Best Beach in Playa del Carmen
 

My husband and I are planning a trip to Playa del Carmen in early November. We picked Playa mostly because I've never been to a beautiful white sand/clear water beach.

My question is this -- which hotel has the most beautiful beaches? I've looked into some packages on Orbitz and have found the following in our price range:

Iberostar Quetzal Playacar
Iberostar Tucan Resort
Riu Palace Mexico
Riu Playacar Resort
El Dorado Royale

They're all all-inclusive packages which I'm nervous about bc my husband and I both love to eat and love authentic Mexican food. Can anyone tell me which of these hotels has the most beautiful beaches and good food too? We'd also like to try a little snorkeling and maybe have a massage too. Thanks so much for any advice!
Amy

All the resorts you listed are in the Playacar complex -except for the El Dorado Royal- Playacar beaches are pretty much the same and very nice.Perhaps the best beachfront would be the Gala resort(which is the last ,South end resort in Playacar complex )-El Dorado Royale has kind of rocky parts on their beach(it's North of Playa Del Carmen)-The Riu Palace is the nicest one on your list IMHO.

Yes, you are right.Gala playacar resort by far has the best beach out of all the resorts there. Also, it has the biggest one too. Great place, stayed there before and luved it cuz it is last resort south down the line. Pay extra and you wont be disappointed if you like white sand beaches and caribbean water views. Good luck.

We don't stay in all-inclusives when we travel to Playa Del Carmen, so can't advise on exactly where to stay. However, I for sure, would stay in the Playacar area. From there it's only a 20-30 minute walk or a five minute (and $5.00) cab ride into town. Lots of good restaurants in Playa Del Carmen itself. Although the beach in town isn't as beautiful as the beaches at the resorts, it's that same beautiful white sand. And there are loads of smaller cheaper hotels in town, some on the beach, that are very lovely.

We stayed at the RIU Playacar and loved it. The beach is deep, clean and beautiful. The Palace is a couple of doors down and looked wonderful. We did speak to some people who stayed there and they said it was very quiet and that they came to Playacar every night for the entertainment. One of the other RIU hotels has a disco.
If I went back and could afford to stay anywhere I would stay at the Royal Hideaway or RIU Palace.
Megg

I was at the Riu Playacar last fall, and the beach was gorgeous. There were trees for shade and also sunny parts, too. Plenty of chairs, so no need to get up at the crack of dawn and grab some!

I was disappointed that there wasn't more authentic Mexican food in the restarants. (I'm from Texas, so I like it, too!) The resort had many European guests, so maybe they weren't used to it or didn't like it? Don't get me wrong; the food they did have was very good, but there wasn't much Mexican. It was tempting to go into downtown PDC and eat at one of the many restaurants there...

I agree that the Royal Hideaway or Riu Palace are the best resorts in the area.