We had a lot of fun in Playa del Carmen. We were there primarily to study Spanish, but after school and on the weekends we thoroughly enjoyed looking around the town, relaxing on the local beach and catching collectivo’s to local cenotes and attractions.
There is one main street (5th Avenue) which contains kilometers of stalls and shops where you can purchase souvenirs – like anywhere touristy though everything is really overpriced. But it is a good place to purchase all of your souvenirs in the same place.
12th Street contains all the bars and clubs, including the famous ‘Coco Bongo’, a club which claims it is better than Vegas. We didn’t end up going there, but people we had met said it was like nothing they had ever seen before. Something to experience I guess if you have the time.
The beach is beautiful, we tend to sit down on the right side of the pier as it was a little more peaceful. The water is like a bath and you have the option to hire jet skies or experience para-sailing if you wish.
If you want to eat cheap in Playa del Carmen there are a few places off of the main street with cheap tacos, tortas, pizza slices and chicken. Taco Danny’s has 5-7 peso tacos, which are really yummy – They also give you free crackers and dip with your order. Be careful though the green sauce isn’t guacamole and is VERY picante (spicy!) as Tim found out when he put the largest spoonful of the sauce on his cracker and almost caught his mouth on fire.
There are a load of stall type restaurants, if you check the prices you can find delicious tortas for 10-15 pesos each, which is cheap 🙂
On the main road we were surprised to see a cheap chicken and rice shop, it is called Pollos Rostizados. For 60 pesos we got 2 plates and shared half a chicken, rice, crispy tacos, potatoes, tortillas and chilies. We were always full and the food tasted amazing – plus we never got sick from it, which is always a bonus 😉
There was always something new happening in Playa del Carmen, we were walking along and the next thing Tim had a Squirrel Monkey on his head!
He was very cute and enjoyed running around our shoulders and on our head, could have stayed playing with him for hours!
On the 16th June we packed our suitcases and said goodbye to our host parents and caught the ADO bus southbound to Tulúm.
