Playa Del Carmen Train Station for the Tren Maya.

What is new in Playa Del Carmen?

We like updating our readers from time to time about new or changed things observe around town. Here are the latest things for March 2024 that we have noticed.

The Playa Del Carmen Tren Maya Station was “Inaugurated”

Many have seen the posts on Facebook with photos of the Tren Maya Station in Playa Del Carmen. The only thing is it is still NOT open. the original date for all of the Tren Maya to open was on February 29th. Then it was the route between Cancun Airport and Playa Del Carmen will open on February 29th. Then it was “inaugurated” but not open. You cannot buy tickets online nor can you visit the station. Because of the media coverage and announcement that it was opening, many people started to go to the station to buy tickets (because not all tickets are sold online, and some are only available in stations). People were disappointed to find out that it was not open, and you could not even get into the station.

Workers at the new station have said it might be up to another 3 months before it is open. No official new information has been released from the Tren Maya. So, for now, the Tren Maya has officially slipped into behind schedule. We will update you when it really opens.

Gran Puerta Corazon Restaurant Opens

A fairly large new restaurant has opened in Playa Del Carmen. This time it is the Gran Puerto Corazon Seafood and Raw Bar. This restaurant is in the Calle Corazon Shopping Mall on 5th Avenue and 12th Street. They have invested a lot in the opening of this restaurant, and you can tell by the look of the place. You can see more on their Instagram page here.

The ALE-HOP Store Closes

This store was identifiable by the large black and white plastic cow out front. This store was similar to Miniso because it sold a lot of personal care products and things imported that all fell around $5-20 USD. This store was on 5th Avenue between 6th and 8th Streets.

A New Gallery on 5th Avenue in Playa Del Carmen

This is in the old Tequila Barel location on 5th Avenue between 10th and 12th Streets. The Iris Galerie makes art from your eyes. On the left of the photo, you see a small black square on the wall, in the center is a mirror and it can take a photo of your eye to make art. Every piece is guaranteed to be unique!

A New Building Will Span an Entire Block in the Downtown

This lot between 10th Avenue and 15th Avenue and between 12th Street and 14th Street is being cleared for a new residential building. What was here before? There was a parking lot on the 15th Avenue side and a cursed location on 10th Avenue. We don’t know how many restaurants tried to make that location work. There were tacos to seafood, and nothing ever worked. So, let’s hope the curse is broken and something nicer rises in its place.

A building with 74 studio apartments will be built here with underground parking. This developer is well known and has a god reputation, so this project should be pretty good.

A Slew of Small Bars Shut Down in the Downtown of Playa Del Carmen

We have heard of at least four small bars that have been shut down or closed. Most of these had loud music and were always competing with attention from bar patrons to the people trying to sleep in nearby hotels.

If you can imagine, this bar below is in the same building as a hotel. The hotel in the photo below is the Artisan on 5th Avenue. The music from this bar is so loud that the first few floors of this hotel on the front side are almost totally useless (trust us, we have stayed there).

Another Month, Another Change to this Corner

It seems like this place just changed, but in fact it was back in May of 2023 we announced this new bar under the name Waterboys from Patio 8. This is a busy corner and usually is something related to bar/club/lounge. We are sure something new will soon take its place here and try to make a name for itself.

Another Al Curandero Location

You might have gone to the El Curandero location on 34th Street between 30th and 25th Avenues. It has been around for a while and it popular with locals. You can get Mexican styles of seafood here. This new location is on Calle 12 between 20th Avenue and 25th Avenue.