My fiancé and I are going to Playa Del Carmen at the beginning of January. We are looking to do some sort of fun, active day trip. Does anyone have any highly recommended things to do while we are there?! I've been looking online but there are so many options. Any input would be appreciated!

Make sure you see a Cenote!! There are tons of them in the area. We’ve seen a few and they’re all pretty amazing!!

A good one is Dos Ojos...great snorkeling there too....

I would go to Tulum, Coba for sure. I would also take a cab to Akumal that is where they have a protected park with sea turtles everywhere!

At Akumal Bay it’s Not cheap, find a company that doesn’t charge you more then 500 pesos and guaranteed to see turtles or you don’t pay until you get back and see some.
Some tours still charge you for the tour and come back not seeing any sting rays/turtles
It’s changed over the last few years to protect the reef and turtles so be careful who you go with as a tour guide because the free swimming area is super small and most likely won’t see anything more then fish in the free swimming section

Last time I was there, there was no charge if you bring your own fins and mask. If you have to rent, you can and it was reasonably priced. You can get right to Akumal Bay by taxi (or take a collectivo that drops you at the highway and you can walk down...that's what we did...not close but not that far either...you can google it and see. Yes, it's a wonderful experience if you like tortugas...

Kevin it Changed over the last year, they now completely regulate he water and who goes in it, they are trying to protect the reef
No fins allowed anymore other then the tour guide

They actually have kayakers in the water making sure you stay within he buoys. It’s crazy. But I guess it’s the only way to protect it. Was there last week

Steph Thx Steph....I wasn't aware...and yes, protecion is important for sure....I seem recall hearing that someone went out in a kayak and got arrested. Wasn't aware of the whole fin thing plus any regulation of access...

Kevin ya we went 5 years ago, and again last week, it doesn’t even look the same anymore

Xel-Ha was super fun we booked through tour rep at the hotel. http://www.xelha.com/
XELHA.COM
¡Prepárate para escribir la historia de tus próximas vacaciones!

Following

We just got back and went to Isla Mujeres for the day. You rent a golf cart and tour the island. Beautiful and so fun.

...and BEAUTIFUL on the north shore of the isla...beautiful shoreline and good swimming there too....

This is the absolute best!

We did luxury sailing and it included snorkelling, free swimming in a beautiful spot of the island Isla Mujeres, then they take you too the island for a few hours of free time, we stopped for lunch, walked around, bargain shopped then the back on the sail to Cancun. Mayan adventure I believe it’s called
Also did ferry to Cozumel and rented scooters or keep and took the island tour ourselves driving around
Stop off at the Reef Restaurant, fantastic spot.

Bring pesos! Only pay everything with pesos! It’s cheaper then paying with US

http://edventuretours.mx
Have used Eddie and his team at least 8x! Amazing. And small enough to personalized.
EDVENTURETOURS.MX
EdventureTours | The best day of your vacation

I second this! It truly was the best day of our vacation!

Kara right? They're fantastic!

My friend Mitch- a fellow Canadian, owns yukatreks tour company on 10th and 10th. He does the most amazing tours including cenotes and ruins. He won’t disappoint you!

At Akumal there is no need to pay anyone to see turtles. It’s a public beach. Go to the dive shop swim straight out from there and you will see turtles everywhere. Also I would rent a car that’s what I do when I go down there. Cheaper easier

Not anymore, I was there last week

Steph It’s not a public beach anymore?

The government is trying to protect the reef now cuz to many people have gone, they have kayakers blowing their whistles at you if you go into the no free area

James beach access is free but not swimming, there’s a extremely small section that kids can swim in but then there is buoys and rope everywhere and it’s completely patrolled

Steph Wow that’s completely weird. When I was there there was barely any people. That was two years ago though. Makes me glad I chose Nicaragua this year LOL

James ya it was crazy, we were so shocked to see, I believe the sign said it came into regulation 2016
Looks nothing like it did years ago

Steph That really is too bad. I took my daughter and she was 12. She couldn’t believe that you could see turtles swimming off the beach. It was one of the highlights of our vacation.

James ya it’s hundreds of tourists, beach was full of people and it looked like a pool with to so laps in there were so many buoys controlling where you can and can’t go. I wish I took a picture on my phone buts it’s on my other camera

Steph Yeah that’s crazy. when I was there a couple years ago there was barely any people.

It looked so exotic years ago, major tourist spot now but controlled. We had to sign in with beach patrol before we went out on he water too

Steph That’s just messed up. But I guess necessary. Went to Nicaragua Costa Rica and Panama this year. If you want something completely wild and cheap. Go to Nicaragua.

The day trip to Chichen Itz. It usually includes lunch at a Mayan cooperative and a stop at a cenote

Just came back from PDC on Monday. Make sure to walk along 5th to the non strip mall part, and even a few blocks off of 5th Ave, it’s where you will find all the really neat stuff.

Xelha or Xplor

XelHa, Crococoon Zoo, Akumal Beach for snorkeling with turtles, Cozumel and scooters and swimming or dolphins, a massage on 5th shopping area, $10 for an hour.

I think its been a few years since that massage price. All were 70 US and up. Mar 15/18

Keith I'm here now. Playa was one hour, two people, $25 usd. I gave them $40. Negotiate.

It was $300 pesos at dos ojos. But expensive in playa. Im in playa now. Care to negotiate for me? Lol

Back at the hotel now, otherwise I'd bring you to the nice two amigas..

Diving with bull sharks , day trip to tulum

Curtis Ward Johnson where did your boat go?

Cenote dos ojos. ..Google you would be snorkeling or dog scuba diving in the water caves ...

Xcaret!

Jamie
Playa Del Carmen has so much to do! Coco Bongo! Xel Ha! Xplor!
Rancho Baaxal is an excellent horse ranch (horses are all rescues, check them out on facebook! https://www.facebook.com/Rancho-Baaxal-140776709302076/
http://www.ranchobaaxal.com/

Go snorkelling in Puerto Moreles. The two of us snorkelled privately for hours for like $20. Just head to the docks and find someone. That was 5 years ago but the snorkelling was my fave in mexico!

go to Cozumel and rent scooters, do some snorkeling

The snorkeling on the west shore for about 8km south of the ferry pier. Dont bother with expensive boat tours. Most are only 20-30 meters offshore.

cenotes !

Wah Wah Beachbar

My husband and I just spent 10 days in Playa. One day we rented a car and drove to the Coba Ruins. It was a 2 km walk to the largest pyramid and then we walked the 120 steps to the top. From here we drove to Tulum ruins. We left Playa at 10 am and got back around 6 pm. Had we left a little earlier we also would have had time to swim with sea turtles in Akumul. ;)The car rental was $55 USD for the day. This price included full coverage insurance. We rented from Mex Rent a Car. Driving from Playa there and back was super easy to navigate. Great signage. No issues.

Rio secreto

Dinner in a cave?

Xplor is excellent !!

Cozumel Jeep tour

Tulum, coba, dos ojos cenotes, and ziplining over Jaguar cenote, grande cenote, chichenitza, (I would choose both tulum and coba first), snorkelling at akumal.
I can’t speak to any of the theme parks or man made water/ snorkelling/ caving. I’ve never been. I’ve only done the very natural and historic sites, and we took public transport “collectivo” cheaply north south from our resort mid riviera, but to get to coba we hired a driver very cheaply for the day.
We liked coba because you can still climb the great pyramid and you can hire a cyclist to tour you around, fun!
The dos ojos cenotes dont get the credit they deserve. By far the most exciting and adventurous part of our trip. We went in with locals we didn’t pay for any tours from the resort: we felt totally safe. And we travelled with a 3 and 6 year old.
Also love parasailing
Really amazing
I’ve been to Cozumel, prefer the mainland but if you’re there for a while might be worth a day trip. So much to do without taking a ferry though.

Wah Wah Beachbar calle 2 & the beach check out their facebook page for specials & musical entertainment

Telum

Local quickies.

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g150812...
TRIPADVISOR.COM
Local Quickies

Look
Miranda Menstrocity Kelly this info might be helpful for I as well