Mexican Adventures: Playa Del Carmen

Seeing as springtime is looking like a winter wonderland today, I’m hugging my mug of hot tea while reminiscing about lazing on the beautiful Mayan Riviera last month. There’s so much to cover that it’s going to take two posts, one covering Playa Del Carmen & one for Tulum. Initially, when Mexico was thrown into the mix of honeymoon options, I was against it. Images of all-inclusive hotel districts and water aerobics came to mind, and to be honest, that’s just not our cup of tea. But move a little further down the coast from Cancun and there’s a whole other side to discover. Having been forced to leave New York with JFK shutting up shop and ‘Snowmagedon’ on the route, we headed for some much anticipated Mexican sunshine.

Playa del Carmen, or just Playa to the cool kids, is about an hour further south of Cancun and where we stayed. Originally a small fishing village, there are now more than enough restaurants, bars, shops, and beach clubs to keep occupied for a couple of weeks. Truth be told, even here was a little more developed than I had expected, but still beautiful.

Next door to our boutique hotel was the sweetest little French restaurant, Chez Celine, where we’d start each morning with mimosa’s while working our way through the breakfast menu. I’d read that Playa is not cheap, but our daily morning feed generally came in under the fifteen-dollar mark, mimosa & tip included. Also if you’re adventurous enough to venture a little further than the usual tourist spots, eating & drinking becomes much cheaper. Mexican street food is a regular meal for the locals and in most cases is great quality food cooked on open barbecue-style set-ups.

I found the most perfect yoga studio on the beach where I managed to drag myself out of bed for a few early mornings gentle Hatha sessions. They also offered holistic massage (which served as the loveliest hangover cure after one particularly heavy night!). Tuesday evenings see the main street, 5th Avenue, transform into a pop-up gallery with local artists exhibiting their creations throughout the evening. Tempted as I was, the logistics of lugging artwork home just didn’t work out on this trip.

Continuing an hour further down the coast we hit the boho oasis that is beautiful Tulum, but I’ll save that for part II of my Mexican adventures next week!