Playa Del Carmen is a great place to visit, as I stated in a previous post Mexico is budget friendly, has great food, not to mention amazing culture. PDC also has spectacular beaches, a nightlife and relaxation...so with that in mind I am dedicating this post to a few of the activities we did while on this trip. Some of the excursions are not in Playa Del Carmen, but ARE in the area, so, I suggest you take tours if you can. Public transportation is pretty good as well, so if you are on a strict budget you can also go that route or you can rent a car if you want to be super spontaneous.
Side note: We lost our underwater camera on the second day while jet skiing, Jay flipped us and the camera didn't make it! Unfortunately, because of this we did not get a lot of good videos and pictures of our excursions.
Hotel: The Royal, Playa Del Carmen, this is an adult only all-inclusive resort, if you are looking to bring the family (kids under 18 years old) this is not the place for you. The Royal has nightly shows, a game room that Jay and I used often because we love pool and it had a small food buffet and a fully stocked self serve bar.
Room: We opted for a swim up room, if you can splurge a little I totally recommend it. We had a partial ocean view from the semi-private pool, our room was super close to the beach so we could easily walk out of the pool and step into the ocean's salt water. Another plus is that they also have staff waiting on you while you are in the pool so you can have a drink while you sun bathe, swim, or relaxing on the patio hammock! Believe me, Jay and I got our money’s worth…we used the pool whenever we were our room.
Community Pools: They have two. One is a bit hidden (it is near the spa), if you cannot get a swim up room I recommend getting a room by this pool because no one seems to use it. The other is the main pool...it has a swim up bar, pool activities, live music, and a food prep station (not daily). Personally, I felt this pool was too crowded, so Jay and I only used it once.
True story, we met this guy from Texas, he was super friendly and was chatting with everyone in the pool. He was a Cowboys fan and anytime the Cowgirls (I am a New York Giants fan so that is what I call them...hehehe) are in discussion Jay must join in (he is a Cowboys fan as well). Anyway, this guy asked us if we wanted to go on a night dive, said it was free because he was chartering a boat with gear. We were the only ones he asked…of course I said no, and I added in that we don’t swim well (a huge lie because we are both strong swimmers). My first thought was, we are the only black couple in the pool and he is inviting us to go night scuba diving with him!?!? Heck no, we will not go missing in Mexico, we will not be his, “I remember this one time in Playa Del Carmen…” story. I joked with Jay that we would be his prey and it would be a cat and mouse game in the deep dark sea. OK, I WATCH TOO MANY HORROR MOVIES!
Beach: It is not private so everyone can access it, also it is very rocky so I would recommend swim shoes. That was not a deal breaker for us as we normally don't spend much time at our hotel beach anyway.
Food: Plenty of options; 7 in total. The food was meh, we tried all but one and none were really a stand out, however, I did like the buffet and Asian restaurants. Sorry, no pics of the restaurants or food, the one below is at the bar by the community pool.
Activities
Xcaret: This is an Eco Park, it is big, so you will have a lot to do, underground and above ground rivers, zoo, food, museum's, snorkel tours, speed boat, shows and more. Jay and I did the underground river and I was petrified (again I watch too many horror movies), it is about an hour or so swim in almost full darkness. We also swam with sea turtles, snorkeled a small reef, but, the highlight of the park was the show, check out the video below. If you can fit this into your itineray I say go for it! I also have a post about my time in Cozumel, on that trip I visited Xel-ha, go check it out here!
If you want to experience the park for yourself, click here for a great deal!
Whale Sharks Tour: The whales are in season between June - September to feed and mate, if you are in the area please check out this tour, it will not disappoint, you swim alongside whale sharks while they eat and sun bathe. Warning, they are huge, like a large school bus huge!!! This remains the most memorable experience I have ever had vacationing! After the swim with these gentle giants our guide set anchor at Isla Mujeres to eat and swim (OMG the ocean/beach here is beautiful!), check out the videos of both below.
Los Aguachiles Restaurant: The ceviche and fish dishes are soooo good! It is in or near Downtown PDC, we went to the location on 34th street (I am not sure if it is considered downtown), from what I am told it is the less “touristy” of the two. It was a short walk from The Royal Hotel, I highly recommend it if you want a real local experience and great food.
Thanks for stopping by...do you enjoy Mexico as much as I do? Please like and share!
If you need any info feel free to reach out.
XOXO,
KJ
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