A totally opposite town than it’s larger sister city, Cancun, Playa del Carmen is much more quaint! You won’t find the hustle and bustle of city buses and noisy traffic here, these cute cobblestone roads are the perfect destination to get a little of everything.
We only had 2 days in town, the first which was spent mostly at a beach front bar/restaurant, Mamacita’s. Playa was hosting an annual techno/house music conference so the beaches were packed with locals and tourists enjoying the music. We decided to rent a cabana for the day at Mamacita’s, which ended up being the perfect spot right in the middle of everything. There are several other beachfront bar/restaurants on the same stretch of beach, all fairly similar, and all very nice. When it gets dark they all become the hottest nightlife stops and are a great spot to dance the night away! That night however, we had our fill of the beach and decided to walk around town a bit to do some shopping. Playa del Carmen is full of all kinds of different shops, you can find everything from a hand woven bracelet for around 110$ pesos to Dior and Chanel’s hottest watches and sunglasses! Zingara was one of my favorite shops, it was a bit pricey, but there swim and beachwear was just beautiful.
The next night we decided to start our night in Playa a bit earlier, in search of some authentic Mexican food, we were advised to try La Papilla’s. We were a group of ten for dinner, and arrived during the dinner rush, but the staff quickly pulled tables together on the 2nd floor balcony and sat us with an awesome view of downtown. The food was great, amazing burrito’s, shrimp filled quesadilla’s and Margarita’s made to perfection. After we ate, off we went to conquer some of the shops we had explored the day before and quite a few new ones. Most of the stores stayed open till about 10:30pm when the streets started to quiet down on the main drag, however the party moves back down to the beach if your looking for drinks, dancing and fun! We decided to check out the Blue Parrot, a well known stop in Playa. The dance floor is right on the beach and you can feel an amazing warm ocean breeze while you dance the night away! As if we weren’t having a great time already, they dimmed the lights and performers came out onto the beach for a fire show that was absolutely incredible!
Playa Del Carmen is an adorable and fun little Mexican town about an hour south of Cancun and only a ferry ride away from Cozumel. I would make this town a must see or stop on any Mexican adventure, and I can’t wait to go back!
Heidi, Editor-In-Chief
