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.[2]
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.[3][4] The main airport for Playa is the Cancún International Airport, which is around 70 kilometres (43 mi) 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.[5]
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").
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.
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.
