Playa Experts- Must-see-do eat in PDC and area?
 

My boyfriend and I (both 26) will be in PDC at the end of May for 8 days...we're mostly going to relax but also want to try some great restaurants and experience the culture. Some things we're considering:


Cenote/Tulum excursion with Anna & James ($75 USD 8:30-5pm w/ lunch, 2 cenotes and Tulum)
Chichen Itza Excursion
Checking out Coba on our own
Xcaret or Xelha
Beachfront massage (ahhh!)

Any thoughts on these activities? Suggestions for better ones? What restaurants do you suggest (we like a variety of cuisine, price, and atmosphere) Anyone seen the beach by the Playa Maya Hotel recently?? Much Thanks!! Kelley

As for the things you are considering, my favorite would be checking out Coba on your own! This can be done either by bus or by rental car--my favorite would be rental car since you are free to make stops at interesting places along the way and set your own schedule. The ruins are impressive at Coba and not yet overrun with tourists as are the other sites mentioned.
Enjoy!

Get a map of Playa at www.mapchick.com.
It was invaluable for our trip there in April. You definitely should do one of Anna's tours, I have done 2 with her and they were the highlight of both trips I made to Playa del Carmen. I assume you have visited her website at www.playadelcarmeninfo.com! It was an awesome source of information.

I'll 2nd loangalsal,get a map chick map well worth it! Also get out to Coz and try some snorkling! Have fun.Karl

I'd like to suggest La Tarraya (my new favorite) restaurant. Located right on the beach at Calle 2 they have great seafood, great drinks and very reasonable prices.
You might want to check-out the Fat Cat tour. I wish we had done that one. Maybe next year...
Hope you have a great trip!

pixiedust, is the price of your tour to Tulum for each of you? We rented a car from a resort in Playacar (which I am sure was more than we would have paid in town) and it was $80. It was nice because we drove down to Tulum and toured it ourselves. It wasn't much to get in but I forgot how much. We took our time driving back and stopped in the resort area of Tulum and had drinks at a couple of the resorts. Very different down there - most of the resorts are huts on the water.

La Parilla is a good Mexican restaurant. I think it is on 5th & 8th - it is across from TGI Fridays.

If you're interested in visiting Coba, here's a must: do the day tour with Alltournative (www.alltournative.com). They combined visiting the ruins of Coba with time at a Mayan village, a zip line, and -- my favorite experience of my entire trip -- rappelling down into a cenote. It was a full day, and I couldn't recommend it more. Since you've been on Anna & James' site (I assume) read the report of this tour there. It's called Coba Pac-Chen.