Playa del Carmen is a city located on the coast of the Caribbean Sea at the northeast of Quintana Roo, being the third largest city after Cancún and Chetumal.
Playa del Carmen gave its name to patron saint of Cancun, called Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
According to the history, the first visitors came during the Early Classic Period of the Mayan civilization, and its coasts and lowlands were still populated when the Spaniards arrived.
During this time, the Spanish people concentrated their forces and homes around Mérida, because it was the better place for growing henequen, actually called sisal, which is a fibre used to make rope. Long time passed, when during the 17th and 18th centuries the Caribbean coast became a savage and insecure place to live with not too much to offer.
Despite of this city is quite younger, its population is around 60000 habitants making of the tourism an incremental factor which has improved and changed the daily life.
Playa del Carmen has beautiful beaches with white sand, crystalline waters, and gorgeous reefs which are the principal attraction for people all around the world, who come here to dive and enjoy the relaxing and tropical atmosphere. Consider as same impressive as Cozumel, Playa del Carmen also offers the visitants cenote diving for the more adventurous.
Nowadays Playa, as it is colloquially referred, has become the centre of the Mayan Riviera, starting from the south of Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve. Also, it is used as an obligatory stop for several cruise ships which dock at Calica, looking for fun and historical moments, mixed of culture and archaeological sites, such as Tulum and Xcaret, and at the same time, enjoying the peace surrounding the place.
Some of the tourist’s shopping activities are center on Quinta Avenida, also called the Fifth Avenue which is a pedestrian walkway that crosses over the calle 1 norte until calle 34 and is lined with boutique hotels, shops, bars, and restaurants.
Both, the local community and the government have gave their best effort to conserved Playa del Carmen's reputation and charm the same, as when it was the small fishing village with their artists' colony preventing to it become a large and tourist dependent as Cancún.
However, Playa del Carmen is expanding its territory to north, beyond the Colosio section; and on the other side of highway 307, to the Ejido. There is also a residential and tourist development building place called Playacar, where most of the all-inclusive hotels, the aviary, and the golf course, with a notable European influence, are located.
But in October 2005, a hurricane named Wilma passed all over Playa del Carmen delaying two days and causing considerable damage and harming many tourist arrivals. Luckily, the city get recuperated in few weeks of the storm because most of the damage was relatively superficial Since then, Playa del Carmen gets more and more tourists who enjoy of this paradisiacal place that now has much to offer.