The Town -(City)

I’ve read somewhere that Playa del Carmen is the fastest growing city in Mexico. That doesn’t boad well. Playa (as the locals call it) has changed from a sleepy fishing village attracting slackers to a hip and vibrant resort with fine restaurants, great shops, and the usual trappings of tourist towns all over Mexico.

However, Playa continues to exude a charm all of its own. There is 5th avenue “La Quinta”, a pedestrian only street that comes to live at night. There are the fabulous beaches and beach clubs, where you can rent a white matress and relax, margarita in hand and a plate of cebiche (raw fish, cured with lime juice) at your side. There is the people watching, a constant stream of people walking back and forth on the beach during the day and on La Quinta at night. Playa has also kept, with some success, a limit on how many stories buildings can have. This is no Cancun.

Playa has many restaurants and bars. In fact, that is part of the fun. Particularly at night. It is all about - “where am I going to eat tonight?” Is it going to be French, or Italian?, Mexican or Spanish? or Thai-Mexican?.

Playa also has a cosmoploitan influence that I love. Europeans like this place. Particularly Italians. So good espressos and great gelatto are easy to find. People have emigrated here from all over, and so you can find a Sweede that owns a Thai inspired restaurant, Argentinians and Brazilian places, etc.

But, in the end, Playa is about the sun and the beach. It is about forgetting city life and work. It is about relaxing and enjoying paradise.

Here are a few observations on places we have visited.

Hotels

Pelicano Inn, a long time ago;

Mosquito Blue, also a while back

Shangri La hotel - now known as the Mahekal Beach Resort (Calle 38 Norte con Zona Federal Maritima Playa del Carmen - Quintana Roo - Mexico). Of the three hotels, I like the ShangriLa/Mahekal the best. I have stayed there 4 times. All of them on 2nd floor rooms in the Garden View Pueblito area.

The Mahekal is a resort with lots of charm. It is made of a number of cabanas with typical Mayan thatched roofs spread out on a large area on the northern side of Playa. Some cabanas are right on the beach. Others are further in in what is called the Pueblito section. The hotel includes a good buffet breakfast and dinner. However, one can change dinner for lunch. This is a good idea if you want to go to town for dinner (highly recomended).

Restaurants:

Lots to choose from. The main drag is Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue). This is a pedestrian only street. There are tons of restaurants and bars right on Quinta, or just off from it. Some of my favorites are:

Yaxche Maya Cuisine. Mayan cuisine with a European bent. 8th Street, between 5th and 10th Ave

Babe’s Noodle Bar hip and inexpensive (cash only). There are two, go to the one at Calle 10, between 5th and 10th Avenue.

La Parrilla One of many Mexican restaurants. This one is pretty happening at night with Mariachi music and giant margaritas

Beach scene:

The beaches in the main part of town are all torn up. The best beaches are to the north anyway (past the pier on Constitullentes avenue).

Two great beach clubs. Both clubs have DJs spinning all day long:

Mamitas Beach Club has been around for a long time and is pretty popular. It’s kind of what you see in Miami including beach beds.

Canibal Royal is a new beach club with modern Brazilian music. This one is north of Mamitas. This club has a lot of shaded areas for Raina.

Clubs

Coco Bongo New place (we didn’t make it there this time around). Expensive tickets, but looks great

Blue Parrot Fire Show and movie Amazing show. Starts around 12pm and lasts 30 minutes. Very reasonable. You can see it for the price of a beer (at least there wasn’t any cover charge when we went)

Other stuff:

Pyramids. Try Tulum Not too far away, and it’s by the Ocean. We went to Coba this time around, but that is a longer drive. The pyramid is amazing (the only piramid you can climb now). It is very steep, but the view from the top is amazing.

Xplor seems like an amazing adventure (kind of expensive). You can also rent Off-road 4 wheelers to go in the jungle. A swim in a cenote can be pretty cool too. We went to a cenote in a cave, but there are lots of them.

Here are a couple more links:

Drumming a group creating music on the street. Here are a few pictures on Flickr , and here is a map