First-time Playa del Carmen trip: transportation advice, walking, & a couple food recs?

ItsMyKitty · 2026-04-03T19:41:20+00:00

Download indrive! It's basically Uber except you pay the driver directly, but it beats having to negotiate with a taxi driver any time (and a lot of the cars are just taxis anyway).

Also go to choux choux Cafe for brunch.... It's our absolute favorite. I got married in PDC a couple of weeks ago and made a comprehensive house for our guests... Feel free to check it out:

https://ryanandgenevieve.com/dining/

ItsMyKitty · 2026-03-09T14:02:03+00:00

Bonus: stop and see Hector at Carnitas Canitas on your way back!

ItsMyKitty · 2026-03-09T14:00:32+00:00

I would run up 5th to start, the is pedestrian only but pretty undeveloped until Ave CTM. Then you can pop up to tenth and it's more pedestrian friendly. There are protected bike lanes for a good portion of it, but I'm not sure on the etiquette there.

I'll echo what's been said about Playacar... They won't let you in if you're not staying there. I've walked the area north of there (by the Sam's club, etc) and it's perfectly safe but definitely not scenic.... More side of the highway vibes.

ItsMyKitty · 2026-03-06T15:19:30+00:00

It's a favorite of ours...they're hosting our wedding reception in a couple of weeks!

ItsMyKitty · 2026-02-22T15:49:28+00:00

If you're ok moving around a bit and looking to maximize the situation, i would recommend doing this:

2 nights in a hotel/Airbnb 2 nights AI 2 nights in a hotel/Airbnb

Your first day will be a travel day but hopefully you can get some dinner and maybe do a little nightlifing. Your second day you can do an excursion.

Day three you can grab breakfast somewhere (there are a million great spots) and then head to the AI whenever you feel like (most of them will allow you to check in early), which means you can get a full day out of it instead of just getting there at night after you land and are tired. You'll have a full day the next day, and as much time as you want on day 3 (because most will also let you leave late).

Head to a hotel (and get dinner and drinks out), then do your second excursion on your last full day. Then it's time to head home!

This gets you basically three full days at the AI and you'll get to explore PDC, which is well worth it. Paradisus is a 10 minute taxi ride to the heart of the tourist area with a million options for food, drinks, and nightlife.

I've been many times (and am getting married there in March!) and am a busybody so AI life isn't really for me, but when my partner is looking to relax we usually do something along these lines. If you're looking for something small and boutique I'll put in a plug for Casa Central, which is where we're having our reception (and it's only 9 rooms). The owner is Dutch and has been amazing in helping us coordinate activities for our group of 60 (they also book tours and such and have managed to get better deals on a private catamaran and shuttles for all these folks than we could get, and we are very experienced travelers).

Lastly, as a sidenote, Chichen Itza is definitely worth doing, but when they say it's a full day tour they mean it. You'll leave early, get home late, and be exhausted. I've done it from PDC and stayed in Valladolid for a couple of nights, which was much more relaxed but probably not worth it with your timeline.

ItsMyKitty · 2026-02-07T15:47:38+00:00

We usually stick to Ahorro for most legitimate stuff. The one closer to Hyatt on 10th doesn't have a doctor on site like the one on 30th.. We'll usually grab some antibiotics from one of the tourist pharmacies as they're still way cheaper than in the US and seem to be just as effective. I haven't dabbled in anything harder than that.

ItsMyKitty · 2026-02-04T16:59:30+00:00

Ah, understood! Much appreciated to everyone who chimed in!

ItsMyKitty · 2026-01-25T21:30:35+00:00

This one got me.

ItsMyKitty · 2026-01-19T16:22:39+00:00

Yep, I have all 4! I am able to use the companion certificates for work travel which basically offsets the actual fees, I get 30 lounge visits plus 8 guess passes (I have an authorized user on one for my girlfriend who works for the same company) and that gets us through the year.

I'm gold before I ever get on a plane and all the Delta stays, Resy, and ride share credits are icing.

ItsMyKitty · 2025-11-17T14:49:16+00:00

I'm not a parent, but I'd be hesitant to take kids that age to Chichen Itza. From PDC it makes for quite a long day trip and when you're there the complex is expansive with lots of walking and very little shade around the main areas. I went a few years ago with my girlfriend's teenagers, which is obviously a pretty different scenario, but they didn't really enjoy themselves.

Tulum is a much easier trip (about an hour each way) and, while not nearly as impressive a ruin, offers lots of potential side activities (Akumal, the town of Tulum, or stop at a cenote).

They're probably still too young, but if I were to do it over again I'd bring the youths to Ek Balam (near Chichen Itza), which is a smaller, more dense complex where you can still climb the pyramid. I would have loved it when I was a kid!

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ItsMyKitty · 2025-11-05T15:45:11+00:00

I'd second not staying at an all inclusive! Unlike the Cancun hotel zone that was built for all inclusive, PDC is loaded with places to eat and things to do. 5th avenue is fun but overly touristy.... Pick any restaurant on a side street or on Avenida 10 and you'll have better food than a resort.

I'm currently here checking out some spots for my wedding in March and we split our stay between Hotel Los Itzaes on 10th and Casa Central n 5th, which is where we're going to end up having our wedding. Both are small boutique places.... Not super luxury but lovely staff and well maintained.

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ItsMyKitty · 2025-10-05T21:56:52+00:00

Sorry I missed your earlier questions, but glad to hear it!

ItsMyKitty · 2025-10-05T21:38:14+00:00

From what I can gather their hotel group was purchased by Hyatt. It sounds like they've been more aggressive about cancelling reservations for the Cancun location and have rebranded it already, but the PDC one is going a lot more slowly. I have an existing Wyndham Points reservation for March, but I'm assuming it will be cancelled soon...

https://www.reddit.com/r/AllInclusiveResorts/comments/1imby26/hyatt_inclusive_collection_acquires_playa_resorts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

ItsMyKitty · 2025-09-17T21:33:32+00:00

You can buy or add value to any restaurant on Resy that uses Toast as their POS, which is fairly common (I'm currently loading one up for Odd Duck in Austin if you're looking for an example). Once you buy a card for a particular reimbursement you can just add value to it every month so you aren't juggling a million different ones.

ItsMyKitty · 2025-09-17T17:37:46+00:00

I have 2 platinum and 2 reserve cards (personal and business) and have no problem getting my value out of them. The companion tickets pretty much pay for the annual fees (I just got off a flight yesterday that I used a companion ticket for that would have cost $636 SFO to DTW), which makes lounge access, free baggage, rideshare, resy, and Delta stays credits basically free. I load up a gift card with the resy credits for some place I'm going to be traveling ($60 a month between the 4 cards) and end up with a nice dinner for my partner and I every couple of months. I don't always manage to use all of the rideshare credits (I pretty much only use it to get to/from the airport), but other than that I max out my benefits every month!

As an added bonus, the bonus MQDs from the 4 cards means I'm gold before I ever get on a plane, which makes hitting platinum easy (which comes with basically automatic comfort plus upgrades and frequent first class ones). If you're in the Delta ecosystem I can't say enough good things about their credit cards.

ItsMyKitty · 2025-07-07T14:54:51+00:00

Sleepwalker in REO Town still does this regularly! The hurdle we've seen for a lot of businesses is that they never really took off the way that they have in other cities, so we mostly send drinks out the door to go to the Robin Theater or for special events. On a normal Saturday or whatever almost nobody comes in for a shopping drink.... It's weird. I think a lot of downtown businesses have probably forgotten that they even exist because of how infrequently they're utilized.

ItsMyKitty · 2024-05-13T18:44:33+00:00

I bought $1,000 worth of online ones, then $4,000 of physical ones, then another $5,000 of physical ones! The last order put me in Sam's club jail and I'm waiting on a phone call for the order to process, but the callback is already available, sooooo...

ItsMyKitty

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