Fun things to do in Playa del Carmen

The Riviera Maya is one of the world’s most famous dive locations. You find here different types of scuba diving; the warm and tropical waters of the Caribbean sea with an abundance of marine life at our local reefs, a beautiful variety of colourful hard and soft coral formations and deep walls in Cozumel and the crystal clear and mystic waters of the of the ancient Cenotes.

In the heart of the summer temperatures can rise well above 30C/ 86F but because other climate related factors, many of our guests enjoy it very much.

The water temperature of the ocean is around 29C, (between 27 and 31) the whole year round.

The water in the cenotes is permanently cooler, therefore we recommend to wear a 3mm long suit here. These suits are for rent for sale at the dive base.

The official currency is the Mexican peso, but American dollars are generally accepted as the ‘2nd official coin’ . Therefore we consider it recommendable to carry both dollars and pesos in your wallet.

Having a hard time to change pesos before your trip? Don’t spend too much valuable time looking for them.. bring (or change) dollars instead. Every ATM/money machine (locally known as Cajero) gives pesos out, but only few give dollars too.

There are many (cultural) sites to visit whilst here on your holiday. Some recommendations are:

The ruins of Tulum

Located right at the ocean front, this very well maintained ruin complex gives a good picture of how daily life in ancient maya era must have looked like.

This a great place to spend part of the day and make sure to bring your bathing suits to enjoy the bay right from the beach on location.

The Maya site is of moderate size, with construction of modest-sized buildings and may have been formerly also known by the name Zama, meaning city of Dawn. Tulúm is also the Yucatec Mayan word for fence or wall, and the walls surrounding the site allowed the Tulum fort to serve as a defense against an invasion.

From the numerous murals and other works around the site, Tulum appears to have been an important site for the worship of the Diving or Descending God.

While an inscription dated A.D. 564 has been found at the site, most of the structures now visible were built in the Post-Classic Era, between about 1200 and 1450.

The city remained occupied through the early years of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, but was abandoned by the end of the 16th century.

Local Maya continued to visit the temples, to burn incense and pray, until the late 20th century.

A number of the buildings have fresco murals on the interior (small remaining traces of paint suggest that the exterior of some buildings may have been similarly decorated). The murals show Mixtec influence.

The ruins of Chichen Itza

Northern Yucatán is arid, and the interior has no above-ground rivers. There are two large, natural sink holes, called cenotes, that could have provided plentiful water year round at Chichen, making it attractive for settlement.

Of the two cenotes, the "Cenote Sagrado” or Sacred Cenote, is the most famous.

According to post-Conquest sources (Maya and Spanish), pre-Columbian Maya sacrificed objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to the Maya rain god Chaac.

American Consul Edward Herbert Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado from 1904 to 1910, and recovered artifacts of gold, jade, pottery, and incense, as well as human remains.

A recent study of human remains taken from the Cenote Sagrado found that they had wounds consistent with human sacrifice.

The ruins of Coba

Although Coba, located 45 km (28 miles) northwest of Tulum, is less well-known than either Tulum or Chichen Itza, it is one of the oldest Mayan cities and predates other better known cities in the area.

Coba is located near five of the largest lakes in the Yucatan Peninsula: Cobá, Macanxoc, Xkanha, Zacalpuc and Sina A Kal.

Coba covers an area of about 70 square km (28 square miles). The most important buildings are located near the Coba and Macanxoc lakes. Most of the approximately 15,000 structures in Coba are unrestored.

History

The five lakes of Coba are without a doubt the main reason why the Maya settled here.

Coba reached its peak around 600 AD, yet it was mysteriously abandoned three hundred years later.

Some archaeological evidence suggests that around the 8th century - when the population of the city was at its peak - it may have had as many as 55,000 residents.

Coba’s buildings are connected by a complex network of sacbes - or stone roads - which are believed to have been built between 600 and 800 BC. The sacbes reach other important Mayan cities, like Yaxuna - near Chichen Itza - and Pole, (now called Xcaret). They are believed to have been used by the military and for trading, and sacbes were also used for various rituals and pilgrimages.

As Chichen Itza became more economically, and militarily dominant, Coba began to decline. Both cities fought long wars against each other.

In 1891, the Austrian archaeologist Teobert Maler, after hearing of an ancient city lost in the jungle, came to Coba and began its first excavation.

Until today, only a few structures in Coba have been excavated and restored.

Xcaret

Xcaret, which means translated from Maya “little inlet”, is one of the most visited places of the Riviera Maya. It can best be described as an eco-archaeological park. It hosts a variety of indigenous wildlife and other attractions that include a cenote where you can swim, a butterfly pavilion, a botanical garden and nursery, an orchid and mushroom farm, a museum containing models of the most significant Mayan ruins, and a wild-bird breeding area. It is ringed by several Mayan ruins on one of the area’s natural coastal lagoons.

While there, you will also be able to visit remains of the Mayan port of Pole, where many pilgrims embarked for Cozumel Island to worship the goddess Ixchel.

One of the main attractions there is the snorkeling river, an underground stream that winds through the park and empties into the sea.

Every day except Sunday there is a show featuring ancient Mayan rituals, a cowboy show, some mariachi music, and dancers from various Mexican States. Xcaret is 4 km (2.5 miles) south of Playa del Carmen located.

Xel-ha

Xel-Ha means “place where the water is born” It is considered the largest natural aquarium in Mexico. Because of this, and its warm and crystal clear waters, it is also a very popular snorkeling attraction.

Xel-Ha is located in one of the most important inlets along the coast of the state of Quintana Roo. The Spanish wrote of the small village of Xala during the conquest as a port where they would disembark.

Between the 7th and 12th century Xel-Ha was an important seaport. Its large bay could receive numerous boats simultaneously. Trade there included obsidian, jade, coconuts, feathers, cotton, textiles and other merchandize.

Aside from its well-earned reputation as a snorkeler’s paradise, Xel-Ha also offers tours of a nearby reef, swimming with dolphins, an aviary or bird park, an apiary where bees are raised for their honey, cenotes, a tree nursery, a floating bridge, as well as train and bicycle tours to the nearby jungle. Xel-Ha is located 54 km (36 miles) south of Playa del Carmen.