We had an action-packed week in Quintana Roo (pronounced “Queen-ta-na Rue” 😉 ), Mexico. This area in the Yucatan Peninsula is filled with popular destinations such as Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and Cozumel.
Some of these places have the most beautiful beaches you’ll ever visit. I’m talking about those to-die-for-beaches from the Corona commercials with the clear, blue waters and coconut trees.
We ended up staying in Playa del Carmen because it was in the center of it all. We split the blog post for Playa Del Carmen into two-parts, daytime and nighttime. (p.s. Don’t worry if you don’t have a beach body yet, Señor Frog’s has a 2-part system to getting one asap)
Free 2 part system with no subscription required
Tacos
You can’t go to Mexico and not talk about tacos. We found a hidden gem at El Ingrato, a taco stand sitting outside a supermarket a few blocks from our Airbnb. After countless other tacos, these were by far the best tasting and at a very reasonable price.
Toppings were fresh and plentiful, with each taco double wrapped in a soft corn tortilla
Our personal favorites were arrachera (skirt steak), campechano (skirt steak + chorizo), and al pastor (roasted pork only available after 3 pm) tacos. For 15 pesos each they’re a steal, especially if you’re traveling on a budget.
You can find the rest of the menu here. The taco stand is located on the corner of avenida 30 and calle 40N, next to the Aki grocery store.
(2020 Update: These are still Fred's favorite tacos ever)
Fred and Serge going to town
Xcaret Park
You’ll definitely want to visit Xcaret (pronounced ish-ka-ret, with not so much emphasis on the i) if you’re in the area. This was one of our trip highlights. Xcaret is a “theme” park that’s a short 15-minute drive from Playa.
We ended up taking a taxi there for about $100 pesos. The entrance fee is around the price you’d pay for an above average theme park anywhere around the world, however, Xcaret is anything but a theme park.
Think of a zoo, aquarium, park, and beach were fused together. That’s Xcaret. We suggest you plan ahead and purchase your tickets online in advance; you can get up to 15% off.
We ended up purchasing their plus package which included a buffet, life jackets, lockers, and snorkeling equipment. Once you get in, you’ll be amazed by this park. Right off the bat, we just started exploring and found ourselves in a tropical jungle trail with various types of pretty cool plants, palm trees, and macaws just chillin’ along the way!
Random Guacamayas (Macaws) chillin a few feet away from the many wildlife filled paths
The park also has many other animals like sharks, dolphins, toucans, flamingos, horses, jaguars, tortoises, iguanas, and more. In case you were wondering, yes, you can interact with the sharks and dolphins.
*Insert Fred: I fucking love dolphins so I paid to swim with some.
The basic package costs around $100USD and a more advanced one that also includes a few other activities for around $150USD. There’s usually a deal that goes around that you can get 2 basic passes for $150ish total. The actual swim itself was ok.
You were usually in a group of like 4-8 people and you’d take turns petting the dolphin and other various activities. If you’re a fan of dolphins and never tried one of these before, I’d recommend it, but if not then it’s probably a pass.
We also explored underground rivers, tropical beaches, pre-hispanic dance shows, a coral reef aquarium and chilled on one of their many hammocks.
Random interior ceiling of one of the buildings here
I’m sure we missed something off the list, but this place is pretty awesome. Prepare to spend at least a whole day exploring Xcaret.
Quinta Avenida
90% of the time out in Playa we spent at Quinta Avenida and the surrounding beach which is literally one block away. This major walkable tourist street is lined on both sides with restaurants, bars, retail stores, groceries, street vendors, beach clubs, those typical beach stores selling a bunch of shit, and more.
If you’re in one of the smaller stores managed by one person and selling touristy stuff, you can AND should haggle. You’re still going to get ripped off, but the amount isn’t going to be AS bad. They will most likely take either USD or Mexican Pesos.
The street itself runs down the coastline and goes for a while. A few days here and we still couldn’t explore the entire thing. Most people are in the beach area towards central Playa, near Playa Mamitas.
If you’re in the shmood for a more quiet setting, just venture on a bit north or south from there, and there will be way less people.
On the other side, wanna get day drunk on the beach? Just hit up one of the many convenience stores to buy some relatively cheap alcohol, and walk 30 seconds back to the beach. (Not too sure what the actual laws were surrounding drinking in public, but everyone was doing it so…).
Mood throughout the trip
The actual beach itself was decent, but not as great as we expected. The water wasn’t that clear and there was a ton of seaweed, but at least the sand was soft and not filled with shells.
Cenotes
There are many “must dos” in the Riviera Maya, but one of the main activities is to check out one of the many Cenotes (natural pits of groundwater) in the area.
The majority are in the form of caves and caverns, but there are also a few above ground. They can range from being able to deep dive to laying inside one as if it was a jacuzzi.
Sure you could google for some of the most popular ones, but why do that when you can ask locals for some of their favorites aka non-touristy spots. We hit up Punta Esmeralda which has a beach AND a small Cenote that many locals relax in.
This place is ideal for IG pics
It is about 2-4 feet deep with emerald waters (hence the name “Esmeralda’); this is one of THE spots for those instagram pictures you travel for.
Although, around 11am the locals slowly start coming. If you’re trying to take those pics, we suggest you get to Punta Esmeralda around 9am or earlier when there will be tops 3-5 people. If you want to enjoy a great atmosphere full of locals and Spanish music, then go to this anytime after lunch.
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