Playa del Carmen

This year I decided to do something a little different for Christmas. I decided to take a short visit to visit my family followed by a quick trip to Mexico, Playa del Carmen to be exact, with Matt. This required a little bit more traveling than normal and was completely last minute so the travel plans were less solidified. I ended up finding a nice local, Heights pet sitter to watch the kitties, and got some quick tips from friends who had been to Playa before. Our friend, Rich, told us about this cute little hotel about 100 feet from the beach called Hotel Illusions. It was quaint and within our price range for the spur of the moment holiday traveling.

We were in Playa for 5 days and 4 nights. We flew into the Cancun airport and paid for a van to take us to Playa del Carmen (45 minutes south). The van wait seemed a little to long so we ended up simply paying for a taxi to take us to the hotel. Next time we will take the bus, which is substantially cheaper and quite reliable (~$10 per person). After arriving at our hotel, we walked around Avenue 5, the 'bourbon street' of Playa.
It is filled with shops, restaurants, bars, tourist info spots, etc. It was fun, but a little touristy. Matt and I did find some great little gems there where we could people watch and enjoy the hustle.


I enjoyed a lot of the food, from cilantro ceviche to the spicy mayan chocolate drink! Here are a few pics of my favorite eats. We did splurge for one pretty nice meal at La Casa del Aqua. The food was great! We got a tuna and sea scallop ceviche, I got griled grouper with goat cheese, and Matt got blue fin tuna. Yum, yum. Plus it had a great view of the streets below.




The other days we spent either on the beaches or in the little town of Tulum (which I loved!). Tulum was a great place to eat at little shops on the main street, see ruins, and take short trip to the cenotes of the coast. Cenotes are limestone caves that have been formed from underground fresh water 'streams and rivers'. They are lovely places to snorkel and are popular for scuba divers.




All and all the trip was nice. Playa was a little touristy and I think I would enjoy visiting the areas that were not so touristy and renting a car to explore the other beaches and forested areas. This was a reconnaissance trip to get a feel of the area. I now know the average cost of things and the opportunities that are there. Look forward to visiting Mexico again. Perhaps Merida!