Playa del Carmen is one of the most popular tourist beach destinations in Mexico with phenomenal scuba diving in nearby Cozumel.

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Playa del Carmen (Xaman Ha' or Playa) is a lovely beach town on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. It used to be a small fishing town but nowadays has turned into a tourist resort paradise with as many locals as foreigners. Avenue Juarez or Avenue Principal is the main road in Playa and offers many hotels, excellent bars, clubs and restaurants of all styles and in all price classes. There are simple hammocks for rent, hostels, bungalows up to luxury condos and villas.

There are many other tours and attractions near and in Playa del Carmen. Besides scuba diving and snorkeling trips you can enjoy several water activities including jet skiing, kayaking, sailing, waterskiing and swimming. Being in the center of the Yucatan peninsula, all Mayan cultural excavations such as Coba, Tulum and Chichen Itza are reached within a few hours. Less popular historic sights are some ruins in Playacar and in Playa itself. You can get some taint at Playa Tukan, one of the best white sanded beaches in the north end of town. You can go shopping at the touristic pedestrian walkway called 5th avenue or walk towards an attractive lighthouse and enjoy its views once you are on top. You can visit one of the nearby eco-parks such as the eco-archaeological park Xcaret, the natural aquarium Xel-Ha or the aviary Xaman-Ha. It is easy to find tour agencies that can book you on one of their tours.

The channel between Cozumel and Playa del Carmen is one with often hefty ocean currents. Most dive sites in the channel near Playa are excellent drift dives and more comfortable for intermediate divers. They are all reached within a twenty minutes boat ride and the reefs are too far offshore to allow shore diving. You can also dive at the incredible coral reefs at Cozumel, one of the world's most famous scuba diving destinations or you can make a few dives in the nearby cenotes. Some of the best known dive sites are Turtle Reef and the wreck of the Mama Viña. It is a vivid town also popular for non divers with scuba diving being one of the most rewarding activities.

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