I walk into a small cafe and choose a table in the corner.
I nod as the mesero and I complete our routine.
Yes, I would like the usual.
As he leaves I can see that it will be another morning like the others: warm and beautiful, but too easy to get used to.
How slowly time passes as I drink my coffee and my soul drinks the sunlight; it is 9:15 a.m.
The generous servings of sliced papaya and huevos rancheros are the only thing that distract my view of the white sand beach with grains so white they resemble the salt on my plate.
The only noise louder than the crashing of the waves is the sense of victory and pleasure that this meal and this morning cost me a little under $4.
It’s easy to indulge your thoughts and get lost in a paradise like Playa del Carmen, a lesser-known beach to us in the United States.
It’s even easier to forget where you’re sitting as you sip on delicious, fresh piña coladas in the comfort of a beach chair that indicates time passing with every inch it sinks into the sand.
What Cancún is to American spring-break-crazy-college-adolescents and elderly retirees looking for a warm place to escape below freezing temperatures, Playa del Carmen is for Europeans.
Only an hour from the renowned tourist spot, Playa del Carmen has its similar charms: clean, beautiful beaches and nearby ruins in a denser environment, much more catered toward European tourists.
That being said, you can expect to find something of a replica of Nice on “La Quinta,” the nickname lovingly given to the town’s fifth avenue, where most of the shopping and fine dining occurs.
The long street is only blocks away from the shore and features restaurants with tables outside a la Europe, countless restaurants specializing in Americanized imitation Mexican food and familiar chains such as Ben and Jerry’s––and of course the ever so popular McDonald’s.
As a Mexican, I would highly recommend steering as far away as possible from La Quinta if you’re looking for good Mexican food. Most of it is highly priced and not authentic.
I asked a waiter there (who worked at a restaurant on La Quinta) where I could find good food nearby in Spanish and he directed me five blocks away from the street where I found delicious home-made Yucatecan specialties.
For all its charms and beauty, I regret to inform anybody reading this that even though it’s a lesser known area in the U.S., Playa del Carmen remains a tourist trap.
There are Euro/Dollar ATMs throughout the town, the universal language is English and there are a plethora of side trips all catered towards foreigners, highly organized and planned, clean-cut like a Disneyland visit.
If you’re looking for a safe place different from Cancún yet still accessible to many of the treasures the Yucatec peninsula has to offer (i.e. Tulum, Chichen Itza), then Playa del Carmen is your best bet.
If you’re young and you want to make a lot of European friends for relatively cheap in a nice place, then Playa del Carmen is your best bet.
But if you are a real traveler and hope to find any authenticity pertaining to the Mayan culture, learn anything or truly absorb authentic Mexican culture at all, then refresh your Expedia page right now, (just kidding, don’t use Expedia, widen your search to something like SkyScanner.com) and book a flight/hotel to Merida or Tulum.
You’ll be grateful you did.
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