What Are the Worst Things About Visiting Playa Del Carmen?
Everyone knows Playa Del Carmen as having beautiful beaches, great all-inclusive hotels, tons of tours, and fun 5th Avenue. But what are the bad things about visiting Playa Del Carmen? What are the things that tourists don’t love about it? What are the things that no one really mentions? Here is an honest look at what things Playa could maybe improve on but also set correct expectations for what your experience will be like here. We hope this guide helps our readers to avoid some of the not-so-great things so you can have an enjoyable vacation in Playa Del Carmen.
What Are the Correct Expectations?
If your research for your trip to Playa has been on Instagram, an advisor site, or watching some influencer videos, you might not have the correct expectations of reality. Every destination has its good points and not so great points. It can be hard before you arrive at a destination for the first time to know exactly what to expect.
The best advice is plan ahead and be open to changes in your plans. It might rain, there might be seaweed on the beach, or not everything you thought would be included in your hotel is available. Being flexible, knowledgeable, courteous, and having a positive attitude can help turn a disappointment into part of the experience rather than ruining it.
Mexico is not known for its consistency. One day a beach club can seem like everything is perfect and another time it can be different experience. Employees at hotels cannot be” on” 100% of the time. Not everything goes perfectly as planned. Btu there are things that offer some consistently bad service or not a great experience. We will talk about these next.
The Most Complained About Things in Playa Del Carmen
Here are some standard replies we here from visitors. This are in order of the worst things to small annoyances according to tourists.
Taxis at the Airport and in Playa
For those of you who do not know, taxis are one of the most complained about things in the Riviera Maya. Both taxis at the airport and taxis in Playa Del Carmen. Why? Mainly because they do not have meters and some drivers charge too much for rides. For the most part, rideshare apps have not been able to get a good foothold in the area. In fact, Uber does not even operate in Playa Del Carmen.
What is the solution? Do what most people do and either take a private transfer or the ADO bus to and from the Cancun Airport. See our guide on What’s the Best Way to Get from Cancun Airport to Playa del Carmen? This way you won’t end up trying to negotiate with a taxi or get overcharged.
In Playa you can walk most of the areas in the downtown. See our article: Is Playa Del Carmen Walkable and where can you walk in Playa . You can enjoy walking and avoid have to take taxis around especially if you stay in the downtown area. If you do take a taxi, be sure to confirm the price before getting in. Officially the taxis hailed on the street go by zones in Playa Del Carmen. What zone you are going to sets the price. Taxi stand taxis have a higher price that is marked on a sign, this is because they wait for customers.
By using these tips, you can avoid being overcharged and having to negotiate prices. It takes out one of the most complained about things tourists deal with when visiting.
Playa Del Carmen is Expensive
Most people when they think of Mexico, they think it is a cheaper country to visit. While this is generally true, Mexico has been making a lot of advancements and parts of Mexico offer a higher standard of service than others. The Riviera Maya caters to mainly US, Canadian and European visitors. This has raised standards but also prices.
Playa Del Carmen seems more expensive for three reasons.
- The standard of hotels, transportation and restaurants is higher than most of Mexico. New SUVs for airport pickups, boutique hotels, and international restaurants with imported food all add to the costs. The Riviera Maya is not a big producer of anything, so almost everything is imported.
- The fluctuation of the Mexican Peso affects prices. There are swings in exchange rates that can make your trip 15%-20% more expensive or cheaper. Most people don’t consider the exchange when booking a trip, but this is a factor mainly for tours, hotels, restaurants, and purchases. See our article about Exchanging Money in Playa Del Carmen for some money saving tips.
- Tourism is the biggest business in the Riviera Maya. It is focused on tourists and what tourists are willing to pay. Unlike some areas of Mexico where there is a greater percentage of locals than tourists, international tourists are coming from places where pay is higher, and they have more disposable income. And it seems like everyone and each business wants a piece of the action. Corruption also comes into play. Rents are expensive, payments are high, and often it is necessary to pay higher commissions, so your tours get sold and people are sent to your restaurant from the concierges.
The best way to be prepared for what things cost in Playa is by planning ahead and accepting it. It is good to plan the big-ticket items first. Usually, the flights are the most expensive item for a trip. So, figuring the days it is the best price is a good start. Then the hotel. You might like a condo hotel, an Airbnb or hotel rather than an all-inclusive. Staying in a full condo gives you a lot of options for eating in, or even takeout. Tours can add up as well. Sometimes renting a car and doing a trip can be a cost-effective way of seeing things. Another idea is combining Xcaret Parks and getting a discount, also buying in advance can save 15% off.
Playa Del Carmen is one of the more expensive cities in Mexico. It might have been much more affordable in the past, but there has been a lot of growth. Just in the last decade its population grew 103%. Playa has grown up a lot also. For example, there used to be only a few small rooftop pools, but now there are over a dozen large rooftops with pools open to the public. You can also find authentic Indian food and just about any wine or spirit from around the world. Playa does offer a lot more these days, and many of these options are costlier.
Street Sellers Acting Badly
You arrive to Playa Del Carmen and you want to walk down 5th Avenue to enjoy the sights. Before you know it, you have been offered drugs several times. It is often a line like “Something for the party” or “Weed, blow?”. The good news is that these are targeted offers to what they think might be potential clients, usually never around children. However, it is still annoying to have so many offers on a walk down the street. This does highlight how prevalent sales are and that a fair number of tourists make purchases. The best thing to do is just ignore it and move on.
One of the biggest lies (light scams) is also happening on 5th Avenue. Since there are many stores selling virtually the same things and many other stores for the tourist to visit, competition is tough for sales. Even though there are thousands of tourists that walk up and down 5th Avenue, many are not loaded down with shopping bags. To boost sales, salespeople will use a line that works about 25% of the time. What is this sales technique?
The sellers will use a line like ” Hello, I am the waiter from your hotel, do you recognize me? Then comes the hook, “It is my day off, come and see my shop“. To some they might think it really is the waiter from the hotel and feel a little obligated to see the store. It is not the most offensive thing, but it is a white lie. It only adds to the distrust of merchants. See our article Common Scams in Playa Del Carmen to Avoid.
The Beaches and Things on the Beach
People come to Playa Del Carmen for the beach. There is no way around it. The beach is part of the experience. Even if you don’t swim, there is a sea breeze in the evening, the sunrises over the Caribbean and the feel of a beach town. On top of this, many of the tourist brochures and websites all show clear turquoise waters and white sandy beaches. The expectations are high and the plans are made for the beaches of Playa Del Carmen.
What happens when that expectation is not the same as reality? People get very disappointed. Said to say the beaches are not in perfect condition all the time. There can be erosion from winter storms or shifting sand when a pier or dock is built. The biggest culprit is seaweed. Since 2014 we have been getting sargassum washing up on our shores. This is what disappoints most tourists. We get it. It can be disappointing and ugly to look at the brown water that sometimes smells.
To avoid this or reduce your exposure to it, here are some tips.
- What beaches in Playa Del Carmen have less seaweed?
- How to have a seaweed free Vacation in the Riviera Maya
Noise and Nightlife
Many people on vacation like to let go a little. This means going out for some drinks, a night out dancing or enjoying some live music. When your vacation plans are getting a good night sleep or a tranquil evening on the balcony, your plans might colide with others desire for loud music. There are both nightclubs and beach clubs that can cause a lot of sound pollution in Playa. Most of the clubs are on 12th street between the beach and 10th Avenue. A block south on 10th Street and 5th Avenue you will find some more bars and club like places. If you value your quieter evenings, you will want to stay a little way away from these streets.
There is something called “Mexican advertising“. It is when a business plays loud music to attract attention to the business. This can be a shoe store or a beach club. It does create a lively atmosphere, but it can also be annoyingly loud at times. To avoid too much noise, it important the areas where you choose to stay and also read reviews. Some lower floors or cheaper construction can permit a lot of excess sound in to ruin your tranquil stay. See our guide on Playa Del Carmen being loud and how to avoid it.
It’s Not What It Was
Once many people visit Playa Del Carmen, they often come back. We have many repeat visitors that come year after year, enjoying what Playa has to offer. Over time though, like many destinations, they change. It is not an intentional change; it is just growth and the influences that affect change. Often after 10 years of visiting Playa Del Carmen, people can feel it has changed a lot. In fact, too much, so they decide to try somewhere new.
Often people feel it has lost the small fishing village vibe or laid-back beach town feel. It gets more commercialized as the years pass. Playa Del Carmen is a young city. Most of it has been built in the past 30 years. With its central location in the Riviera Maya, booming tourism sector and opportunities for both locals and tourists, it is still growing and changing.
Think of Playa Del Carmen as a young child. Young children change a lot in their formative years. Then as adults they tend not to change as much because they have matured. Playa Del Carmen is still a young teenager that is changing. It is still growing and developing, sometimes adding things that were missing and adding to the experience, other times taking away things that made it cute. The main thing visitors can expect is growth and change for this young city of Playa Del Carmen.
How to Make the Most of Visiting Playa Del Carmen
Definitely knowing exactly what Playa Del Carmen is and what it has to offer will give you a better expectation of what to expect. Knowing the best time to visit and the best areas to stay in are a good start to planning for your trip. Planning to do some of visit some of the best attractions will also make your trip to Playa extra special.
We hope with some planning and some of the advice on our website that you have a great vacation to Playa Del Carmen and continue to come back and enjoy the best it has to offer while avoiding the not-so-great things.
If you are thinking about moving to Playa Del Carmen, see our article What Are the Worst Things About Living in Playa Del Carmen?
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