October 25 to November 1 2017
A brief history of my “relationship” with Playa
My wife and I first visited Playa in 1996. I can’t say for sure but my recollection is there was only one stoplight for Playa on highway 307. The town square currently is concrete with a huge ornate arch and a tall pole that allows the Mayan pole fliers to perform their show.
Back when we were first there it was a dirt square. The children swarmed around trying to sell us Chiclets gum. A little girl scared my wife when she offered to let me wife hold her tame white mouse in exchange for a few pesos. My wife let out a small scream when she saw the mouse. The girl retreated knowing that she would not get any money from my wife.
Back then Fifth Avenue probably extended a maximum of five blocks. The hawkers shouted “hey honeymooners” as we passed. We were dating back then but were sure they could pick up on how we felt about each other. Years later when we came back we discovered they hollered “hey honeymooners” at a lot of couples.
Years later while staying in Puerto Morelos we took a day off diving to ride the ADO bus (think Greyhound) bus into Playa. By this time highway 307 was a four lane highway rather than a two lane “chicken” contest with the burned out rusting husks of the losers sitting alongside the road.
We were amazed at how much the city had grown. The square was not dirt anymore. Fifth avenue had grown but there were still quaint hotels that lined the beach. At that point Karen thought it was too touristy to bother returning. I thought it was okay and I would return under the right circumstances.
The following year I started going to Isla Mujeres for solo dive trips in November. I didn’t have the best weather during my November trips. There was always some rain during my trips and one year hurricane Ida passed off the coast of Isla. I literally got one dive in that year. When we surfaced after the first dive our captain was contacted by the port and directed to return because the port was being closed. It rained the rest of my trip. When it rains in Isla there isn’t much to do. I could hang out in my room but most of the channels were Spanish and the internet was intermittent.
The following year I decided to go to Cancun for my solo dive trip. The thought was there would be more to do if it rained and it did. There was definitely more to do in Cancun but the diving wasn’t that good.
The following year I decided to move down the coast to Playa. I spent a lot of time on Trip Advisor researching Playa and I was a little concerned because a lot of the questions on the Isla form were about someone working at a restaurant or how to donate to the English school. It felt more like a family. A lot of the Playa question were about what beer is served at a particular all-inclusive or what is the best room.
On my second solo dive trip to Playa I shared a shuttle with two couples that were going to an all-inclusive in Playacar. I was dropped off first. I was staying at Casa Ticule. A small hotel on 5th Ave and 38th. The shuttle dropped me off and I could tell the two couples were glad they were staying at an all-inclusive and I was glad I was not staying at an all-inclusive. No offence to all-inclusives but I would rather stay in town.
Either by myself or during vacations with my wife I/we’ve stay at Hacienda Real del Caribe, Casa Tucul, Porto Playa, D’Angelos’s Luxury Condos, Maya Condo Villas, Club Yebo, EL Punto and Senses Quinta. We’ve been around Playa.
Diving
I dive with Dive Mike when I stay in Playa. This trip I decided I would stay on the north end of Playa, Dive Mike is on the south end of Playa and I have dived those dive sites many times. I thought if I stayed on the north end of Playa the dive shops there would dive different sites. I was partly right.
Regardless I found another dive shop that I liked almost as much as Dive Mike and I ended up diving with a diver from Canada and a diver from France that week.
The dive shop was Mexican Blue Dream and they were in the Aldea Thai building. The staff was really nice.
We tried to dive Cozumel twice and one day made it all the way to the dive site in Cozumel and the port was closed, because of wind, so we turned around and came back. The second time we found out the Cozumel port was closed before we left.
I have to hand it to the dive shop, after we discovered the port was closed we went back to the shop to come up with plan B. We decided to dive Los Archos which is a dive site north of town. It is an arch at 101 feet. We stopped in the tunnel to view coral and an eel in the inside of the arch. It was a great dive.
The second time the Cozumel trip was cancelled I asked of we could do the Mama Vina wreck. Everyone else like the idea. It was another good dive.
We did my favorite dive in Playa which is the Mama Vina wreck. It is always a good dive.
I decided to take a day off diving when they attempted Cozumel for the third time. I wish I would have gone with but I feel crappy when I dive three days in a row.
My last say of diving was two shallow dives. We had resort divers and open water certifications. They were still good dives. On the first dive we saw a ray swim over the reef and within feet of us. They are usually more shy than that.
Senses Quinta
I like the north end of Playa. It is busy but it is not as crazy as the south end. The best food is here. They have an Italian neighborhood. Some of the best restaurants, regardless of type, are located here.
I got a great deal at Senses Quinta. I paid about $60 a night. The photos of the hotel on Trip Advisor looked nice but I’ve stayed at hotels where the hotel was nothing like the photographs. The reviews were good but there were several negative reviews that mostly complained about the hot tub not being hot enough. They also complained about the staff being unfriendly, my experience was the complete opposite.
The shuttle driver from the airport dropped me off at the end of the block. I had used Google street view to check out the hotel but those pictures were years old. I had a problem finding the hotel entrance. It sounds stupid but there were so many vendors in front of the entrance that it was not easy to locate. The shuttle driver helped me find the lobby entrance.
Once you enter there is a circular atrium that extends to the glass ceiling. My room was wonderful. It had remotely operated blinds. It was large. The TV had to be 60 inches. The bathroom and shower were beautifully tiled.
There was an infinity pool on the roof with a hot tub and bar. The reviews were correct, the hot tub wasn’t very hot. I didn’t spend much time up there.
I chatted with one of the front desk people a fair amount. He was interested in diving so we talked diving. When I checked out my taxi didn’t show up so he went out of his way to get a taxi for me. Super nice guy.
Karen has much higher standards than I do when it comes to hotels but I would bring Karen to this hotel.
The Food
I have been coming to Playa for so long that I have favorite restaurants and I don’t go too far out of my way to try new restaurants.
Karen and I ate at Tratoria del Centro a couple years ago. It was our attempt to go off of 5th Ave. It is half a block off 5th Ave so it wasn’t much of an effort. But even half a block off 5th Ave the food was cheaper.
The restaurant is run and probably owned by Italians. We had been to Italy several years before and the servers were more the servers in Italy than the friendly Mexican servers. The servers in Italy aren’t rude but just terse. We experience the same the first time when we went to Tratoria del Centro, brusque servers but good food.
I ate there this trip and it was fantastic. I had squid ink seafood pasta that was amazing. It was about $12 with the exchange rate. They had my new favorite Mexican beer Cucapa Mexican honey.
My favorite cheap tacos are at Burro Playero. Beer and tacos were about $6.
Whether I stopped in for just a beer or food and a beer my favorite beer café in Playa is Club de la Cerveza. They have the best beer selection in the Yucatan and maybe all of Mexico, except for Mexico City. The food is great too.
One of my favorite restaurants is That’s Amore. I eat here every time I am in Playa. I usually have pasta puttanesca.
My favorite beach bar is Zenzi, the food is decent and it is in the heart of Playa.
I had breakfast at Chez Celine my second to last day. No diving that day so I could sleep in a little and wandered down 5th Ave to Chez Celine. It is a popular Playa restaurant and it is always packed. I paid $8 for an omelet, coffee and juice.
Piola is another restaurant that I always eat at. They have great Pizza and salad.
The Beach
The beach north of the ferry pier and south of Canibal Real is not in very good shape. Every year a little more gets eroded away and there is rotting seaweed that can create an unpleasant odor.
When I want to swim or wade in the ocean walk south of the ferry pier about twenty minutes. The water is clear, bathwater warm and doesn’t smell.
Day of the Dead and Halloween
My first trip to Isla Mujeres was over Halloween. The only thing out of the ordinary I experienced was children trick or treating by asking for money while I was having dinner at a restaurant. They would run into the restaurant very excited, run up to each table say something in Spanish, people would give them change and then they would go to the next table. Most did not have costumes on and the this lasted for several nights.
My first November dive trip to Playa was Over Halloween. My hotel was near Coco Bongo. When I went out for dinner there was already a crowd of people outside Coco Bongo. I was diving the next day so I grabbed dinner on a side street and was in my room by 10 pm.
My other trips I was here for Day of the Dead or even later. I saw children dressed as Day of the Dead skeletons or super heroes walking down 5th Ave with their parents.
This year I went out for an early dinner on 5th Ave. I knew enough to bring change for the trick or treaters. I handed out all of the change I had during dinner. The waitress noticed that I knew enough to bring change and not shoo the kid s away like some patrons.
I went back to my room to hang out. I was going to wait until 10 pm and go to the clubs for a beer or two. I wasn’t diving the next day but I still wasn’t going to stay out past midnight.
Inertia set in and I almost didn’t go out. I traveled by myself enough for business and if I am alone I need a good reason to go back out after dinner.
My hotel was between 26th and 28th on 5th Ave. This is far enough north that I didn’t expect the streets to be much more crowded than the pervious night.
I walked out into a mass of humanity. I felt the energy of the crowd as soon as I exited the hotel. It was loud, not drunks yelling and screaming, just people talking, laughing and having a good time. I was so shocked I had to take out my cell and started videoing.
I made my way down to calle 12. Where the clubs are located. The clubs would normally only have a few people this early. It would generally be the old (like me), the people that weren’t planning on spending the entire evening and a few of the hard-core partiers that were starting early and would be around for the close of the clubs as the light of dawn started to shine.
The streets were packed and the clubs were too. I stayed around longer than I should have and had a couple more beers than I normally would have. Ultimately it was nothing special. There were a lot of people. The clubs that normally don’t charge cover were and there was a line waiting to get in. I didn’t want to be the only old guy waiting in a line to get into a club where everyone was at least twenty years younger than he was so I went to the club that was not charging cover.
The energy was amazing and it was a fun place to spend Halloween. I hope I make it back sometime for Halloween.
Recap
The Food
I hit all of my favorite restaurants and had all of my favorite food. I have to expand further off 5th Ave in the future but it works for me now.
Diving
I did the Mama Vina wreck again. I could do the dive once per trip and I would not get tired of it.
Dive Mike still had the same great dive masters and diving is good as always.
Hotel
Senses Quinta was probably the biggest surprise. The photos of the hotel made it look really nice. Sometimes photos can misrepresent the hotel. Not this time. The only area of the property where the photos didn’t accurately represent it was the pool area. The rooftop pool wasn’t bad but it was smaller and not as nice in real life.
I really liked my room. The motorized shares were a nice touch. The 60 inch flat screen TV was great. I don’t usually get too excited about bathrooms but I really liked the tile work. The whole bathroom was really well done.
The people at the front desk were really helpful and friendly. I would stay here again. Even higher praise, I think Karen would like this hotel.
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