More Fun and More Funk in Playa del Carmen

Monday, Sept. 15, 2008

Read more about Mexico in International Living Postcards—your daily escape

Dear International Living Reader,

It’s 6:30 p.m., and I’m the only one in sight wearing sandals instead of flip-flops.

The sun is low over the Caribbean at this hour, and all the water-sports lovers who flock here—the scuba-divers, the windsurfers, the parasail fans, and the rest—have hung up their gear for the day. They’re now strolling along Playa del Carmen’s Quinta Avenida (Fifth Avenue), still in their casual beach wear—shorts, tee shirts or bikini tops, and those flip-flops—chilling out for a while before heading home, showering, and going out for the evening.

Young couples with small children in tow amble past trendy singles and middle-aged couples enjoying the late-afternoon sea breeze. Quinta Avenida is pedestrians-only, and at this hour it is one long, brick-paved park for children, adults, and dogs. Soon, though, the young families will elbow past the mojito- and margarita-sipping crowd at the sidewalk cafes to order fresh pasta or seafood dinners for their hungry brood. The older types will hit the shops selling beach wear and souvenirs, or the department stores with their high-end perfumes and jewelry. And the expats (the ones with the dogs), having chatted with friends in English, Spanish, Italian, or whatever their native language, will head home.

Playa del Carmen is only some 40 miles from Cancun, but it couldn’t be more different. Cancun’s mega-resorts offer all amenities, from pools to restaurants to spas, within their confines; you never need to leave your hotel (and many people don’t). In contrast, at Playa the action is all in the streets. Hotels are mostly small, and many are still funky. Restaurants and cafés face onto busy streets, so diners can soak in the happening street scene and Playa’s still-bohemian vibe. This is a place to see and be seen.

As little as six years ago, a local realtor tells me, Quinta Avenida was still unpaved and beach properties relatively inexpensive. Playa has grown up since then. Prosperous middle-class expats from Europe, Canada, and the U.S. have joined the free-spirit types who still wander about. The vibe has matured, but it still has that essential cool.

Prices have risen, but so have the quality and type of housing available. Two- to three-bedroom condos in new beachfront buildings now run nearly $500,000—but they’ll have high-end fittings, all amenities, and unobstructed ocean views to die for. A few blocks inland you can still find condos with ocean views for less than $300,000. Anything close to the beach has vacation rental potential—and this is a strong market for short-term rentals.

If you’re thinking of living in Playa full time, though, also check out condos and houses away from the beach. Less than 10 blocks from the water—and conveniently near grocery stores and a shopping mall—I saw a spanking-new two-bedroom condo in a gated complex with on-site parking for $150,000. The condo is light and airy and looks down onto a well-designed pool area whose brilliant blue waters sparkled invitingly the day I saw it. It offers comfortable living and easy access to Playa’s beaches and shops at a price that won’t break the bank.

Glynna Prentice
Your Mexico Insider, International Living

Editor’s Note: Glynna is editor of our Mexico Insider publication and she writes about Playa del Carmen in the September issue. If you are a subscriber, you can access the issue here. Not a subscriber? Sign up with this link.

If you want to hear Glynna speak about living in Mexico, she will give you in-depth details about her favorite areas in Mexico, along with information on buying and renovating a home there, at our Live and Invest in Mexico Seminar, Nov. 6–8, 2008, in Merida, Mexico. Follow this link to register today.

Read related IL Postcards:

- Which Mexican City Should We Move to?

- A Tip of the Sombrero to…Mexico

- The Venice of Latin America