After we spent 4 days in and around Cancún, we went first along the east coast southwards to Playa del Carmen. We had already read about the place, and the opinions were very mixed. Although the descriptions of Playa del Carmen did not correspond at all to our previous travel destinations, we still wanted to be convinced by ourselves. It was also on the way to Tulum, where we wanted to go afterwards. At that time the description "Malle of the east" of Palanga in Lithuania also put us off. But finally we liked Palanga very much.
The journey to Playa del Carmen
In the early afternoon we left our apartment in Cancún and went to the ADO bus station (this is the name of the company or the operator of the bus lines). We had checked the internet the day before for bus connections and knew when the buses were leaving and also could buy tickets directly. However, due to some security fees the tickets suddenly became more expensive online, so we decided against it and bought the tickets on the counter. There we bought the tickets with our broken Spanish, but unfortunately there were no more tickets for the bus we planed to take, so we had to wait one hour for the next bus. Bad luck for us, but also not tragic. So we waited a little over an hour in the air-conditioned waiting room for the next bus and I tried a Mexican candy.
This time our bus was kind of a Colectivo, but a bit bigger. But also much more comfortable! During the trip a film in Spanish was shown on a display, which you could watch for entertainment.
After some traffic jam, due to a car accident, we were there after about one hour. The ADO station in Playa del Carmen is located directly on Calle 5, which is considered THE street in Playa del Carmen. There are many restaurants, stalls, and many other things. That was fine for us, because our next accommodation was right on this street. Unfortunately, we had to walk down the street for a good part and were approached from all sides, but wo we had already walked down THE street. We decided to stay here for two nights in order to have a closer look at Playa del Carmen and its surroundings. Directly in front of our accomodation we got some refreshment.
Our impression of Playa del Carmen
Ehrlich gesagt hätten wir auf die Beiträge anderer Reisenden hören sollen. Die Stadt hat für Reisende wie wir, die etwas entdecken von der Kultur und der Natur entdecken wollen, rein gar nichts zu bieten. Interessant ist vielleicht zu wissen, dass Playa del Carmen die am schnellsten wachsende Stadt in Mexiko ist und alles was man da sieht noch recht jung ist. Vor ca. 50 Jahren war die Stadt noch ein kleines Fischerdorf. Doch nachdem der Tourismus immer attraktiver für die Bewohner wurde und Playa del Carmen immer mehr ein beliebter Ort für „Erholung“ und „Urlaub“ wurde, expandierte die Stadt immer weiter dem entlang des Strandes und nach hinten in das Land. Und weil die Stadt noch recht jung ist, hat diese auch kein Zentrum wie die meisten Städte, die über viele Jahre wuchsen.
We had read before that the beach should be very beautiful. Well, the color of the water and the white sand are really beautiful. No question. BUT: The beach was packed. The scary thing was that, like in some places on Isla Mujeres, they built up to the water, so you couldn't even lie down on the beach because it was under water all the time. Almost all the people who were there had a chair with them and accepted to have their legs and things under water all the time. Only rarely was there some space where the ater woulnd't reach. But, of course, these were all occupied. The place and all the people reminded us of Spring Break. But it seems like the people there had a lot of fun, even if the beach was a bit smelly. But we were disappointed and strolled along the beach until we finally went back to the street. We explored the city a bit more, but Playa del Carmen didn't really have anything to offer to us.
Since we still had a slight jet lag, we were already so tired at 8pm that we went to sleep. At 11 pm, however, our night's rest was disturbed by unexpectedly loud karaoke singers who "performed" right in front of our hotel entrance with their speakers turned up. Among other things the song "Du hast" was sung by Rammstein, which was quite funny in the end.
The Cenote Cristalino
The next day was much better where we visited the Cenote Cristalino. For those who do not know cenotes: A cenote is a big limestone hole filled with fresh water. They are formed in karst areas by dissolving the limestone. This creates caves and underground water courses that can reach several kilometers. In Yucatan, there is said to be the largest continuous underwater cave system in the world and thus connect many of these cenotes. The Maya considered the Cenotes as a gateway to the underworld and called them Xibalba (pronounced Shibalba). Today, however, they are very popular bathing resorts for Mexicans.
We drove early in the morning at 9:00 am with a colectivo to the cenote. It should be mentioned that the colectivo to the cenote leaves from the center of the city under a bridge. We had previously read that the colectivos leave from Calle 2. But this is not true and so we had to ask ourselves with broken Spanish until we finally stood under the bridge with the right colectivo. The trip was very cheap with about 2€ per person.
When we arrived at the cenote we walked towards the deserted entrance tobuy our tickets. Since we had to sign up a list because of Covid-19, we could see that only one person was here before us, Frank. Happy to know that it was apparently still deserted, we walked towards the Cenote to change our cloth in a cabin. A sign pointed out that one should shower before jumping into the water. They also ask you to not use any kind of sunscreen or other chemical things so that water is not polluted. We showered in an exemplary way and looked forward to the cenote, where we also saw our first iguana.
The water was cool, clear and the whole environment was just beautiful. Calli got her feet treated by the many fish swimming in the water and I had fun with my diving goggles from Greece. We were alone there for quite a long time and there was no trace of Frank. Afterwards two Mexican women came for snorkeling and later on a model with two other women which did an underwater shooting. But that didn't bother us at all, because there was enough space for everybody. A water turtle was also present for a while.
When we took a closer look around we could find more iguanas and also huge blue butterflies which were flying around. Unfortunately these were permanently in the air or flew too far away so we could not take a picture. But we met them several times during the trip, so we are confident that we will be able to take a picture of one of them sometime.
Later, after about 4 hours, there was a sudden surge of people and therefor time for us to leave.
To get back to Playa del Carmen, we stood on the other side of the road and hoped that a colectivo will arrive soon. But we did not have to wait more than 5 minutes. Luckily there was still space for us and so we went back safely to Playa del Carmen.
There are many (about 6,000) cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula and we have only seen one of these beautiful places so far. After this visit we were very excited about the next ones.
After two days in Playa del Carmen we went to Tulum.
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