Going to Mexico, Playa del Carmen. | GTAMotorcycle.com

Going to Mexico, Playa del Carmen.

H

HorizonXP

Well-known member
So the GF and I are heading to Mexico next Tuesday for an all-inclusive resort for the week. Planning on taking it really easy, enjoying the resort and the town, doing what we can, when we want.

I have a feeling that I'm going to get bored pretty quickly if we just stay on the resort, so I started looking for some other things to do. I brought up a few ideas to the GF, but I think her biggest concern is our safety. I think she feels that it's best we stay on the resort and avoid any unnecessary risks. I'm of the opposite thinking, and I want to take in my surroundings!

Anyway, I've brought up the idea of doing cenote diving, ziplining, and visiting Chichen Itza. She has some skin issues which is making her hesitant about the diving and ziplining, as she thinks it may aggravate things. We just did ziplining last week, locally, and fortunately, she had no issues and had a blast.

Chichen Itza seems to be 3 hours away, and it looks like it can range from 30 to 60 a person for the tour. I read somewhere that driving there yourself was probably the best idea, as you avoid the crowds, go on your own schedule, and it isn't any more expensive than the tour bus. The GF is up for doing the tour, but not the drive. Again, she feels like we might get stopped.

Anyway, looking for help and suggestions, and ideas on what else we should check out and do. Is my driving idea stupid? Would people recommend cenote diving? I can skip ziplining, that's not such a big deal to me.
 
all i can say is try not to get killed it is mexico, Driving yourself 3 hours away might not be safe
 
sarky said:
all i can say is try not to get killed it is mexico, Driving yourself 3 hours away might not be safe
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I went there a few years ago, stayed at the RIU something in del carmen.
1) I wouldn't take the risk of renting a car if I was you.
2) you can occupy much of your time watching the topless european girls on the beach
 
I have been there many times

1) from playa del car you can take the ferri and go to scuba dive on one of the most amazing spots to do so Cozumel, it will cost you close to nothing. Once you arrive at Cozumel, rent a couple of scooters, ride around the little island and you will find places where they will take you scuba diving (very safe)

2-) you have Xcaret (water park) really close by, go to the main road and take the public air conditioned bus (full of tourists and not locals), in there you can not just see the amazing vegetation and animals, but you can float or snorkel on the lazy river that will take you to underground caverns

3-) if you golf, there are a few courses.

4-) The Ruins of Tulum a few minutes away taking the same bus for a couple of pesos, you can swim on a little beach right beside the ruins

5) Take the same bus the other way and about an hour you have cancun, go party and come back by taxi, make you you don't get ripped off

The tour buses with guides and all that crap is just a good way to rob you without a gun

It is safe if you use commun sense. Have fun!

By the way, in playa del car close to the main plaza, there are some really good fish restaurants
 
i was there back in february.. the area your going to be in is VERY tourist friendly, their economy depends on it, so they treat you like gold, you can more or less go where and when you please, almost safer then here at home.. the wife and I took the bus with the locals (they call them collectivo, you flag them down on the highway.. ) even in the middle of the night and never felt threatened.

take note im refering to the area you mentioned, playa del carm, cozumel, riviera mya, akumel ect. the same CAN NOT be said for area's of mexico bordering the US or tijuana.. a man could get shot real easy round there..
 
Been there a few times too, but if you want to try zip lining go to Xplore Park. There's ATV drive through the jungle and caves, swim and raft in the underground rivers and then there's about 14 ziplines. Catch is you better like water as number 7 ends up soaking you and then the remainder are water types. You also do a lot of climbing to the towers, so don't go hungover!

Food was really good and is included in your admission.

Neat thing about this park is that the helmet you wear the entire day has a chip, so that when you leave you can buy a zip drive with pictures of you from the day at various points in the park.http://www.mycancuntours.com/tours/xplor-tour.asp

We also did a catamaran trip from Cancun complete with holding a nurse shark with pictures for a price. Really good deal, but it's hot on the water. We ended up using a full bottle of 30 sunscreen and still managed to get burnt! http://www.magictourscancun.com/web/tour_details2.php?id_tour=136
 
+1 on xplor, we did that too, a little pricey, but worth it.

other excursions we found it best just to wander on your own, the guided tours are a scam, if you want to go snorkling or whatnot just go on your own, def recomend the beach at akumel bay.. not sure if their still in season, but we swam with huge sea turtles when we went.. and they dont mind people, but shy from large groups, so we actually saw more on our own then the tours did.
 
I found Tullum kind of boring and full of some kind of hungry flies. It also seemed to be a really long distance from where we were in Cozumel. Diving was excellent in Cozumel though.
 
We stayed at the Princess hotel the year before it exploded last year. Been to the Yucatan many times and I always rent a car. Very safe area just exercise due diligence and some common sense. Last time, we went to Coz by ferry and rented scooters and did the whole island...great beaches on the windward side with NO crowds at all! We also did Tulum, Chichen Itza and Coba which was by far the best ruins. Prepare yourself for a jungle hike but you can still climb the ruins in Coba. If you rent a car, there are a ton of cenotes along the way that are cheap and you can snorkel them at your leisure. Diving in Coz has made a comeback since the hurricane.

Either way, enjoy your stay down there. 5th Avenue in Playa is a must do for people watching! Oh, and shopping, if you're into it.
 
Your going down south in July? Prepare for the heat...I once went to Cuba in August...omg that was a mistake! Couldn't take the heat. It even seemed to even heat up at night!
 
+ 1 to what everyone's said, Playa Del Carmen is very tourist friendly and I never felt unsafe. Coba is a fun day trip if you don't mind hoping on one of their ADO buses (main bus terminal is right on 5th ave) for dirt cheap. Once you get there you can rent some beat up bicycles are ride through the jungle, exploring and climbing ruins.

5th avenue is something to see - a complete mixed bag of familiar stores and restaurants and local business. But I also liked getting off the main drag and eating at the hole-in-the-wall restaurants where locals ate. Look for El Fogan for their tacos el pastor and cheap beer.

As already mentioned you have Cozumel a short ferry ride away. Unless you plan on diving or snorkeling though, maybe skip it. We felt completely harassed as tourists by the restaurant and store owners.

Cenote diving is AMAZING. We went with a shop recommended on Tripadvisor. We're not seasoned divers, so we set up a day trip and snorkeled through caves, salt water beach, and a lagoon.

I haven't rented a car in Mexico, but having gone down there multiples times I'd probably not feel hesitant to do it. But if you're not comfortable, try the ADO bus schedule. You'll pay close to nothing and you're not shuffled around like cattle on a tour.
 
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Been there and rented a car, drove all over between Playa del Carmen to Chi'chinitza for the whole day. There is a nice cenote outside of Tu'lum on the way to chi'chiinitza that was very good. They wanted $15/person, but we bargained them down. As an excursion from the hotel, we paid $60/person for a full day of cave chinote snorkelling, fresh water lagoon and a huge cenote dive. It was really good and somewhat cheap. 5th avenue is good if you're looking for tacky tourist things or silver jewellery.

I rented the car straight from the hotel via enterprise I think, it was around 30/day for the Nissan something or other.
 
I think you should consider your girlfriends desires. If she is having reservations about leaving the resort, would you want to make her trip outside of the resort uncomfortable simply because you'll get bored? Maybe you can do things her way, and next time, think out what you'd like ahead of time, and choose your vacation based on that.

Yes, Mexico is a cheap place to go. Yes, it is dangerous. Everything that happens there to tourists, doesn't always involve slit throats. It doesn't always make it to the news either.

I had a friend robbed at gunpoint in her hotel room, within a resort in Mexico. I'm just saying. You may want to consider your lady's needs, and wants.
 
I visited Playa/"Mayan Riviera" and I agree with most of what has been said here. It is a very touristy part of mexico and really has nothing in common with other parts of mexico that have murders/drug cartel issues. We took the minibus up and down the highway to go to playa and tulum and the drivers were always very straight up and surprisingly very nice. You'll be sharing the bus with other tourists and hotel/resort workers.

We didn't bother renting a car since the bus was convenient but I think if I was to go back I would probably rent a car for a couple days. Mostly, if you do you can time your visits to sights like coba and Chichen Itza to work around when the tour buses arrive there and make a mess. Plus, you can take your sweet time and enjoy it at your leisure. You can also stop by some of the lesser visited places that would appreciate your business more than the places all the buses go to. There are lots of cenotes you can swim in along the main highway. I did the ziplining in the area and it wasn't anything special. Very small lines.

Tulum is nice and the beach is good but I liked the ruins at coba the most. You are still allowed to climb the big temple where they dont allow that in Chichen Itza anymore cuz somebody fell and done killed themselves.

In Playa Del Carmen there are tourist police with machine guns so if you were a bad guy, you'd probably think twice.

I went in July and it was hella hot but I like it that way as it makes going you want to just stay in the water.

You will love it, the locals are very hospitable in the area and the touts and shop owners in playa generally have a lighthearted, comical approach at trying to sell you stuff.. Its refreshing when compared to places where touts are just in your face nonstop..
 
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