[ikoko]

I've been in Playa for the last month so I can give you some intel on prices. I'm not a diver so don't know much about that other then everyone says Cozumel is awesome as are some of the cenotos. I haven't been to Merida, but a buddy of mine goes fairly often and says its a cool place to set up shop, but not really a destination spot.

Price wise things definitely start to creep up as you get closer to mid November. However, you may still be able to get some low season pricing on rentals, especially off of 5th ave. A lot of people will discount you up until about mid November. What I did was mass email any host on Airbnb who's nightly rate was under $70 a night and told them I had a monthly budget of $500/$600. I got a lot of rejections, but in the end I had about 8 apartments to choose from in that price range even though there advertised prices where much high for a month. This approach will probably work for you if you have the time to do it.

Foodwise, prices are cheap as long as you stay off of 5th avenue. there are a ton of restaurants and taco stands on 30th avenue, where you can get a full meal for between $50 and $100 pesos. two of my favorites are the taco stand in front of Mega on 30th ave and Papacharly's on 30th street between 25th and 30th ave. Also checkout the website. http://www.everythingplayadelcarmen.com they have a list of restaurants that have lunch/dinner specials under $100 pesos.

[Merenguero]

^^^
I think the place you are referring to by Mega is El Fogon, likely the best tacos al pastor in the world. There used to be some guy on here who kept posting about swooping and Zanesville who really liked that place. I don't know how I missed Papa Charly. I walk down La Avenida 30 pretty much every day when I'm in town.

[Luvianka]

@Scotian
OK. Let’s see.
Cozumel vs Isla Mujeres. There’s no place like Cozumel for diving, period. No competition! Big problem with Cozumel is that people complain about the prices and the decreasing of the quality of the services provided there. Either you talk about a hotel, a restaurant, a club or taking a taxi, it seems that Cozumel is not having its best days. But if you just want to go to this place in a diving tour leaving Playa at the morning and coming back in the evening, it’s OK.
Now if you ask me to give grades about diving tours (on an excitement/price ratio) by destination, in a scale of zero to ten, I’d say that it’d go like this:
Cozumel, 10
Holbox, 9.5
Isla Mujeres, 9
Akumal, 9
Isla Contoy, 9
Tulum, 8.5
One of my friends booked diving tours in Isla Mujeres in this place. He says the experience was great. Anyway, along the 5th Avenue you will find every 100 m a stand selling you diving tours. They pick you up in a shuttle early in the morning, take you to the place and get you back in the evening.
I just sent you via PM some options for accommodation.
If you want to eat cheaply 10th Av and Av Constituyentes are good places for options. Even in the very corner of 25th Street and Av Constituyentes there’s a tacos restaurant called ‘Tacos Sirlón’ (formerly known as El Fogón). Just across the street in the sidewalk of the Mega Comercial (a Mexican version of Wal-Mart) there’s a guy with a mobile stand selling Argentinian style beef dishes from 2 pm to 4 am of the next day. He uses a giant grill made up from an old industrial gas tank. If you want to have a decent Mexican style breakfast nutritious enough to keep you satisfied until the evening go to ‘La Aldea’ (The Village). It’s on the 5th Av between 14th Street and 14th bis Street. Don’t you go to ‘La Ceiba’, 14th Street between 5th Av and 10th Av. The place advertises a breakfast buffet from 7:00 am to 11:30 for only MXN 140 –not worth it. The juices are canned and refrigerated, the food is poorly tasted, and if you arrive by 10:45 they tell you that you can come in but they will kick your ass in 45 minutes. Yes, the place looks nice from the outside, yes, there’s a line of hot girls waiting to get in (the place belongs to the expensive Hotel Tucán which provides the all-inclusive service to their guests), but unless you are going to try some ‘buffet game’ with some of the girls in there, forget it.
If you have traveled to Playa before, maybe you’d remember that just in the very corner of Juárez Av and the access to the ferry there was an old traditional Mexican rotisserie where you could buy a roasted chicken and a pound of rice for just MXN 70. Well, not anymore. The building was demolished and now you find a line of useless boutiques. When I got there three months ago, I just felt to my knees and began to cry.
Merida is a nice place to visit, but you are not going to find the same kind of activities. It’s an old colonial city with the dynamics of a small town. I wouldn’t recommend you to go.
There’s a small city called Valladolid, three hours driving from Playa, and in the way to Mérida. The place is gorgeous, (you feel you are taken two centuries ago) it has some ‘Cenotes’ for diving and you can try the exquisite Yucatán food, but nothing else. The place is just worth it one day. Now if you are willing to go outside Playa two or three days, people have told me about Holbox. The place is a small island with only three no paved streets with excellent diving tours and very popular among packers. Actually, I want to go there in December to check out everything I have been told.
The most important thing: Be sure to hit the 12th street clubs on these days: Friday 13th to Sunday 15th. It’s the Revolution Day long weekend in Mexico! There will be plenty of hot young Mexican pussy ready for action. So bad that you are not going to get on time for the Day of the Death long weekend!

[Mentavious]

A lot of local girls told me about Holbox as well when I was down there a month ago

[Merenguero]

Luvianca:
As of ten months ago, there were three El Fogon locations in Playa, 30th and around 8th, 25th and Constituyentes, and on 30th and some street in the 20s . The last one I mentioned was the least popular of the three and opened later in the day. Are you saying that only the one at 25th and Constituyentes has changed hands/names? Tacos Sirloin is a different company than Don Sirloin, correct.? I have posted about Don Sirloin before. It's good, but not as good as El Fogon.

[Luvianka]

(10-28-2015 09:46 PM)Merenguero Wrote:  

Luvianca:
As of ten months ago, there were three El Fogon locations in Playa, 30th and around 8th, 25th and Constituyentes, and on 30th and some street in the 20s . The last one I mentioned was the least popular of the three and opened later in the day. Are you saying that only the one at 25th and Constituyentes has changed hands/names? Tacos Sirloin is a different company than Don Sirloin, correct.? I have posted about Don Sirloin before. It's good, but not as good as El Fogon.

No, you are right, it's Don Sirlón. Mmm... I guess it's about tastes, I better like Sirlón.
Actually, there are several Sirlón places in town. But that's the only one I remember the exact location. My condo was just two blocks away, so I went there two times.

[Merenguero]

(10-28-2015 09:51 PM)Luvianka Wrote:  

(10-28-2015 09:46 PM)Merenguero Wrote:  

Luvianca:
As of ten months ago, there were three El Fogon locations in Playa, 30th and around 8th, 25th and Constituyentes, and on 30th and some street in the 20s . The last one I mentioned was the least popular of the three and opened later in the day. Are you saying that only the one at 25th and Constituyentes has changed hands/names? Tacos Sirloin is a different company than Don Sirloin, correct.? I have posted about Don Sirloin before. It's good, but not as good as El Fogon.

No, you are right, it's Don Sirlón. Mmm... I guess it's about tastes, I better like Sirlón.
Actually, there are several Sirlón places in town. But that's the only one I remember. My condo was just two blocks away, so I went there two times.

For steak tacos, I like Don Sirloin better, hence the name. For tacos al pastor, I have to go with El Fogon.

[RedPillUK]

Right, I'm kind of fucked up right now its only 3am and in Playa del Carmen so I'll post what I've been up to today for a laugh and for some advice.

Firstly, I thought I was just going to see family in Queretaro and I would be bored so I brought my laptop. I didn't even know I was going here until we got here.

That gives me a problem of sharing a hotel room with my sister, and my mum and her boyfriend in the other room.

Also I was completely unprepared, I didn't even see this thread and the other ones people have posted until the other day.

I went to the beach today with my sister and brought a football and a red beach ball and some beer. Everyone seemed a bit lame, no one wanted to play football.

I went for a piss and came back and my sister and given one of my balls away to some deaf guy asking for change. I was livid. Shouting at her shit like 'fuck deaf people! people are all fucking poor here, if you're gonna give money to them give money to someone who actually fucking gives you shit, and give them your own shit, not mine! what the fuck is wrong with you!? I know that ball cost like 12 pesos but that's not the fucking point!!"

Then a group of about 5 girls show up, they speak english but not very well. It turns out they are from Quebec city. They have some crazy tall coloured drinks that they are taking pictures of and my sister is interested in so I open them asking 'que es esto?' (someone might correct me on my shitty spanish) and a bit later on I just start playing football with them.

By that time they seem a bit drunk and I'm chatting with them and then my sister is as well. We are getting on well and passing a football around. A group of three Mexican dudes come up and they don't seem interested in them, but I thought fuck it and spoke to em and played football with them. These dudes are nearly as good as me.

We're drinking and having a laugh, start playing volleyball, going in the sea. I went to the shop and bought 12 more beers. They bought more of their crazy tall drinks.

Later when its dark I notice one of them is getting close to me, and so I start to touch her. Again I need to piss, disappear for a literally a couple minutes, and then when I get back she's making out with the dude who came up to us to speak to the Canadian girls I had opened. Fuck.

I hid my disappointment and went to speak to the other girls and they were all were speaking to their own mexican dude. Double fuck.

What the fuck are they doing with lame Mexican dudes? I was the fucking awesome one of the whole bunch, better looking, master race, can speak the same language, what the fuck?!

After this I can barely even get involved in a conversation, its getting late and cold, I tried to get go for a swim with one of the still available girls, she's not having it. The Mexicans decide to to meet up with the Candians at a 10th street at ten, so we go home to get changed.

I don't remember the walk home, I don't know if I left shit behind. I got dressed into some smart clothes and then passed out on my hotel room floor. My sister was with me but I don't know what she was doing. I remember being sick into a towel.

My sister gets back like half an hour ago at 2:30 am, and I'm asleep on said towel. She woke me up and has brought me food, but I'm dehydrated as fuck right now, and need some water. I start asking her what happened, she says the girls didn't even show up just the dudes, so I start asking more questions she gets pissed off with me for keeping her up, so I keep asking questions then she gets really pissed off and starts shouting and throwing pillows at me and turning the light off, so I just burst out laughing. Plus I don't exactly want to eat food in the dark and try to sleep when I'm now awake. She goes and knocks on my mums door to sleep in there and I'm still just laughing arse off at her for getting so annoyed for nothing.

I walk back to my room laughing like hell, and now I've got the hotel room alone, but its now like 3:30 am. I'm wondering what the fuck I should do now. I'm a bit annoyed about all this, even though I've got 2 weeks here still. Any ideas? Go prowl the streets? I have fuck all money.

I just checked and I have a grand total of 22 pesos left. I pissed all my money away on the first night in a much funnier story that's still too painful to tell you lot. I'm a musician and fucking broke anyway, if I had known I was coming here and I would not have left the 330 quid that I have to my name at home. Being in this town without money and stuck with family is like fucking torture.

The end.

[Luvianka]

(01-12-2016 03:26 AM)RedPillUK Wrote:  

Right, I'm kind of fucked up right now its only 3am and in Playa del Carmen so I'll post what I've been up to today for a laugh and for some advice.

Firstly, I thought I was just going to see family in Queretaro and I would be bored so I brought my laptop. I didn't even know I was going here until we got here...

...I just checked and I have a grand total of 22 pesos left. I pissed all my money away on the first night in a much funnier story that's still too painful to tell you lot. I'm a musician and fucking broke anyway, if I had known I was coming here and I would not have left the 330 quid that I have to my name at home. Being in this town without money and stuck with family is like fucking torture.

The end.

LOL! That's why I love Playa. It provides all kind of weird experiences, sometimes in your favor, other more against you.
So, those French Canadian chicks never showed up? They trolled the Mexican guys?
Just MXN 22? You are done, man. Only thing you can afford is a slice of pizza in one of the shitty pizzerias around the 5th Av.
Use your sister as a honey trap. She can bring more girls or attract a group.
Now, you and your family cannot stay just in Playa for so long. I mean, at night the options are endless, but at daylight you are done by the third day.

[scotian]

The Quebecoises chicks probably went the the bar "Los Tabernacos" at 10th and 10th, if any of you want to game French Canadian chicks on vacation, hit that place up. If the Montreal Canadians are playing, it'll be packed, they give away shots of tequila if the team wins.

[Luvianka]

(01-12-2016 11:56 AM)scotian Wrote:  

The Quebecoises chicks probably went the the bar "Los Tabernacos" at 10th and 10th, if any of you want to game French Canadian chicks on vacation, hit that place up. If the Montreal Canadians are playing, it'll be packed, they give away shots of tequila if the team wins.

Those bitches pretend they don't speak English just to see how much you are willing to try.

[carbassboy]

I just booked Playa Del Carmen for Memorial Day weekend until the following Saturday (8 days 7 nights). We got a really good deal on an all inclusive resort/flight combo so we couldnt turn it down. I am going down there with 6/7 single guys.

My uncle lives a few hours from Playa and has already given me some useful hints such as bus vs. taxi. How much is too much when paying for a taxi.

Right now I am trying to decide how many days to stay at the resort vs. how many days should venture out into Playa. I definitely want to hit the Playa bars a few nights and I want to check out Tulum. Does anyone else have any recommendations? I am trying to maximize my 8 day stay when it comes to seeing everything there is to see.

I read in one of the data sheets to check out Holbox and my uncle said to check out Isla Mujeres but i do not know if its worth it traveling all the way to those islands when i only have days and i already paid for an all inclusive resort.

[Luvianka]

Excuse me, when is Memorial Day?

[Merenguero]

(01-22-2016 06:10 PM)Luvianka Wrote:  

Excuse me, when is Memorial Day?

Monday, May 30, 2016. Memorial Day weekend is that Friday to Monday.

[scotian]

I wasn't overly impressed with Isla Mujeres, there's a big hostel/back packer scene there but not nearly as many hot, drunk women as in Playa. You'll probably do enough laying on the beach at the resort, there isn't really much to do on Isla Mujeres besides that.

[Luvianka]

(01-22-2016 05:32 PM)carbassboy Wrote:  

I just booked Playa Del Carmen for Memorial Day weekend until the following Saturday (8 days 7 nights). We got a really good deal on an all inclusive ...
everything there is to see.

I read in one of the data sheets to check out Holbox and my uncle said to check out Isla Mujeres but i do not know if its worth it traveling all the way to those islands when i only have days and i already paid for an all inclusive resort.

OK.
Holbox vs Isla Mujeres. Don’t go to Holbox, You are going to waste at least two days just for some hours of fun. It takes three and a half hours to get there. Three hours driving and a half an hour in the ferry. Forget about coming back that same day because the last ferry to go back to Chiquilá (the town from which the ferry departs) leaves at 7 pm, also these days. Besides, the big deal about Holbox is spending the night there.
Isla Mujeres is worth the time (about 75 minutes). You just need to go to the front desk and ask for a booking.
If you are six and are going to Split the expenses your best option is BY FAR to rent a car.

[NovaVirtu]

What do you guys think of Playa del Carmen as a digital nomad destination?

There are some coworking spaces which seem to have favorable reviews online, but I get the impression it isn't really a hub for location-independent people (yet).

I was in Playa for a a few days back in 2012 and loved it, but I'd like to be around other people who are working online so this is why I'm hesistant to pull the trigger on PDC.

[natas305]

(01-24-2016 04:14 PM)NovaVirtu Wrote:  

What do you guys think of Playa del Carmen as a digital nomad destination?

There are some coworking spaces which seem to have favorable reviews online, but I get the impression it isn't really a hub for location-independent people (yet).

I was in Playa for a a few days back in 2012 and loved it, but I'd like to be around other people who are working online so this is why I'm hesistant to pull the trigger on PDC.

I'm a "digital nomad" living full time in hotels and Airbnb's for the last 2 years and I just did 2 months in Playa, which was the longest I've stayed anywhere in 2 years. I originally liked the idea of Tulum better, because I found a cool Spanish school there, but I did a lot of research and found out that the infrastructure there is still a little behind Playa. When it rains (which it does a lot) I heard the internet can get spotty. Also, there isn't good 4G coverage in Tulum, so if the wired internet is out, using cellular data as a backup wasn't a good option there.

So I moved to Playa instead and wasn't upset with the decision at all, in hindsight. I don't know about the coworking places, but yeah, there are a few of them. I just got an apartment that had decent wifi and a backup local SIM with 4G if the internet would go out. The internet did go out a couple afternoons, during my 2 months there. The wired internet connection speeds in Playa are about 2-5mbps, which is slow compared to the US and the rest of the world, but just enough to get me by. I will say that something is weird withe Mexico and it's internet connections to Google and Apple services, as it seemed like Google Hangouts, or Gmail, or iTunes were spotty when I was there. (In nerd speak, lots of packet loss when running ping tests, for example)

I didn't really meet any other digital nomads when I was there because I was pretty damn focused on trying to work as little as possible and study Spanish as much as possible. But I know there are definitely a good amount of people there doing what we're trying to do. I could see it becoming a bigger digital nomad destination if it keeps getting better. Especially if the US dollar stays so damn strong. It's definitely an awesome town and has a lot going for it. If, however, the beaches keep getting overrun with the seaweed stuff, which has been an ongoing problem in 2015, then it could also go the other way for the town.

[Merenguero]

(01-24-2016 05:49 PM)natas305 Wrote:  

(01-24-2016 04:14 PM)NovaVirtu Wrote:  

What do you guys think of Playa del Carmen as a digital nomad destination?

There are some coworking spaces which seem to have favorable reviews online, but I get the impression it isn't really a hub for location-independent people (yet).

I was in Playa for a a few days back in 2012 and loved it, but I'd like to be around other people who are working online so this is why I'm hesistant to pull the trigger on PDC.

I'm a "digital nomad" living full time in hotels and Airbnb's for the last 2 years and I just did 2 months in Playa, which was the longest I've stayed anywhere in 2 years. I originally liked the idea of Tulum better, because I found a cool Spanish school there, but I did a lot of research and found out that the infrastructure there is still a little behind Playa. When it rains (which it does a lot) I heard the internet can get spotty. Also, there isn't good 4G coverage in Tulum, so if the wired internet is out, using cellular data as a backup wasn't a good option there.

So I moved to Playa instead and wasn't upset with the decision at all, in hindsight. I don't know about the coworking places, but yeah, there are a few of them. I just got an apartment that had decent wifi and a backup local SIM with 4G if the internet would go out. The internet did go out a couple afternoons, during my 2 months there. The wired internet connection speeds in Playa are about 2-5mbps, which is slow compared to the US and the rest of the world, but just enough to get me by. I will say that something is weird withe Mexico and it's internet connections to Google and Apple services, as it seemed like Google Hangouts, or Gmail, or iTunes were spotty when I was there. (In nerd speak, lots of packet loss when running ping tests, for example)

I didn't really meet any other digital nomads when I was there because I was pretty damn focused on trying to work as little as possible and study Spanish as much as possible. But I know there are definitely a good amount of people there doing what we're trying to do. I could see it becoming a bigger digital nomad destination if it keeps getting better. Especially if the US dollar stays so damn strong. It's definitely an awesome town and has a lot going for it. If, however, the beaches keep getting overrun with the seaweed stuff, which has been an ongoing problem in 2015, then it could also go the other way for the town.

There's a really big community in Playa of people who play internet poker. Not my type of gambling and I'm really not sure how successful moneywise most of those people are.

[DMario]

Is Playa del Carmen a city where I can roll to with a chick? or is the nightlife and women good enough where I'll be pissed I brought her.

[MuyTallguy]

Tons of expats and nomads, digital or otherwise. Just don't go during hurricane season if you want to make sure you'll be able it stay online.

[jariel]

(01-25-2016 02:54 AM)DMario Wrote:  

Is Playa del Carmen a city where I can roll to with a chick? or is the nightlife and women good enough where I'll be pissed I brought her.

I'm not a fan of bringing sand to the beach unless the sand you're bringing is better than the sand that's already there.

[eljeffster]

I have been reading up on this thread for my immediate trip to Playa January 28 through February 1. This will be my first time there (not first time in Mx.) I am booking accommodations later today last minute close to the action as suggested. Any suggestions appreciated.

If there is anyone there who wants to meet up I am game. I speak decent Spanish and really good German and will be on the prowl for Mexican and any European girls.

[Dantes]

I went to Carmen for a few days with a girl last month. I found it to be a good spot to bring a girl...nice beach, great food and a short flight. I wasn't blown away by the talent but take into consideration that I was only there a few days and I didn't go to the night spots discussed on the forum.

[DOW JONES]

One question, Do most apartments rentals in PDC allow you to bring girls back to your room, or is it better to just rent a hotel?