Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as 'Playa', is a resort city located along the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. 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.

Playa del Carmen is a popular tourist destination in Mexico's Riviera Maya region. Its current growth rate is set at 7.5% per year. According to the Guinness World Records, it is one of Latin America’s fastest growing communities. In 2016, the city was the tenth most popular international travel destination for U.S travelers, and over a million tourists passed through the city a year later. The main airport for Playa is the Cancún International Airport, which is around 70 km away.

The area is known for its white sand beaches, blue turquoise waters, coral reefs, surrounding rainforests, and balnearios. 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, with the summer and winter breaks being peak season for tourism.

Geography
Playa del Carmen is located within the Riviera Maya, which runs from south of Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve. Playa is a stop for several cruise ships which dock at the nearby Calica quarry docks, about six miles (10 km) south of the city. The Xcaret Eco Park, a Mexican-themed "eco-archaeological park", is just south of the town in Xcaret (pronounced "ish-kar-et").

Climate
In October 2005, Hurricane Wilma 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 before making landfall in Playa del Carmen. It then moved north along the Mexican coast, hitting Cancún especially hard.

Playa del Carmen has a tropical savannah climate (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 to Playa del Carmen began with the passenger ferry service to Cozumel, an island across the Cozumel Channel and a scuba diving 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 the Safety Index and Crime Index in Playa del Carmen are both in the low-moderate range, with scores of 50.55 and 49.45 respectively.

On January 21, 2022, a tourist opened fire at the Xcaret all-inclusive hotel, killing two Canadians and wounding one other.

Sports
The city is home to Inter Playa del Carmen, an association football club founded in 1999, which 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 FedEx Cup 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
The telenovela Peregrina takes place in Playa del Carmen. The Real Housewives of Vancouver featured Playa del Carmen in two episodes. The Amazing Race was shot on location in Playa del Carmen. The Celebrity Mole was set in the Playa del Carmen area. UK reality series Geordie Shore featured Playa del Carmen. It was also seen in Spies in Disguise.