Cancun is a lively beach city on the Caribbean side of Mexico filled with white sandy beaches. The city is also known for its many tourist spots such as the El Meco Archaeological site, the Temple of Scorpion, El Castillo, and La Isla Shopping Village. Cancun is not as widely well-known as other international cities (unless you’re American and grew up watching MTV Spring Break – did I just date myself?) But there are a few logistics that you need to know before you go to this breathtaking city.
I recently got a job as a divemaster on a liveaboard in Hawaii and one of my guests told me I absolutely had to dive in Cozumel when I told her about my upcoming trip to Playa del Carmen. Because she and I bonded overseeing dozens of dolphins together along the Kona coast and that she has over 2,000 logged dives – I felt her word could be trusted.
Diving the cenotes should be on your list of things to do in Playa del Carmen if you’re a diver. It’s a very unique experience to see the cave formations that have been around for thousands of years and Playa del Carmen (Riviera Maya) has some of the best in the world.
It’s been almost 6 years exactly since my last visit to Playa del Carmen. I was a much different traveler then; a tourist traveler instead of a backpacker. I stayed at the Hotel Riu Palace Riviera Maya, an all-inclusive beach resort. The beaches were pristine and what I proclaimed as the best swimming beach I had ever been to. The food was meh. The clientele was mostly European. It was a quiet and relaxed former fisherman town with a sophisticated touch.