For Sale By Owner: Playa del Carmen, Mexico

About Playacar

Playacar, is part of Playa del Carmen but a gated community of assorted developments to the south. This planned, upscale, secure neighborhood has an 18-hole golf course, a dozen large all-inclusive hotels, and private condos, which are available for rent.
Playacar has two sections:
Phase I is oceanfront.
Phase II is next to the golf course.
There is a nice little shopping center directly across the street from the RUI. It is a 4-minute taxi ride into Playa del Carmen. It has a Starbacks, an Information Center, and many small art and craft shops, silver jewelry, and souvenirs. This is not to far from the main gate of Juarez and 10 Av. It is another entrance from Carretera Federal 307. This entrance is by Sam's Club, City Club. City Club is located in Maya Center, a shopping mall, with a supermarket, movie theatre, etc.
The beach can be wider or deeper or have a gentle slope to the water or a steeper slope to the water. It varies as you travel along the beach . After the Gala, the beach continues for about a mile. Within that mile, you begin to encounter huge rocks that break up the beach---first intermittent rocks, then slowly turning into solid rock as far as you can see. It also becomes more and more isolated the further south you go. There are a few beautiful private beach areas in between the rocks.

A rear find!

A rear find in Playa del Carmen is Cristi Fer Tienda Naturista. A small health food store, but full hard to find items, such as organic, gluten free pasta, sugar free granola, polen, honey, organic coffee. O need to pack biodegradable sun screen or mosquito repellant! They have it all, and many aromatic lotions, skin care products, ets. Also we found a great collection of truly authentic Mexican Art. If your home need a special accent, painting or mural they are able to create it for you.
Located on Constituyente and 15Av, by the car rental. A must visit place for your suvenirs.

HISTORY

History

Playa del Carmen is named for Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who is the patron saint of Cancún. The first recorded visitors to the beaches of what is now Playa del Carmen came during the Early Classic Period (a.d. 300-600) of the Mayan civilization. Then called Xaman-Ha, or "waters of the north," Playa del Carmen was a rest stop of sorts for travelers making their way from the great cities of the Mayan world to the island of Cozumel.

The coast and lowlands of the peninsula were still heavily populated with the descendents of the fallen civilization when the Spaniards arrived. Tulum, less than an hour south of Playa, was the last Mayan outpost and there are plenty of small ruins . The Spanish focused their attention around the area of Mérida, where conditions were better for growing henequén (sisal), a fibre used to make rope. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Caribbean coast was considered a savage place with not much to offer for potential settlers.

Originally a small fishing town, tourism to Playa del Carmen began with the passenger ferry service to Cozumel, an island across the Cozumel Channel and world famous scuba diving destination. While passing through, many people realized that it was a nice place to relax away from the crowds of Cancún but with the same quality beaches and turquoise waters. While its salt water scuba diving cannot compete with Cozumel, for the adventurous, Playa del Carmen's fresh water cenote diving more than makes up for it.

Today Playa del Carmen, or just "Playa" as it is colloquially referred to, is the center of the Riviera Maya concept, which runs from south of Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve. Playa is a stop for several cruise ships which dock at the nearby Calica quarry docks, about six miles south of the city. The Xcaret Eco Park, a Mexican-themed "eco-archaeological park", is a popular tourist destination located just south of the town in Xcaret (pronounced "esh-caret"). Tourist activity in Playa del Carmen centers on Quinta Avenida, or Fifth Avenue, stretching from Calle 1 norte until Calle 40, a pedestrian walkway located just one or two blocks inland from the beach. Fifth Avenue is lined with hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants. There are many small boutique hotels on Fifth Avenue as well as just off Fifth Avenue and on the beach, such as Luna Blue Hotel & Bar, Fusion Beach Hotel Bar & Grill, Deseo, Basico, Casa Ticul, Barrio Latino, La Tortuga and many others.

The Playa del Carmen local community and government have attempted to retain Playa del Carmen's reputation and charm as a small fishing village and artists' colony, without it becoming as large and metropolitan as Cancún. To this end, the city passed an ordinance limiting buildings to four stories. A few five story buildings were built despite the ordinance, however. Playa del Carmen is currently expanding north beyond the Colosio section and on the other side of highway 307, the Ejido.
There is a significant European influence in Playa, with a number of local business proprietors drawn from the American and European expatriate community.
In October 2005 Hurricane Wilma passed directly over Playa del Carmen, remaining in the vicinity for two days and causing significant damage and a temporary drop in tourist arrivals. Fortunately most of the damage was relatively superficial and repaired within a few weeks of the storm. Hurricane Wilma arrived from the Caribbean sea, passing over Cozumel before making landfall in Playa del Carmen. It then moved north along the Mexican coast, hitting Cancún especially hard. In February 2010 an important and massive program of local and central authority gave back the Downtown area and Playacar a long, beautiful white sandy beach.

For Sale By Owner

About Playa del Carmen

MAIN BEACH

PLAYACAR LOCATION

The Reef

About Playacar

At Cristi Fer Store

A rear find!

Playa del Carmen, Mexico