Original Mexican Fishing Village
Trip Start
Nov 16, 2009
1
3
35
Trip End
Apr 16, 2010
Where I stayed
Playa del Carmen, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Friday, November 27, 2009
While passing through, many people realized that it was a nice place to relax away from the crowds of Cancun with the same quality beaches and turquoise waters. Based on the hurricanes damage since 2005, Darcy and I thought that the beaches are better! You rent a beach lounge chair and umbrella for the day and take in the beautiful view.
Tourist activity in “Playa” centers on Quinta Avenida, or Fifth Avenue, a pedestrian walkway (stretching about 1 mile) located just 1 or 2 blocks inland from the beach which is lined with boutique hotels, shops, bars, and restaurants. We stayed 1 block off of 5th Avenue which made it very convenient to eat and drink! Lunch time 2 for 1 cerveza's (beer). You can see from the pictures there is a lot of action all-day and night. See the last picture, which is a short video of some "Street Performer's" outside the restaurant we had dinner at last night (just click on the arrow in the middle of the frame).
The Playa del Carmen local community and government have attempted to retain Playa del Carmen's reputation and charm as a small fishing village and artists' colony, without it becoming as large and metropolitan as Cancún. To this end, the city passed an ordinance limiting buildings to 3 stories.
There is a significant European influence in Playa, with a number of local business proprietors drawn from the European expatriate community.
We happened to be here when they were have the "Riviera Maya Jazz Festival", which was held at the beach.
