Playa del Carmen Photos

Tulum bluff,
originally uploaded by mrhe25.

Here are some photos I took during my week-long trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico in October 2009. I traveled down there for a friend's wedding. These photos are from a day trip to the Mayan ruins of Tulum, which are situated atop a cliff right along the coastline. We had lunch and lounged at a nearby beach and then went swimming in a cenote. Playa del Carmen is in the state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan peninsula, about 45 minutes away from Cancun. It is paradise.

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Pros:

• Perfect weather
  
• Visiting the Mayan ruins of Tulum, perched atop a coastline bluff
• Swimming in the ocean at the bottom of said bluff
  
• Gorgeous, warm, azure water
• Clean, carpet-like beaches
• Cheap, delicious, authentic local food featuring about 60 fish tacos
• Burning the hell out of my mouth with tasty but caliente sauce on several occasions
  
• Cheap beers and fruity drinks featuring a lifetime's worth of tequila
  
• Staying in the well-appointed penthouse of a hotel in the center of the action for 6 nights for the same price as a couple nights in a US hotel
• Evening reading in a hammock on the balcony
• Chilling at the pool and enjoying La Tortuga's Hora Feliz
  
• Lunch on the beach
• Swimming and cliff jumping in a cenote (freshwater sinkhole pool)
• Witnessing a great friend and his beautiful bride get married
• Rehearsal dinner in a dried-out cenote
• Incredible wedding reception at the Kool Beach Club
• Receiving a rousing ovation complete with maracas from all the guests at my late reception entrance
• Defeating Montezuma's best efforts at sabotage with an overwhelming counter-offensive (see above)
  
• Friendly, helpful locals
• Communicating in Spanglish
  
• Learning colorful anti-MFNYY phrases in Spanish
  
• Attending a reggaeton concert on the beach at night
• Kicking it with amazing people in paraiso
  

Cons:

• Leaving