Porto Playa Condo/Hotel
Property # 10059

I'm not sure if you've been to Playa del Carmen before, so in case you haven't, let me tell you a little more about Playa. My husband, Terry, and I have been going to Playa del Carmen since 1993. We've been to beaches all over the world (Australia, France, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, etc) and Playa is my favorite beach (I am a beach girl). The beaches in Playa are white, soft sand, no rocks and the water is crystal clear. They are very clean beaches and you can see Cozumel on the horizon. You can walk for miles. Playa has a law that no building near the beach can be taller than 4 stories, so you'll not see any tall buildings which is part of Playa's charm. You can walk north on the beach for at least 10 miles (that's as far as we've ever walked). The water is crystal clear, about 78 degrees. There are numerous restaurants right on the beach and lots of places to get chairs, drinks, etc. You can walk south for about 1 mile, but after that, there is not as much beach and the water goes all the way to the buildings. That's where a number of all-inclusives are, so there's not as much to see anyway. On the beach you can do boogie boards, parasailing, wave runners, etc. Snorkeling and deep sea diving and fishing are very popular. If you want to go snorkeling, I'd take the ferry to Cozumel (rated one of the 7 best in the world) and go snorkeling there. You can also take a tour bus or rent a car once in Playa and go south to ancient mayan ruins or a water park that has snorkeling, tubing in an underground river, and swimming with the dolphins. My son and his girlfriend went zip lining in the area and raved about it. We have noodles in the condo for your use in the Gulf and/or the pool. You don't need a car in Playa You only need a car if you want to go off-site for something. Even zip-lining comes and picks you up. Fifth Avenue is about 2 miles long, is pedestrian only, and has open air restaurants and shopping. You can walk up and down and find a place you want to eat dinner or go shopping. Playa is very European - half the tourists are American, the other half are a mix from all over the world: South America, Asia and Europe. It's fun to walk 5th or be eating a meal and hearing all the different accents. I can send you a list of our favorite restaurants if you decide to go. The restaurant in our building, Negrosol, is the best in all of Playa, but it's also the most expensive. We have many other favorite places that have excellent food and the price can vary from $10 (grilled fish fillet with veggies, chips, salsa and a beer) to $25 per person. We end up spending the most at lunch - but we get a chair on the beach, have a few drinks, eat, go for a walk, have a couple of more drinks and then head back home. We have friends who now live down there and they buy all their food, beer and wine at either Wal-Mart or Mega - both are a 6 block walk from the condo. I know how that might sound, but down there both are great stores with the greatest fresh food. We typically walk over there the first day (in the morning before it gets too hot), and buy fresh fruit, wine and snacks. We then have breakfast on our balcony. Before dinner we open up a bottle of wine and have drinks and snacks on the balcony. There's no place like it that we've ever found. We've done all-inclusives and liked them, but prefer this. Everything is in such close proximity that it's similar to an all-inclusve, but with much more variety. You can get more information annd view pictures at http://www.portoplayaplayadelcarmen.com Thanks again