Playa del Carmen and Revisit Puerto Morelos

When we were researching Tulum, Playa del Carmen was getting a lot of expat interest and accommodations were cheaper than in Tulum. So we decided to split our time, one week in Tulum and one week in Playa del Carmen.

Arriving in Playa del Carmen

Another one of those Latin America moments occurred when we tried to book our bus from Tulum to Playa del Carmen. A trip which is supposed to take about an hour with buses about every hour. What makes this connection a little more interesting is that there are two bus stations in Tulum (the town and the archaeological site) and two stations in Playa del Carmen (along 5^th Avenue called Playa del Carmen Tourista and Playa del Carmen Alterna). We needed to go from Tulum town to Playa del Carmen Alterna. Ian researched online what times the buses departed, we wanted the 11:15 departure which was listed on the website with 10:40 being the earlier one in the 10 o’clock time frame. We didn’t have a way to print out the tickets so we went to the bus station in Tulum…did not go quite as planned. The ticket agent said that the bus he had left at 10:25. We asked if there were any later (mas tarde) and he said no, which we found hard to believe since the website listed one each hour. We showed him the web page on Ian’s phone; his response was that he didn’t have tickets for that bus. So we are not sure if he was just trying to sell the 10:25 bus, if the website was wrong, or another answer, but sometimes it’s just easier to go along..

Upon checking into our Airbnb ($40 per night), we set off to find lunch at a restaurant, El Sabrocito del Fogon,  recommended by our host, and it was excelente! Al Pastor tacos for 15 pesos* each as well as large juices in a variety of flavors. The next day we returned for Taco Loco, a burrito about 1 ½ times the size of ones in San Diego for 100 pesos. We liked this restaurant so much, we returned yet another time that week.

After lunch that first day, we decided to simply go grocery shopping (large Mega supermarket right in out neighborhood) and return to the unit. Here is where we ran into issues. One of our outside chairs was ripped, so we borrowed one from the unit next door since we didn’t know anyone was in that unit. When the people in that unit returned later that day, they weren’t very happy, even though Ian returned the chair right away. We got lots of frosty looks. (Turns out these first neighbors spoke neither English nor Spanish, and by the end of the week, all was well and friendly.) Compounding our mistake, we borrowed a chair from another unit with a similar outcome. Eventually we went inside and were in full sweat mode, so relented (we had to pay for electricity at this Airbnb) and turned on the A/C. Well, all we got was mildly colder air. The owners were really good about fixing our outside chair and eventually the A/C.

Monday, our second day in Playa del Carnen, we decided to explore Avenida 5 (5^th Avenue), the primary pedestrian street for restaurants and shopping, including two large malls. Quite a bit different from Isla Mujeres’ pedestrian street, way more upscale and pricey – no 3 tacos for 110 pesos to be found along this street.

We then went on to explore the beach and we were not particularly impressed.

In some stretches, there was not a beach; in other stretches, there were lots of rocks.

Interestingly, all along the beach, we saw workers shoveling seaweed and either carting it away in wheelbarrows or trucks, or digging large holes and burying it in the sand.

I guess we had been spoiled by the beaches in Isla Mujeres and Tulum. On the positive side, the beach was only about a 10 minute walk away from our apartment, and we did do our usual lay-the-blanket-on-the-sand thing a few days. One day, the water was not particularly clear but with gentle waves, and the next day it was clearer with rougher waves, somewhat opposite of what one might expect.

Overall, Ann liked Playa Del Carmen a bit more than Ian did, but it did not make the cut, too expensive (except for housing with several rentals in the $500-$700 per month range), too touristy, and the beaches are not up to par with other locations on this coast of Mexico, i.e., Isla Mujeres, Tulum, and Puerto Morelos.

Puerto Morelos Revisit

As mentioned in the post about our stay at Vidanta Riviera Maya, we had visited the nearby fishing village of Puerto Morelos for the day (sans beach gear) and both really liked it. Puerto Morelos is between Playa del Carmen and Cancun. As we were again nearby in Playa del Carmen, we decided to take the local bus for the day, explore the residential streets a bit more, and enjoy the beach. This time, we walked even further (about an hour)

north up the beach almost to the beginning of Cancun and discovered larger more upscale resorts.

While walking along the beach, we saw tractor-like equipment, actually called “sand rakes”, raking the sand.

We walked back toward town, chose a spot on the sand, and enjoyed a few hours at this gorgeous beach. The water was even clearer than on our first visit with gentle waves.

The beach vendors here, like those in Playa del Carmen, approached but readily accepted our no gracias. After the beach, we walked through the neighborhood back to funky Cantina Habenero for our 3 fish tacos for 75 pesos and 2 for 1 margaritas for 80 pesos. Although rentals can be found here in that $500-$800 per month range, most were in the range of $900-1100 per month and up, probably higher than Playa del Carmen due to much less inventory. After a very enjoyable day, we returned to Playa del Carmen with confirmation that Puerto Morelos remains on our top locations list.

Random Notes:

Grocery baggers: Throughout Mexico, we are finding senior citizens who bag groceries for tips, a government-backed program to supplement their retirement incomes.

Aggressive vs. non-aggressive drivers: Unlike in Medellin , where we felt the drivers were out to get us every time we tried to cross the street, in Playa del Carmen, as well as in Tulum, the drivers, especially taxi drivers, seemed to go out of their way to allow us to cross, even to the point of blocking traffic at an intersection.

*The exchange rate at time of writing was       18.5 Mexican pesos to the US dollar.

Next Up: Zihuatanejo

Ian & Ann