Playa del Carmen Holidays

Top attractions

A holiday in Playa del Carmen gives you the chance to sample some of the finest golf, nature, lifestyle and shopping in Mexico.

For boutiques galore, wander up and down the popular shopping streets of Fifth Avenue and La Quinta Avenida, and spend your holiday money on some souvenirs for your wardrobe or gifts for back home. Take a break every now and then in one of the many restaurants and bars on the strip and watch the world go by.

People travel from miles around to play a few games on the Playa del Carmen’s golf courses, and golf enthusiasts will love the Golf Club Playacar, the Grand Coral Golf Riviera Maya and El Camaleón Mayakoba Golf Club.

The Xcaret eco-park is an incredible day out, as it has lots of nature-themed attractions and activities all in one beautiful spot. You can go swimming and diving, meet turtles, sharks and dolphins, visit the aviary, and even stick around in the evening for live performances and fine dining. The aqua park at Xel-Ha offers a lot of the same watery experiences as Xcaret, but is natural rather than man-made.

Beaches

Think of Mexico and beautiful beaches are likely to come to mind, so when planning a holiday in Mexico you’ll want to make sure you experience the beach life. Playa del Carmen is one of Mexico’s most loved beach resorts and is perfect for those that want to mix sunshine, sand and culture. The colourful and inviting village is lined with beautiful white sandy beaches and crystal azure waters that adorn the Caribbean Coast in Mexico.

With the beaches comes all the fun of the beautiful blue sea, including the chance to experience all kinds of water sports. You can break up a long day lazing on the sand by trying your hand at windsurfing, parasailing, diving, snorkelling, or just sailing around on a sailboat or catamaran with its own bar, so you can sip a cocktail while admiring the beach from afar.

Eating out

There are so many international restaurants in Playa del Carmen that you’ll be spoilt for choice and can try a different nation’s cuisine every night of your holiday if you want to.
But it would almost be a crime not to try some of the local street food and the fine restaurants serving authentic Yucatan dishes.
Mexican food has made its way around the world, becoming wildly popular, and when you try the real thing you’ll understand exactly why. Try some of the real tortillas, enchiladas and quesadillas in a restaurant slightly out of town, just like a local, and be sure to order a combo meal called a comida corrida, which comes with a main dish, beans, rice, soup and a drink too.
Grab tacos or antojitos from one of the roadside taco stands when you’re on the move. You’ll quickly find that tacos are the ideal snack to keep you going until the evening and go so well with a beer.

Nightlife

A holiday in Playa del Carmen means you’ll experience a slightly less wild and crazy nightlife than you would in Cancun, for example, but you’ll still find plenty of places for a fun night out.

Like many of the tourist attractions of Playa del Carmen, most of the main bars and clubs are around the beach area and along the busy streets of Fifth Avenue and Quinta Avenida.
See live shows on the sand with fire and acrobatics at beachside clubs, or sit in the open air outside a bar on a luxurious double bed. Salsa bands and professional dancers perform nightly in some of the livelier clubs in town, and you can join in if you want to learn how to salsa for yourself.

The nightlife around Playa del Carmen is easy to explore on foot and you can bar hop from one place to another. There are even organised bar crawls where you can visit several bars in one go, led by a local guide who will pick out the best places for you.

Family holidays

The Xcaret eco-park is just as much fun for children as it is for adults, and makes a great day out for the whole family. You can even hire a stroller for little ones so you can all explore more easily. Xel Ha is great for kids to splash around in and meet the local wildlife, as well as riding down the river on inner tubes and sailing along in a glass-bottomed boat.

There are exotic animals to see and even feed when you visit Crococun, including monkeys, lizards, deer and crocodiles.
For more water-based fun, Wet ‘n’ Wild is an 18-acre water park that will entertain adults and kids all day with water slides, a wave pool and a special kids area.

If you’re out exploring the local area, break up the day for the kids with a visit to the kid’s park between the water park and 5th Avenue, Parque Fundadores. The Parque la Ceiba, made from recycled materials, also has a cafe and markets to buy gifts during your holiday.
The 3D Museum of Wonders will educate and entertain restless kids, and for a special treat, there’s always the Cirque du Soleil.

Couples holidays

The beautiful beaches of Playa del Carmen are ideal for couples seeking a romantic holiday by the sea. Take long strolls along the sand hand-in-hand and stop at one of the beachside bars, where you can share a bottle of wine as the sun goes down.
Better still take a leisurely catamaran trip out to sea on the Fat Cat Catamaran, with a 4-hour trip on the 45-foot luxury vessel. There’s an on-board bar for a cocktail on the sparkling sea, and the chance to stop and try snorkelling in shallow water and see the magical undersea world.
In the evenings, couples can have an exotic date night at one of the two cinemas in Playa del Carmen, and combine a film with a meal in one of the fine dining restaurants in the 5th Avenue area or by the beach.

Action & Adventure

With so much natural beauty around Playa del Carmen, it would be a real shame not to take advantage of it for some water sports and other outdoor pursuits during your holiday.
You won’t find a better place to go windsurfing, diving or snorkelling than the clear blue seas off the coast of Playa del Carmen, and the views from a parasailing adventure overhead are unparalleled.
A day at Snorkel Xtreme will give you so much more than just the chance to swim and snorkel through a cenote with its stalactites and stalagmites, it’s also somewhere you can ride a zip wire through the jungle.

If you don’t have a head for heights, you can always take a Jungle Buggy tour to see the jungle from the ground, and explore some Mayan villages as you drive your own personal buggy off-road around the exciting landscape.

Culture

For those hungry for culture, the magnificent ruins of the ancient Mayan civilization, found at Chichen Itza and Coba, are a must-see. A Mayan village tour will give you the chance to get out of the tourist areas and find some authentic villages, where you can see how the Mayans have lived for centuries. You’ll get a very warm welcome as they share their way of life with you.
And then in the evenings you can sample some traditional Mayan flavours at one of the authentic Mexican restaurants, where delicious traditional dishes such as Tacos al Pastor and Panuchos are served.
Playa Del Carmen has a buzzing nightlife, with many of its bars and clubs found on the beachfront, where you can mingle with locals as well as other visitors in the open-air hotspots and down on the beach as you enjoy the entertainment.