Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Located within the Riviera Maya, which runs from south of Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve is Playa del Carmen.  Once a small fishing town, it has now rapidly grown into a major tourist destination.  So fast has it grown, that the city infrastructure seems to be bursting in an attempt to cater for the daily influx of people.  Thankfully however, city planners have taken initiative and have begun making the town more pedestrian friendly. A 4 km foot and bicycle path will run the length of the town along 10th Avenue in Centro, along with two additional foot and bicycle paths which will connect two commercial corridors near Centro Maya in south Playa del Carmen and Col.  The construction is in full swing along 10th Avenue, and when complete, the transition to function as a major tourist destination will be evident.

While everything is reasonably cheap in Player (in western dollar comparison), it's far more expensive than every other part of Mexico I'd visited in the last couple of week.  The old marketing adage I guess - supply and demand.  It's a major tourist destination, so there's many people who will come to the Riviera Maya.  Unfortunately for some of them, it's the only part of Mexico they visit - which is probably the equivalent of someone going to Australia, and only seeing the Gold Coast.

The beachfront is lined with hotels, bars and eateries.  It's quite a pleasure to utilise these beachfront facilities for the day.  Have some breakfast followed by a swim in the warm beach water, then maybe some drinks, lunch, or whatever - I may or may not have had a snooze.

The nightlife is crazy, basically anything goes.  Access to whatever you need is ridiculously easy, I couldn't keep count the number of times I was approached to buy numerous substances.  Seems to be part of the Playa tourist party destination, and the reason some people love it.  It's a party town, and it's the bomb!

After a couple of days in Playa, it was time for a bit of relax time away from the city.  Secluded beach area, private bar and some rest time.  A couple of days of this, and I couldn't remember what day it was .... until it was time to leave.

Happy hour cocktails .... always dangerous!
<picture of James with pink cocktail omitted, replaced with female holding pink cocktail>

Hammock sleeping on the beach was optional.  The hotel room beds more more than perfectly adequate, and comfortable.

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