First Taste of Playa

August 09th, 2008

For many new visitors to the Riviera Maya, the first glimpse of Playa del Carmen is at the ferry dock and adjacent shopping mall. There are the Cozumel vacationers, mostly staying in all-inclusive resorts, who come over on the ferry for a day trip. There are the cruise ship passengers — many coming from Cozumel for the day, and others arriving in the Calica port, south of Playa, and taking an “excursion” to town. Finally, there are the those staying at all-inclusive resorts up and down the Riviera Maya coast. They are dutifully transported to town and dropped off in the “safe for gringos” area by the shopping mall.

Here is what they see.

Arriving at the ferry terminal from Cozumel. Walk straight up this small hill to the modern Paseo del Carmen mall.

The tricycle taxis arrive to take their fares and/or their luggage to nearby hotels. This works out great if you’re staying on the pedestrian only 5th Avenue.

Senor Frogs Bar & Restaurant is right at the ferry pier. Senor Frogs is known for their large, colorful plastic yards in which they serve cervezas, margaritas, Sex on the Beach, and just about anything else you can think of.

Forgot your swimsuit, tennis shoes, shorts? No problem, you can find it at Marti Sports store.

If you ever make it out of Senor Frogs, you might end up at Carlos & Charlie’s next for a very similar experience.

Rolandi’s is a nice Italian restaurant with great pizza.

Sushi in Mexico. No extra charge for the cream cheese they put in your rolls.

What a cool jewelry and art store this is.

La Bodeguita del Medio is a Cuban bar and restaurant known for their mojitos and live salsa bands and dancing.

Why in the world would there be an American Apparel here in Mexico? I’m told that the Europeans love it!

Starbucks … it’s everywhere

We ate at Johnny Rockets once with friends who were visiting. They love this chain restaurant in the states, but were quite disappointed with the Playa version. We also were not impressed.