Layout of Playa del Carmen
The town is laid out on a grid squeezed between the sea and Highway 307, which runs about 1.5 km inland and carries all through traffic. Avenues run parallel to the coast and are numbered outwards from the beach: Quinta Avenida, the Fifth Avenue, is the first of them and has been pedestrianised for roughly 4 km, and it holds most of the restaurants and shops. Cross streets are calles, numbered north and south from Avenida Juárez, the road that runs inland from the ferry pier to the highway. The ferry pier for Cozumel is at the southern end of the beachfront, at the foot of Calle 1 Sur, and the older ADO bus terminal stands beside it where Quinta meets Juárez; a second, larger bus terminal is inland near Calle 20. South of the pier, Playacar is a gated development begun in the early 1990s with hotels, houses, a golf course and a small Maya site, Xaman-Há, inside it. The Maya Train station is west of the highway.
Playa del Carmen is the seat of the municipality of Solidaridad, created in 1993 out of Cozumel. Solidaridad recorded 333,800 residents at the 2020 census, against about 43,600 in 2000 — one of the fastest growth rates of any municipality in Mexico. Before the resort era it was a fishing settlement and the crossing point to Cozumel, and the ferry is still the busiest passenger route in the Mexican Caribbean.
Distances from Playa del Carmen
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xcaret | 6 | 10 min | Hwy 307 |
| Cozumel | 19 | 35 min | Passenger ferry from the pier |
| Puerto Morelos | 33 | 30 min | Hwy 307 |
| Cancún airport (CUN) | 50 | 45 min | Hwy 307, ADO bus |
| Tulum | 62 | 50 min | Hwy 307, ADO bus, Tren Maya |
| Cancún | 68 | 1 h | Hwy 307, ADO bus, Tren Maya |
| Isla Mujeres | 80 | 1 h 45 | Hwy 307 plus Puerto Juárez ferry |
| Tulum airport (TQO) | 85 | 1 h 10 | Hwy 307 |
| Chichén Itzá | 180 | 2 h 30 | Hwy 180 via Nuevo Xcan |
| Bacalar | 250 | 3 h | Hwy 307 |
| Mérida | 300 | 3 h 30 | Hwy 180 and 180D |
Beaches and the coast either side
The town beach runs north from the ferry pier in a shallow curve of white sand; it is busiest opposite Quinta Avenida and quieter north of Calle 38, where the grid gives out. Playacar's beach is south of the pier and backed by hotels. The sand here is coral limestone rather than quartz, which is why it stays cool underfoot, and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef lies a few hundred metres offshore for most of the coast — snorkelling and diving trips run from the beach and from Puerto Morelos, 33 km north, where the reef sits closest to land inside a marine park.
South along Highway 307 the coast is a chain of small bays and inlets: Xcaret at 6 km, built around the Maya port of Polé; Paamul and Puerto Aventuras at about 20 and 25 km, the latter a marina development; Akumal at 37 km, a bay where green turtles graze on seagrass and access is regulated; and Xel-Há at 50 km, an inlet where a cenote system meets the sea. Cenotes open inland from the highway the whole way south, since the peninsula's limestone carries its rainfall underground rather than in rivers.
Sargassum has landed on this coast in large quantities every year since 2015, with the heaviest months from May to October and marked variation between weeks and between beaches. Clearing crews, floating barriers offshore and daily state monitoring reports are now a standard part of the high season. Sheltered west-facing shores — Cozumel's town side and Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres — take much less of it than the exposed mainland. Rain concentrates between June and October, overlapping the hurricane season of 1 June to 30 November, and the dry months from November to April carry most of the visitor traffic. The beaches map sets the Caribbean coast against the Pacific and Gulf, and the Riviera Maya map covers the strip from Cancún to Tulum in one view.
Questions about Playa del Carmen
Where is Playa del Carmen on the map of Mexico?
On the Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo, 68 km south of Cancún on Highway 307, halfway between Cancún and Tulum. It faces the island of Cozumel across a 19 km channel.
How do you get from Cancún airport to Playa del Carmen?
About 50 km south on Highway 307, 45 minutes by car. ADO runs scheduled buses from both airport terminals to the Playa del Carmen bus station; there is no airport in Playa itself.
How long is the ferry to Cozumel?
About 35 minutes from the pier at the foot of Calle 1 Sur, with departures through the day. Vehicles use a separate ferry from Calica, about 8 km south of town.
Is sargassum a problem in Playa del Carmen?
Sargassum has reached the Mexican Caribbean in large volumes every year since 2015, heaviest from May to October. Playa del Carmen's beach is east-facing and exposed; the state monitors beaches daily and clears sand in the worst weeks.