Mexico 2013: Playa Del Carmen & Cozumel

While it was incredibly tempting to spend the entire 2 weeks staying on the beach at the hotel, there was a lot to do and see!

Our hotel was about 10 minutes drive from Playa Del Carmen, which a beach resort. Along with a beautiful public beach, Playa Del Carmen also has boutique hotels, restaurants, shops, bars and clubs; it is a must visit for tourists. I can only imagine how busy it must get during high season; it was quite busy whenever I and my friends ventured to Playa Del Carmen (even when it rained ally day).

Probably one of the smoothest tequila shots I've ever had.....
Most shop vendors offered free tequila shots or free trinkets in the hope of getting tourists to
visit their shop and buy something

The main negative (and ironically it’s positive) I have against Playa Del Carmen was that it was very commercial. I’m pretty sure that there isn’t an independent Converse shop in London (please correct me if I’m wrong fellow Brits), but on 5^th Avenue, I walked past 3! A lot of the shops were American brands, and there was definitely a bias towards Americans. Almost everything was priced in dollars; this was good in the sense that dollars was readily accepted and your spending could be made up entirely of dollars. However when I go on holiday, I like to use the local currency, which was Mexican Pesos ($MXN). Furthermore, I got a lot more for my pounds – it was $1USD = $12MXN whereas it was £1GBP = $20MXN. On the plus side, the exchange rate was a lot better than at the hotel.

We also got to sample the nightlife by taking part in a bar crawl, which consisted of visiting 3 local bars and the famous CoCo Bongo. It was one of the best bar crawls that I have ever been on, especially as all the drinks at every venue we went to was included at no extra charge!

CoCo Bongo is known as the venue where The Mask (starring Jim Carrey & Cameron Diaz) was filmed. It is like a cabaret; there was acrobatic acts, with tribute acts, and a night club. There is an entry fee, but usually this includes an open bar so buying drinks is not a problem. The atmosphere is electric and impressive. Friends who had previously visited mexico, whether Cancun or Riviera Maya highly rated CoCo Bongo and demanded that I visit the club. I was not disappointed!

This is one of my fave pics taken on my holiday;
I and my friends got an amazing position at CoCo Bongo.
Being centre at the top level meant we got close to the performers on harnesses!

  

We also got to make a brief visit to Cozumel, which is an island about 45 minutes away from Playa Del Carmen by boat. The island is large enough that it not only has an international shipping port, but also an international airport.

 

On our way to Cozumel, leaving Playa Del Carmen

We didn’t get to sample its beaches and ruins (maybe next time), but we did get to check out the market and local buildings.

Another reason to visit Cozumel (apart from the beaches, Mayan Ruins and great snorkelling!)

Again, the shops of Cozumel tended to cater for American Tourists, but when we ventured a little further away from the markets and shops, we found brightly coloured colonial buildings which gave Cozumel a bit more charm.

More to follow soon x



1 comment entertainment, holiday, Mexico, personal, Travel

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