Unique Things To Visit In Playa del Carmen Mexico

An Overview of Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen is a beautiful little coastal town with all the amenities and grace of Cancun with none of the crowds or intense tourist culture.   There’s easy access up and down the coast via bus and the town is a major and useful launching point to check out many of the famous cenotes (freshwater underground rivers and caverns) of the region. With long beaches, nearby jungles and easy access to some of the most beautiful regions in Mexico, there are many unique things to visit in Playa del Carmen.   

Unique Things To Visit In Playa del Carmen

Bajo Café

This is a healthy outdoor eatery with great vegan and smoothie options found near the town center.

Don Mario Italian Restaurant  

Don Mario is an excellent, affordable Italian eatery located outside the town center of Playa del Carmen.

Po Thai

This is a specialized Thai and Mexican fusion restaurant.  The fried rice served inside a pineapple shell is particularly good

Playa Publica

Playa Publica is the major access beach overlooking the bay with a few old hotel ruins, large patches of foliage and impressive sunrises. The area directly near the town is often crowded, but once visitors walk north past Playa Punta Esmeralda, the crowds thin out dramatically.

Playa Punta Esmeralda

This is a much quieter beach near Playa del Carmen and beautiful portion of the bay with a freshwater river carving through the sands and into the nearby ocean.

Playa Nava

This is a narrow patch of the shoreline with graffiti ruins and small beach lodges. Though people often swim here, there are low rocks in the surf, making it sometimes uncomfortable to get proper footing.

Pepe Soho Photography

Pepe Soho Photography is a fantastic public photo studio where photos are imposed over silver metal canvases to create unique lighting effects.

Huichol Land

This venue hosts a stunning art center selling a specialized type of artwork found from the coastal Huichol tribes of native Mexico. The Huichol create works by pressing hundreds of brightly patterned beads into sacred animals statues.

Calle 28

This is an urban-and-jungle walk-through area near the beach, complete with the famed walking trees (also known as Alamo trees) of Mexico. The area has numerous shops, small pathways, lots of sculptures and a bubbling cenote water feature.

Palacio Municipal

This is an open air shopping market found in downtown Playa del Carmen.

Puerto Morales

Puerto Morales is a town one hour north of Playa del Carmen. Though the town is small, this is a gorgeous diving point to visit the world’s second largest reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.

Cozumel

Cozumel is a famous and stunning tourist island off the coast of Playa del Carmen, accessible by ferry. The island is largely undeveloped and an excellent place to enjoy parks, nature, reefs and several small ruins.

Playa Akumal

This is a secondary beach and resort location only half an hour outside of Playa del Carmen by bus.  Akumal has a rocky and beautiful shaded bay with large numbers of crabs, old cannon props and a rocky shoreline.

Playacar

This is a large hiking green space following the shoreline with many native creatures of Mexico. It’s also home to the small Mayan ruins known as the Playa del Carmen Archeological Site.

Cenote Chaak Tun

This is a truly stunning underground cenote for swimming and hiking in pitch darkness through limestone caverns.  There is a collapsed ceiling which leads to a wonderful island where a tree grows from the central cavern back to the sky above.

Read more about unique things to visit in Playa del Carmen and seeing the world by visiting Leftfade Trails Blog.

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