Our Favorite Things We’ve Done, Seen & Eaten.
Things To Do
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Quinta Avenida
Quinta Avenida (or Fifth Avenue) is a pedestrian-only street that’s over 2 miles long. With endless shopping, restaurants, and local vendors, this is a must-see while here. We’ve spent hours roaming.
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Cenotes
A cenote (say-no-tay) is a naturally occurring fresh water pool in the jungle, and there’s a dozen in the area that you can swim at. They’re shockingly clear, and very deep, so a lot have docks to jump off of. You can visit them yourselves, or organize a tour to visit multiple. Though we think one is enough!
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Airbnb Experiences
Every time we visit a new country, we book an Airbnb Experience. They’re led by locals, and such a fun way to experience a new place. We’ve done tequila tastings, cooking classes, boat rides. An all-time highlight of Mexico was visiting a farm in Cozumel, where we picked then cooked our lunch. Linking that one here, but there’s so many options for other things.
Restaurants
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Trujillo's Cantina de Selva
We loved this place so much that we managed to come here 4 times in one week. Great cocktails and a fun bar, it’s on the cutest street that is worth exploring.
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La Perla Pixan
Next door to Trujillo’s is La Perla. We’ve visited on more than one trip (Robbie says to get the rib eye tacos.) It’s Mayan food in a very cool space with live music at night. Excellent brunch option.
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Axiote Cocina de Mexico
This is a great spot for modern Mexican from a young chef. The menu is sharable plates style, and was a really memorable meal for us.
Nightlife
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La Bodeguito del Medio
Cuba is only 125 miles off the coast of Playa del Carmen, and nowhere is that more obvious than La Bodeguita. Come for live salsa music and the best mojitos we’ve ever had.
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Fusion Beach Bar
Nightly live music with drinks served in the sand. There’s no shortage of nightclubs in PDC, but come here for a fun, chill spot.
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Club de la Cerveza
For all of our beer lovers, this place has craft beers from all over Mexico that you couldn’t get in the states.
These recommendations are only for Playa del Carmen, but we’ve been to Tulum twice as well. If you’re headed down there and want any recs, you already know Emily has a PDF ready to send to you.