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

Playa is a major tourist destination with the coast lined with resorts, it is located perfectly between Cancun and Tulum. It is known for the white sand beaches, turquoise waters and rainforests. BUT, what you didn’t know (or maybe didn’t know) is that the beaches are also annually invaded by seaweed for miles deep and the area employees people to remove the seaweed all day every day and it is still an invasion. 

Playa is a fun laid back beach town with a popular pedestrian street called Quinta Avenida that is lined with shops, restaurants, boutiques and clubs. 

Also nearby is Xcaret an Eco park that I went to years and years ago the first time I went to Playa. 

It is also the only place that I have had my credit card compromised. I did not loose my credit card, nor did I EVER let it out of my sight (I know better than that) so someone must have scanned it as they walked by me or it was copied in a machine somehow. There was a $2500 charge for a flight on Aero Mexico. Luckily, my bank is amazing and immediately took action to cancel the card, remove the fraudulent charge and Fedexed a replacement Visa to my apartment in Panama so that I had my card waiting for my return home. That’s a tough spot to be in when travelling, I was only in Mexico for two more days and then when I returned to Panama I was only there for just over 1 more week before I moved to Serbia, so time was tight. I feel like I have travelling long enough to know to have a back up plan, so I was well equipped with credit cards but still…