Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as Playa, is a

resort city A resort town, resort city or resort destination is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area. Sometimes ...

located along the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

in the southeastern

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is part of the municipality of Solidaridad. As of 2020, the city's population was just over 300,000 people during 2020, a small yet thriving portion of which are foreign

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

. Playa del Carmen is a popular tourist destination in Mexico's

Riviera Maya The Riviera Maya () is a tourism and resort district south of Cancun, Mexico. It straddles the coastal Federal Highway 307, along the Caribbean coastline of the state of Quintana Roo, located in the eastern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula. O ...

region. Its current growth rate is set at 7.5% per year. According to Guinness World Records, it is one of

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

's fastest-growing communities. In 2016, the city was the tenth most popular international travel destination for U.S. travelers, and more than one million tourists passed through the city a year later. The main airport for Playa is the

Cancún International Airport Cancún International Airport () is Mexico’s List of the busiest airports in Mexico, second busiest airport and the largest in the country and List of the busiest airports in Latin America, Latin America for international passengers. Locate ...

, which is around away. The area is known for its white sand beaches, blue turquoise waters, coral reefs, surrounding rainforests, and

balneario A balneario ( Portuguese spelling: balneário) is an Iberian and Ibero American resort town, typically a seaside resort, and less commonly along the shores of lakes and rivers or next to hot springs. In Spain, balneario typically only refers to sp ...

s. The downtown area of the city revolves around Quinta Avenida, a busy pedestrian thoroughfare lined with many shops, clubs, and restaurants. The weather is hot year-round. The summer and winter breaks are peak season for tourism.

Geography

Playa del Carmen is located within the Riviera Maya, which runs from south of

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

Tulum Tulum (, ) is the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city which served as a major port for Coba, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The ruins are situated on cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea. T ...

and the

Sian Ka'an Sian or Siyan may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Siân, a Welsh girl's name; list of people with this name Places * Sian, Iran (disambiguation), various places in Iran, Iraq and Balochistan * Sian, Russia, a rural locality in Amur Oblast, Russia *Xi ...

biosphere reserve. Playa is a stop for several cruise ships which dock at the nearby

Calica Calica is a quarry and a port on the Quintana Roo coast of Mexico. The name is short for the full Spanish name Calizas Industriales del Carmen, "calizas" Spanish for lime or limestone (cognate to the English "calcite.") Ultramar and Transcarib ...

quarry docks, about six miles (10 km) south of the city. The

Xcaret Eco Park Xcaret Park (; ) is a privately owned and operated theme park, resort and self-described ecotourism development located in the Riviera Maya, a portion of the Caribbean coastline of Mexico's state of Quintana Roo. It is part of Xcaret Experienci ...

, a Mexican-themed "eco-archaeological park", is just south of the town in Xcaret (pronounced "ish-kar-et").

Climate

In October 2005,

Hurricane Wilma Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin and the second-most intense tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere, both based on barometric pressure, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Wilma's rapid intensifi ...

passed directly over Playa del Carmen, remaining in the vicinity for two days and causing significant damage and a temporary drop in tourist arrivals. Most of the damage was relatively superficial and repaired within a few weeks of the storm. Hurricane Wilma arrived from the Caribbean Sea, passing over

Cozumel Cozumel (; ) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucatán Channel. The ...

before making landfall in Playa del Carmen. It then moved north along the Mexican coast, hitting

especially hard. Playa del Carmen has a

tropical savannah climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

( Aw) with June to November receiving most of the precipitation. Summers are hot and year-round with warm nights.

Demographics

Tourism

Originally a small fishing town,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

to Playa del Carmen began with the passenger ferry service to

, an island across the Cozumel Channel and a

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

destination.

Safety

Playa del Carmen is generally a safe travel destination in Mexico. The town is generally secure for most tourists, except for risks such as hurricanes, sunburns, and common tourist scams. "Numbeo" reports that both the Safety Index and Crime Index in Playa del Carmen are in the low-moderate range, with scores of 50.55 and 49.45, respectively.

Sports

The city is home to

Inter Playa del Carmen Club de Fútbol Inter Playa del Carmen is a Mexican football club that plays in the Liga Premier. The club is based in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo. History Inter Playa del Carmen was founded in 1999 by an agreement between local businessme ...

, an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club founded in 1999. It competes in the south group of the Segunda División Profesional, the third tier of Mexican football league system. The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba is a

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

golf tournament that was held at El Camaleón Golf Club between 2007 and 2023. Since 2013, it has been a full-points tournament where the winner earns full rights for a PGA TOUR win.

In popular culture

Numerous TV series have been filmed and set in Playa del Carmen. The

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

'' Peregrina'' takes place in Playa del Carmen. The Canadian '' Real Housewives of Vancouver'' featured Playa del Carmen in two episodes. The US series ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...

'' was shot on location in Playa del Carmen, and '' The Celebrity Mole'' was set in that area. The UK reality series ''

Geordie Shore ''Geordie Shore'' is an English reality television series that has been broadcast on MTV UK from 24 May 2011. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, it was the British offshoot of the American show ''Jersey Shore''. The programme follows the d ...

'' featured Playa del Carmen. In the American series ''

Spies in Disguise ''Spies in Disguise'' is a 2019 American animated spy comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Loosely inspired by the 2009 animated short ''Pigeon: Impossible'' by Lucas Martell, the film is directed by T ...

'', the Yakuza arms dealer named Katsu Kimura lays low in a hotel in Playa del Carmen.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Quintana Roo Solidaridad (municipality) Seaside resorts in Mexico Populated coastal places in Mexico Municipality seats in Quintana Roo