It's like the best of Florida and the best of Mexico in one beautiful beach side location!
Playa del Carmen scores high on my travel rating scale from 1-5.
Travel Score = 4.5
Affordability= 4
Food= 4.5
Culture = 3.5
Safety = 4.5
Activities = 5
Hotel Value= 4
Transportation = 5
Playa del Carmen, located just an hour south of Cancun is a total gem. All the negative Mexican stereo types do not fit. From high end shopping and dinner shows, to side street taco stands; Playa del Carmen can work for most anyone's budget.
This small city on the beach is very affordable. A one way flight from NYC is about $165, Florida is even less. Once here Playa del Carmen can be done comfortably between $20-30 dollars a day. However many tourist from the United States come here and spend over $100 dollars a night in beachfront resorts and eat at over priced restaurants.
Negotiating a good hotel room is very important. It's easy to end up paying western prices if you're not careful. For those staying a month or longer you can really find a good deal on a room or an apartment, especially if you look on the other side of highway 307.
The hotel that I found to offer the best value was CasaEjido. I negotiated 8 nights. They gave me the king suit for four nights, which is a small luxury apartment with kitchen and living room. The last four nights I was in a single room with a private bath and AC. All this including a swimming pool was only 20 dollars a night!
From Cancun south it is heavily touristed. The tourism brings in a lot of money for Mexico; there for the government has invested in security and there is a noticeable police presence. I felt safe at all hours.
The food in Mexico is some of the best in Central and South America. With a fresh selection of meat, salsas, and spices Mexican food is internationally famous. Eating out is a great value and a lot of fun. Two steak quesadillas and a pulled pork taco cost me $3.50 at this sit down restaurant.
Super markets in Playa del Carmen are like the best of the USA and the best of Mexico. Wal-Mart has really done it right. The meat and produce sections are incredible with prices often less than half compared to the US. For example big rib eye steaks $5.99 per pound not $12.99.
Besides trying every taco stand in town, there are endless things you can do in this part of Mexico; from casinos to beaches, snorkling, diving, and great night life.
You can take a ferry to Cazumel and check out the Mayan Ruins. You can hang out in Cancun for the day. You can even go spelunking into caves connected by the world's largest underground river system.
The river makes hundreds of crystal clear natural pools for swimming all around the Yucatan Peninsula called Cenotes. I enjoyed lounging by Cenote Azul with Steemit friends 
https://steemit.com/steemit/@luzcypher/growing-the-steemit-community-one-minnow-at-a-time-steemian-impromptu-meetup-at-my-house-in-mexico
Culturally the Mexican population is very polite and friendly. They seem used to North Americans and make it easy for non-Spanish speakers. I'd ask something in Spanish and often they would reply in English! On a further note the city is well kept and sometimes you can find some nice street art.
What I love most about it here is that it's like first world living at third world prices. These places are few and far between. When I find them I take note. Playa del Carmen is one of my new favorite places in the world and I highly recommend a visit!
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Playa Del Carmen Visited: June 2017
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All Photos were taken by me.
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