Things to Do in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen — locals just call it ‘Playa’ — is the pedestrian heart of the Riviera Maya, about 40 miles south of Cancún. The town is built around 5th Avenue (Quinta Avenida), a 1.5-mile walking boulevard one block in from the beach. The ferry to Cozumel runs every hour from the central pier. Compared to Cancún’s Hotel Zone, Playa is denser, more walkable, with a real downtown culture mixed in with the resort presence. Playacar (the gated section just south) and Caracol (just north) are part of the same town.