Pros and Cons of Living in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

[discussplaces-staff]

Pros of Living in Playa del Carmen

Pretty safe

Lots of fun stuff to do

Warm now

Warm all year round

Good air quality on average

Nomad List members liked going here

Many Nomad List members here all year round

Spacious and not crowded

Very easy to make friends

Easy to do business

Roads are pretty safe

Democratic

Safe for women

Family friendly

Very friendly to LGBTQ+

Not many people smoke tobacco

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Cons of Living in Playa del Carmen

No freedom of speech

Pretty slow internet

Very sweaty and humid now

Quality of education is low

Hospitals are bad

People don't speak English well

[beautifulcat430]

I very strongly don't recommend going to Playa. I lived in Playa del Carmen for multiple months in 2019 and LOVED my time there until multiple people got murdered next to my apartment in the same day. I never felt unsafe until that happened. People who live there or who visit there often will tell you there's some violence but it's no more dangerous than most U.S. cities. The murder stats will tell you that this city has one of the highest murder rates of any non-warzone cities in the world. And the stats of how many journalists get murdered in Playa will tell you that you can't trust the press to be honest with you about the actual situation. While tourists aren't targeted the cartel situation is very real and know that you can't trust the press or government to give you an actual read on what's happening in the city.

[sadwolf623]

This is a vacation spot not very good for working. Super touristy and everything is marked up. The "coworking" places are tiny, I ended up working in my airbnb or a starbucks most of the time. The heat here is unbearable, so if you're planning on working anywhere without AC (most places) better plan on getting uncomfortable quick. The beach is very small, very crowded and covered in seaweed. Some restaurants will sell you expensive dumpster food, I've thrown away food at least 3 times in my 2 weeks here. I'd stick to places that look busy or have solid reviews online, though you should still expect receive very small portions of "ok" food for the $$$ you pay. Either I have some high standards, or lots of reviews online are inflated. Oh also, I'd avoid the street food. It's nasty.

[organicswan870]

Playa del Carmen is touristy but super liveable. I've found an amazing co-living space that's reasonably priced with great wifi location, and excellent community. It's mostly other DNS living in it month to month so there's always someone to hang out with. It's called Anana coliving if you're interested. If you're looking to party or shop Playa is a good place. Check out the cenotes, use the ADO to travel up and down the coast, and honestly just embrace the touristy vibe. Sometimes it's fun to get drunk in the street on tequila so might as well just enjoy it while you're here. Are you going to have a Mexican cultural experience? Probably not. But it's a fun town.

[ticklishdog612]

Spent three months living in Playa in spring 2019. Weather is beautiful though on the hotter side. One huge piece of the city, 5th Avenue, runs from the bus stop for a mile or two and is pretty much nothing but tourist junk. Bad restaurants, bars, and people trying to hawk you on garbage. Once the touristy stuff dies out, there is a small but growing area that's much nicer for living - quieter, greener, few-to-no sales vendors fighting for your attention, and some really nice little restaurants and apartments. The beach is nice (although EXTREMELY thin, sometimes 1-2 feet wide at high tide), but sargasso (seaweed washing up) is a continuous issue and makes the beach pretty much unusable in parts. English is pretty good, but a little Spanish can go a long way. The scuba diving is excellent. Recommendations: Get a bike to ride around. Eat at Primo (restaurant). Try to find an apartment with a pool or rooftop so the sargasso problems don't mess up your ability to enjoy the outdoors. Rent a car and take a trip to Chichen Itza and Ik-kil. Avoid Cozumel. All in all, mostly pleasant, decent cost of living, but wouldn't be in a rush to come back.

[ticklishgoose482]

I spent a month here just got back. There are several coworking spaces to choose from. Bunker is a popular one, it was full of young people. The best way to connect is via Facebook, believe it or not. It's still fairly active there. There are a couple groups. The city is a grid and the "Centro" part of town is below about 48 st. If you stay between 1st and 48st, crossed with 5th ave up to 15th, you'll be near everything. North of 48, you just see a lot of abandoned construction, trash, and poverty. People living in shells of buildings, putting up sheets for walls. Third World. Below 48th, you've got your choice of delicious restaurants, bars. and coworking. On the cross streets, 5th Ave is tourist central. 10th and 15th is for locals. Anything above that is the great unknown of a poor city. The housing market is depressed, so you can get great deals at airbnbs. Most modern buildings have rooftop pools etc. Every 3rd person on 5th ave will offer you weed and blow. The policia are just around the corner. I don't recommend it. Check out the coworking spaces and you'll probably meet people. On 5th, you'll just meet tourists. IMO the entire hoodmap should just be red for tourists along 5th ave, and the rest a new color representing Third World poverty. I didn't see any hipsters. Locals don't care about noise. They let their dogs bark unchecked forever. Guys on 3 wheelers bike around announcing cold treats with a clown horn that could drive you insane. 38th, 24th, 12th, are cool streets. If I could get a place on one of them at Ave 1 or 5, I'd give it a B+. Anywhere else in a mixed hood, I give it a C-.

[redsnake371]

Nice place to work remotely. They do have fiber optic so you should update the info

[angrytiger116]

Disappointing: much more expensive than SEA countries less fun and more touristy. Quite often my expectations weren't matched. It's doable to work from but only if I'd recommend doing that only if you're limited to the western hemisphere timezone.

[goldenbear846]

I'd advise you to stay away from gimmicky/touristy places along 5th Avenue. Not only is it overpriced but there's a network of dark characters with bad intentions involving drugs and police shenanigans running all along it. Just avoid, especially at night. There's so much more to Playa. You can still party if you want, but I'd look at going to special music events like DJs, mini-festivals, more local places off of 5th, etc. And for food, 5th Avenue again is just a tourist trap - there are some really amazing spots to eat that are off the beaten track that will give you a better taste of Riviera Maya cuisine for a lower price and bigger portion. A lot of people just get overpriced rooms on or near 5th so they can walk around, limiting themselves to a tourist strip. I would recommend buying a bicycle at one of the shops on 10th Avenue to get around. It's actually a very bicycle friendly city. You can get them brand new for around 2000-2500 pesos at several shops there. Using a bicycle will give you more freedom and not limit you to being stuck on 5th. Just follow locals and watch how they ride around so you can learn. Don't forget to get a lock, horn, and reflectors.

[bigbird816]

Wifi in Centro (downtown) should be 20-25MBps download. Playa del Carmen is an excellent DN place Compared to Mexico City 8-10MBps Oaxaca City 8-10MBps Puerto Escondido - Zicatela or La Punta 1 or less than 1MBps even on TelCell hotspot Puerto Vallarta is supposed to have good internet. Tulum constantly loses power even in centro. Can't have internet without power.

[blackswan491]

Love living here! This was my 3rd foreign country and the first that both myself and my husband got to figure out together. I highly recommend getting a bike while you're here and immediately signing up for a coworking space (I use bunker coworking). Not all places have great wifi and you have to be specific on the upload/download speed that you require when contacting hosts with questions. Avoid tourist traps. Do not rent a place off of 5th Ave or 10th Ave unless you are in Playacar or way off of Calle 40 or higher because this is a party atmosphere at night. Otherwise the food here is awesome, the people are kind to foreigners and most speak English. Prices are great (especially if you're a talented bargainer). I only keep about 500-1,000 pesos on me when I go out and pretty much only use cash for tipping since everyone takes cards here except the street vendors.

[tinypeacock763]

This place is a total gem! Bali/Thailand vibes + close to US. Also am impressed with their covid policies - not as much mask wearing but I get an instant no-hassle temperature check virtually every place I go, which is so much smarter than stupid curfews, closures, and quarantine theater I dealt with in the US every day.

[heavybutterfly809]

Touristy circus of a place. Everyone is trying to rip you off... even as fluent Spanish speaker. Check out PV or anywhere west coast instead.

[sadswan637]

I have only been to a couple of digital nomad spots around the world but I must say I have been disappointed with PDC for several reasons. I am a coworking space kind of girl and even though there are a few here, they are all not great. Especially if you compare them to the spaces in Bali Canggu/Ubud for example. In PDC it was all about choosing the lesser „evil“ for me. They are okay, but I didn‘t feel the same community vibes or very inspired in these places. The choices of healthy food here is very limited. Most places are all about meat, cheese and if you find something which sounds good and more healthy often is very bland. As others said it is very touristy but there is quite a few things to do, but in order to find out whats happening you need to be in whatsapp groups, which for me is not ideal. Getting around is decent as everything is quite close, yet the high temperatures make it always a sweaty endeavour. Its mostly only comfortable to go out when the sun goes down. Overall its not a bad place to be, but its not somewhere I see myself stay for a long time.