few of the (pricey) watersports you can enjoy in Playa's calm waters.

Playa del Carmen Shopping

Playa is the Caribbean coast’s retail heart, with huge box stores and shopping malls on the highway serving as supply houses for much of the coast.  In the tourist zone, you'll find shops and boutiques along Quinta Avenida, where everyone seems to gather for leisurely strolls in early evening. Once you get past the ferry terminal area, low-key, locally owned shops vie for your vacation dollar with high-end clothing, Cuban cigars, specialty tequila, handicrafts, jewelry, and beach wear. Sadly, chain jewelry, sportswear, and junky souvenir shops catering to cruise passengers, along with large department stores and fancy mini-malls, are claiming prime strolling areas—there’s even a Victoria’s Secret where a charming folk art shop once stood, forcing out the smaller businesses and sending rent rates sky-high. North of Calle Constituyentes, artists and artisans display their creations on the sidewalks on Saturday evenings. Credit cards are widely accepted in shops, most with fixed prices.

Some favorite shops along La Quinta, south to north: De Beatriz Boutique, Calle 2, west of Quinta Avenida (tel. 984/879-3272), an unsung little side-street shop selling locally designed manta (Mexican cotton) clothing; Rosalia, between calles 12 and 14 (tel. 984/803-4904), for fabulous textiles from Chiapas, including embroidered huipiles and inexpensive shawls, scarves, and bags; and Corazon de Mexico between calles 14 and 14 (📞 984/803-3355) for high-quality folk art. Casa Tequila, at Calle 16 (tel. 984/873-0195), is the most popular place to sample tequilas from their stock of more than 100 brands.  Ah Cacao, at Constituyentes (www.ahcacao.com; tel. 984/803-5748), is one of the area’s most successful local businesses, expanding from its original Playa shop to several outlets in Cancún. Its specialty is intense and rare criollo chocolate, the Maya’s “food of the gods,” in bars, cocoa, or roasted beans—the cafe’s fudgy mochas, frappes, and chocolate shots will ruin you for Starbucks, and the brownies cure any blues.

North of Constituyentes, artists display their works along Quinta Avenida, wine bars abound and shops offer high-quality clothing, folk art, shoes, and trendy objets de art. This section is often used for art shows and festivals. La Sirena, at Calle 26 (tel. 984/803-3422), offers trendy folk art with calaca (skull), lucha libre, and Frida Kahlo themes. Gorgeous woven hammocks swing outside Hamacamarte on Calle 38 between Av. 5 and the beach (tel. 984/873-1338), where shelves are stocked with high-quality hammocks from Yucatán, El Salvador, and other countries. The silk matrimonial-sized hammock woven with thousands of colored strings cost $100 or more but last forever—mine’s been hanging in my backyard for years.

Playa del Carmen Nightlife

It seems as if everyone in town is out strolling La Quinta until midnight; there's pleasant browsing, dining, and drinking available at any number of establishments. Wild and crazy CoCo Bongo (tel. 984/803-5939) presents a must-see show with flying acrobats, strutting rock star impersonators, and an unpredictable array of dancers, followed by long nights of impassioned dancing among the guests. It's at Avenida 10 and Calle 12. On the beach, the Blue Parrot (tel. 984/873-0083) at Calle 12 attracts a mixed crowd with its live rock acts and nightly fire show on the beach. Just to the south is Om (no phone), which gets a younger crowd with louder musical acts. Kool Beach Club (tel. 984/803-1961) at Mamitas beach at the foot of Calle 28 manages to be both classy and casual, extending the daytime beach party far into the night with DJs and dancing. Fusion (tel. 984/873-0374), on the beach at Calle 6, hosts live bands Monday through Saturday nights, alternating between jazz, reggae, and rock. La Santanera, on Calle 12 between avenidas 5 and 10, has long been the best late-night club. Mexico knows how to do discos and dance clubs right. Palazzo (tel. 984/106-2269) on Calle 12 between avenidas 5 and 10 makes all the right moves, with disco balls, light shows, fog machines, and driving beats that keep the mixed crowd of locals and tourists on their feet until dawn.

Though they technically close around sunset, several beach clubs north of Avenida Constituyentes occasionally book live acts. Look for action at the foot of calles 30 to 38.

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