Best things to do in Playa del Carmen
Last updated: 12.03.24
Imagine you’re swimming in beautiful cenotes, eating delicious tacos, admiring one of the World’s (New) 7 Wonders, exploring ancient ruins, swimming in the Caribbean sea and much more! If this sounds like a perfect holiday for you then you’re at the right place!
In this travel blog post you can read about my favorite things to do when staying in the popular Playa del Carmen in Mexico. This will make it easier for you to plan your perfect vacation to this tropical paradise.
12 best things to do in Playa del Carmen includes:
- Explore Chichen Itza
- Food tour in Playa del Carmen
- Enjoy the beaches in Playa del Carmen
- Explore Tulum ruins
- Eat tacos in Playa del Carmen
- Swim in cenotes
- Visit a beach club in Playa del Carmen
- Do an island escape
- Eat delicious street food in Playa del Carmen
- Snorkeling with sea turtles
- Do yoga with beach view in Playa del Carmen
- Swim with whale
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links – This means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase from it without any extra cost for you. Thank you for your support!
12 best things to do in Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen is located in the Mexican Caribbean and has a long and beautiful sandy shoreline. It’s the perfect beach town if you want to enjoy the sun. Playa del Carmen was a fishing village only a few decades ago, but now it’s one of the fastest growing cities in Latin America.
Playa del Carmen offers you different vibes. I feel that you can find both very touristy places but also authentic local Mexican places. The city offers you plenty of activities and day tours to attend as well.
12 best things to do in Playa del Carmen
Ready to discover Playa del Carmen and looking for inspiration about what to do in Playa del Carmen and day trips from the city? Then you’re at the right place.
We spent 1 month in Playa del Carmen and loved it. This list contains my favorite activities to do when you stay in Playa del Carmen.
1. Explore Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is one of the 7 (New) Wonders of the World – A must visit in Mexico!
Don’t miss your chance to experience Chichen Itza.
Learn about the Mayan people while exploring the impressive architecture of their beautiful temples. There is a reason why Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico.
Chichen Itza is a great choice for a day tour from Playa del Carmen. It’s open every day from 8 AM to 5 PM with the latest entrance at 4 PM. We did a tour where we were the first people arriving in the morning to admire Chichen Itza. We woke up super early, but it was definitely worth it!
Our day tour combined Chichen Itza with a cenote swim, tequila tasting and a traditional Mexican lunch. We had such a lovely day of exploring. You can read more about the tour here: Chichen Itza tour.
Fun fact: Did you know that when you clap your hands in front of the pyramid the sound of a bird returns?
2. Food tour in Playa del Carmen
If you’re a foodie and love trying the best local dishes when visiting a new destination, a food tour is the perfect activity to do. It’s a great way to get introduced to the Mexican cuisine.
We always enjoy doing a food tour in the beginning of our stay. This way we get an introduction to the local food scene and information about the area from a local guide.
On a Playa Del Carmen food tour you will eat like a local while digging deep into delicious Mexican food and cultural experiences.
If this sounds interesting to you, then you can read more about our food tour experience in Playa del Carmen and book a tour here.
3. Enjoy the beaches in Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen is blessed with some beautiful beaches. The crystal clear water from the Caribbean Sea and the white sand is the perfect place to go for a swim, walk or just relax in the sand.
One of the popular beaches is called Playa Fundadores and here you will find an iconic statue called Portal Maya. There are usually some locals performing in front of the statue in the afternoon.
4. Explore Tulum ruins
When visiting Mexico you can’t miss the impressive architecture by the Mayan people. The Tulum ruins are a well preserved Mayan archaeological site. On a guided tour you learn more about the culture and Mayan civilization while observing the ancient Mayan ruins with the beautiful background of the Caribbean Sea.
We did a day trip from Playa del Carmen to Tulum ruins where we combined it with swimming in a cenote cave, snorkeling with colorful fish in a lagoon and ended the tour with a delicious meal at a beach club. You can find more details about this tour here.
5. Eat tacos in Playa del Carmen
For me Mexico = The country of tacos!
You can’t visit Mexico without having tacos. We had 2 favorite places here in Playa del Carmen. We have eaten at both places multiple times. They are very authentic and affordable – not like the restaurants on the touristy street 5th Avenue (La Quinta Avenida).
Our 2 favorite taco places:
Our two favorite Mexican restaurants are called Cielito Lindo and El Arabe Av. Ctm.
They both offer:
- Very affordable prices
- Very authentic Mexican places
- Obviously super tasty
- Less than 2 minutes walk from our accommodation Mare Playa del Carmen
Mexican places Cielito Lindo:
What to order: Order 0,5 kg birria (meat), which comes with tortillas, onion, salsa, sauces and some broth to dip your tacos in. This portion is for at least 2 hungry people.
Price: At this place you can buy one taco for less than $1,5 and the 0,5 kg of birria is 250 MXN ($7,4).
El Arabe Av. Ctm:
What to order: Order guacamole for your tacos 90 MXN ($5,4). Other than that you cannot go wrong. We usually went for tacos pastor and tacos bistec. 23 MXN ($1,4) and 28 MXN ($1,7) per taco. Three to four tacos per person is the sweet spot.
6. Swim in cenotes
Swimming in a cenote is definitely a Mexican bucket list experience you have to try.
A cenote is a natural sinkhole with fresh water. You will find many cenotes in the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. Visiting Playa del Carmen it’s a unique opportunity to swim in one of the many beautiful cenotes.
We both combined our visit to Chichen Itza and our visit to Tulum ruins with a cenote visit as well. But after visiting two cenotes we still did not had enough of it. Therefore we decided to go on a trip only focusing on cenotes. Here we visited 5 cenotes in a small group and had the cenotes all to ourselves. These cenotes aren’t as famous but more hidden gems here in Mexico. You can read more about the 5 cenotes tour here.
7. Visit a beach club in Playa del Carmen
You can’t visit Playa del Carmen without taking advantage of their stunning beaches. A great way to do this is by enjoying a relaxed day in one of the many beach clubs.
We didn’t stay at one of the fancy hotels down at the beach, so for us it was a perfect way to get some of that beach luxury vibe.
You can do a mix between swimming in the Caribbean Sea and a pool, enjoy the sun but without laying directly in the sand and order all the Piña Colada’s you want – If that doesn’t sound like a perfect beach day I don’t know what does.
We visited Mandarino Beach Club. We combined a yoga session with a day entrance to the beach club and paid around $33 per person.
Be aware the prices on food and drinks aren’t cheap.
8. Do an island escape
If you feel like discovering new beautiful white sand beaches – An island escape is the perfect way of doing this. Mexico has some of the best beaches!
We visited 3 islands from Playa del Carmen. We took the ferry to Cozumel and stayed there for 4 nights. You can also do a one day tour to Cozumel.
We stayed in a beautiful luxury 5 star resort called Iberostar Beach Resort in Cozumel.
Furthermore we did a day tour to Contoy Island and Isla Mujeres. They are two very different islands. Isla Contoy is a small non-habitaded island located in Isla Contoy National Park and is the perfect island getaway. It’s a postcard perfect island with bright turquoise water and a peaceful vibe – Only a few visitors compared to Isla Mujeres, which is a much bigger island with a vibrant vibe. You will also find beautiful beaches on Isla Mujeres, but they are more crowded. The island also has restaurants, souvenir shops and more. You can have your full vacation on Isla Mujeres where Isla Contoy is only a day visit.
Isla Contoy is one of my all time favorite islands!
We did a tour called “Beach Escape: Isla Contoy and Isla Mujeres with Snorkeling”.
9. Eat delicious street food in Playa del Carmen
I definitely recommend you to try some of the delicious street food the streets of Playa del Carmen are offering. At those you will get the chance to taste authentic Mexican food while eating with the locals. An extra bonus is the food is very affordable. We had two delicious street food stands selling empanadas just outside our hotel Mare Playa del Carmen.
Price for one empanada: 20 MXN – Which is around $1,2.
10. Snorkeling with sea turtles
If you love snorkeling like me I have great news! From Playa del Carmen you have the opportunity to snorkel at the second largest coral reef in the world. How cool is that? Second largest of all coral reefs!!
This also provides a great opportunity to snorkel with different wildlife. You can find a lot of different tours promoting snorkeling with sea turtles.
You can also do scuba diving if you want.
We did a snorkeling tour but not with takeoff from Playa del Carmen but from Cozumel. This was the best snorkeling tour we have ever done!! We were so lucky to experience so much different underwater wildlife like sea turtles, a sleeping shark, an eagle ray, huge lobsters, big sea stars, a lot of colorful fishes, stingrays and dolphins – It’s crazy how lucky we were to experience dolphins too! I don’t know how many times we have paid for a dolphin snorkeling tour without experiencing it and here we didn’t even expect it – Such a nice surprise and a great way to end our snorkeling tour!
Remember it’s wildlife, so you never know what you will experience.
11. Do yoga with beach view in Playa del Carmen
If you feel like doing something great for your body and mind – A yoga session with an ocean view can be the activity you’re looking for in Playa del Carmen.
We used the same place for yoga every time called Nasim Holistic Center. It’s located with a beautiful view of the sea and beach club Mandarino Beach Club. They have 3 classes a day (except Sunday): 7 AM, 9 AM and 11 AM. You can just drop into a class you would like to do. Contact them regarding what types of yoga they do in the specific classes.
12. Swim with whale sharks
Swimming with whale sharks is a huge bucket list experience. Unfortunately something I haven’t tried yet. This activity is only possible during a specific season. If you’re visiting Playa del Carmen between May and September I recommend you to check out this unique adventure activity. You can find your whale shark tour here.
I hope you get inspired to plan your stay in Playa del Carmen and add a lot of fun activities to your Mexican itinerary!
If you’re looking for more Playa del Carmen day trips to create amazing holiday memories, I recommend you to check out Viator, they have so many different Playa del Carmen tours to choose between. We book almost all our tours through their site.
Where to stay in Playa del Carmen
We stayed 1 month in Playa del Carmen and loved its vibe. We stayed at Mare Playa del Carmen – From a scale from 1-10 (10 = best) I would rate Mare Playa del Carmen as 7,5. A short review of this place:
| What I liked | What I didn’t like |
| – The big size of our room – Decent wifi – Nice pool area – Pretty affordable (we paid $77 per night) – Nice location with an authentic Mexican vibe and amazing street food only a few meters away | – Lack of kitchen equipment – Not soundproof (an annoying dog close by barked at night) |
For us the area felt less touristy and more authentic, which we loved. We had so much amazing food close by our hotel. If you’re planning a stay in Playa del Carmen look at booking.com to find the perfect match for you.
Enjoy your planning and trip to Playa del Carmen in Mexico!
For more reading about Mexico, you may also like:
This all sounds amazing! And love the breakdown of the food costs, great addition.
Chichen Itza is a top place I would love to visit in Mexico and based on your reviews, pictures and activities at Mare Playa del Carmen, I’d love to also stay here. Thank you for the awesome article.
Wow! I have never read about Playa del Carmen before, but now that I have, it is up there near the top of my bucket list. The beaches look amazing, and the water is so clear! And I definitely want to swim in a sinkhole.
I’m hoping to go soon so these tips are so helpful! The yoga looks amazing!
I LOVE Mexico. I’ve never been to Playa Del Carmen, but it’s definitely on my list. Saving this post for later!