Articles in the category Destinations

A quick guide to Playa del Carmen | Yucatan Holidays

The always busy Playa del Carmen is the perfect vacation spot for visitors looking for a relaxing and trendy atmosphere.

LOCATION: Playa del Carmen is about an hour south of Cancun in the state of Quintana Roo in the Yucatan Peninsula on the Caribbean coast of Mexico.

ABOUT: The name “Playa del Carmen” was given by the Spaniards in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, patron saint of Cancun. The Mayan name of Playa is Xaman Ha, which means “waters of the north.” Most locals just call it “Playa.” It has a population of about 100,383 and it has become one of the fastest growing cities in Mexico.

TOURISM & TRADITION: It wasn’t until the late 1990s that Playa Del Carmen began to place itself among the ranks of Cancun and Cozumel as an important tourist destination. There are more than 70 hotels, small cabins, and luxury resorts throughout Playa. The city has an ordinance stating no building can exceed the 3-floors-limit, ensuring Playa conserves the sleepy fishing village and small town atmosphere that differs from Cancun’s busy lifestyle.

ARRIVING: There are two ways to arrive to Playa del Carmen: Cozumel International Airport and Cancun International Airport. In Cozumel, the ferry to Playa leaves every hour and will arrive to Playa in about 30 minutes. From Cancun, visitors have several different options to travel to Playa—taxis, colectivos—or communal vans, or charter buses. It takes about 30 minutes from the airport to get to Playa.

HOTEL ZONE: The tourist zone is considered 5^th Avenue—La Quinta Avenida or La Quinta. The white sand beaches and blue, turquoise oceans of the Caribbean are just 500 meters from 5^th Avenue. This cobbled stone pedestrian walkway is lined with shops, art, crafts, cafes, restaurants, and bars that fulfill a call for a diverse and international atmosphere.

TRANSPORTATION: Playa del Carmen is ideally built to walk just about anywhere with interesting, beautiful, or unique sight-seeing opportunities from your point of departure to your destination. Playa also offers all the comforts of a mayor city with taxis, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles to move around the city. For excursions to the archeological sites, Cozumel, Cancun, and other attractions, visitors and locals travel in colectivos, car rentals, ferries, and buses.

ATTRACTIONS: Shops, restaurants, and beaches are Playa’s most attractive attributes. This once-small fishing village offers the delights of a small town and pristine beaches with modern, cosmopolitan shops and restaurants. Located in the middle of the Riviera Maya, Playa is also close to the Mayan ruins of the region such as Tulum, Coba, and Chichen Itza. It is also a ferry away from Cozumel and 45 minutes away from Cancun.

LANGUAGE: The official language in Mexico is Spanish. Most of the people who work in tourism in the Yucatan Peninsula speak English. Playa del Carmen is visited mostly by Europeans while Cancun draws more visitors from the United States.

MONEY: The Mexican Peso is the official currency in Playa del Carmen. Exchange rates can vary, but has been steady at 13 USD. Some stores and restaurants accept US dollars, but offer a lower exchange rate. Exchange houses, banks, and even some hotels will offer the best exchange rates.

CLIMATE: With a sub-tropical climate, Playa del Carmen is almost always warm. The average temperature year round is about 27 C or 80F. This tropical climate offers great beach days and warm oceans. There is more rain during September and October and temperatures drops slightly during the winter months.

 

Enjoy another splendor of the Riviera Maya by booking your vacation with Yucatan Holidays.

A quick guide to Cancun | Yucatan Holidays

LOCATION: Cancun is located in the Yucatan Peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. Its name means “Nest of Serpents” in Mayan. It is the entrance to Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya.

NUMBERS: There are about 150 hotels, 24,000 hotel rooms, 380 restaurants, 120 attractions, 14 miles of white sand beaches, and 600,000 inhabitants in Cancun.

ARRIVING: The Cancun International Airport is the busiest airport of the Caribbean with 12 million passengers per year. In high season, the airport receives up to 800,000 passengers per month from all mayor airlines in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. A valid passport is required to enter Mexico.

HOTEL ZONE: Most beachfront hotels in Cancun are located in the narrow 7-shaped island called Boulevard Kukulcan better known as the hotel zone. The trendiest, most popular discos, finest international restaurants, and largest entertainment venues are located along the 21 kilometers of hotel zone strip.

DOWNTOWN: Downtown Cancun, or “El Centro,” is connected to the hotel zone by two major bridges. The city’s main streets and avenues are named after Mayan cities. Additional restaurants, hotels and hostels, shopping centers, and supermarkets are located in downtown Cancun.

TRANSPORATION: There are four buses that connect the hotel zone and downtown Cancun. R1 will travel down Tulum Ave. R2 and R15 will go to Wal-Mart and Market 28, a mayor flea market in downtown. R27 will go to Plaza Las Americas, one of the major shopping centers in downtown Cancun. Cancun buses are frequent, safe, and clean. The rate per person is $7.50 Mexican pesos. Taxis are also available in the hotel zone and downtown Cancun. For day trips to Chichen Itza, Tulum, and surrounding cities, charter buses depart from the ADO bus station in downtown Cancun, but many tour packages will provide everything you need for your trip, including transportation. Take a look at our How to move around Cancun post.

ATTRACTIONS: Mayan ruins, Caribbean beaches, and Cancun nightlife are just a few of the things to do in Cancun. Chichen Itza, Tulum, and Coba are the most visited and famous Mayan ruins nearby. Other activities to enjoy are swimming with dolphins and whale sharks, exploring luscious Yucatan jungles, horseback riding, and snorkeling among other attractions.

CRIME: Tourist areas are generally safe all day and late at night. General precautions should be taken. For emergencies, 060 is the equivalent to  the 911 emergency services in the United States.

LANGUAGE: The official language in Mexico is Spanish, although the majority of people who work in tourism speak English.

MONEY: The official currency is the Mexican Peso. Exchange houses or “casas de cambio” are located all throughout Cancun. Most banks, located on Tulum Ave. in downtown Cancun, will exchange dollars into pesos.

CLIMATE: The climate is tropical, hot and humid all year round. The annual average temperature is 26 C (79 F). There are over 3,000 sunshine hours a year, making it one of the sunniest places in the Caribbean. The hurricane season is from June to November. The state of Quintana Roo is recognized worldwide for its leadership in hurricane emergency assistance.

Cancun: A travelers paradise almost 40 years later

A lot of people can’t imagine how one of the most important touristic destinations in the World was conceived. Cancun, our Mexican treasure started as a banker’s project at the end of the 60s, with the idea to take advantage of the unsurpassed natural beauties of the place. Few years later, the dream came true, but the city was pretty different to what we now see. We hope you like the pictures!

 

 

An aerial view of Cancun from 1970 and how it looks today.

 

 

 

Punta Cancun more than 30 years ago was just sand, few homes and the unequaled turquoise sea.

  

 

 

 

 

The Calinda Bridge once was an simple, yet functional construction made up of wood. Things have changed, don’t you think?

 

 

 

 

 

The Cancun International Airport, started as a model and today is the second most important in Mexico.

If you want to become part of the lucky visitors that enjoy this Mexican paradise and dream with the vacation of a lifetime, don’t hesitate. You are just one click away from your Yucatan Holidays.

 

Pictures: Cancun: A banker’s fantasy (Fernando Martí)

Yucatan

Mystify yourself in the Land of Wonders, the state of Yucatan, Mexico.  Yucatan is in the center of the Yucatan Peninsula, which includes the states of Quintana Roo and Campeche.  A magical place with natural wonders that will invigorate your senses and astound the mind, the Yucatan is where the ancient and modern join in a complementary existence.  One example are the Mayan ruins, most notably the spectacular Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza with its Kukulkan Pyramid (El Castillo), named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007; Uxmal, with The Adivino (Pyramid of the Dwarf), a stepped pyramid with atypical oval-shaped layers; and Ek Balam, with The Acropolis and its large carving of a jaguar’s mouth and inscriptions of Mayan hieroglyphics.  Contrast these with the more modern sailing Regattas and windsurfing competitions in the nearby Gulf of Mexico, or the culinary delights of Yucatan cuisine, a unique combination of Mayan, Spanish, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern flavors, influenced by ancient international trade.  You must visit one of the 3,000 cenotes (cave-like sinkholes with natural wells) in the area, Mayan sacred places, where you can swim, snorkel, or scuba dive in fresh crystal clear blue water.  Explore the wonders of the Yucatan today!

Cozumel

Experience amazing water sports and activities on the island of Cozumel (meaning “Land of the Swallow”), named by the Mayans for its many native birds. Cozumel is located in the Mexico Caribbean on the Yucatan Peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo.  Only 60 kilometers (36 miles) south of Cancun, it’s easy to reach by ferry from Playa del Carmen’s port or by ship on a Cozumel cruise.  Cozumel is best known for the spectacular fish and marine life of its coral reef, the Palancar Reef, and is recognized as one of the top two travel sites for scuba diving worldwide.  It’s also a great place to snorkel, kayak, and go deep-sea fishing, or swim with the dolphins; take submarine tours, sunset sailing and snorkeling tours, or glass bottom boat rides.  Then relax at Playa Uvas, a beautiful beach inside the Chankanaab National Marine Park, or tour Punta Sur Ecological Park, a protected nature reserve, containing turtle nesting beaches, coral reefs, mangrove forests, salt-water lagoons, Mayan ruins, the Punta Celarain lighthouse, and Colombia Lagoon, a haven for endangered sea turtles.  The natural treasures of Cozumel await you!

Riviera Maya

Discover the most beautiful beaches and luxurious resorts in the Riviera Maya, an area that spans the Mexico Caribbean coastline, 32 kilometers south of Cancun, from Puerto Morelos to Punta Allen (a fishing village in the Sian Ka’an nature reserve). Located in the Mexico state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan peninsula, the Riviera Maya has many jungles, exotic plants and animals, and nature parks, such as Tres Rios, Xcaret, and Xel-Ha. At Xcaret and Xel-Ha, you can swim with the dolphins. The Riviera Maya is known for its archaeology sites of Mayan ruins, such as Chichen Itza, Coba, and Tulum; and for its gorgeous beaches, such as Playa del Secreto, Playa Paraiso, Punta Maroma, and the beaches of Playa del Carmen. This part of the Caribbean contains the world’s second largest coral reef, the great Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, which is the perfect place for snorkeling and scuba diving with many beautiful, colorful fish. You can also snorkel and dive in the crystal clear, blue water of cenotes (cave-like sinkholes with natural wells). Experience the unique splendor of the Riviera Maya.

Cancun

Visit the Mexico Caribbean city of Cancun in the state of Quintana Roo and the Yucatan peninsula, where dream vacations are made!  When you travel to Cancun, there are many tourist attractions, travel activities, tours, and entertainment from which to choose.  That’s because Cancun is close to many favorite travel destinations, such as the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, Coba, and Tulum; the islands of Isla Mujeres, Holbox, and Cozumel; and Cancun beaches, where you can enjoy the beautiful, soft, white sand beaches and the warm, clear, turquoise-blue water of the Caribbean Sea.  If you prefer activities, try one of the many water sports activities, such as snorkeling and scuba diving, water skiing and jet skiing, to name a few.  Travel to Cancun and bring your dreams to life!