Welcome to Paradise, Porto Playa Condo/Hotel Unit 216!
Hola! and Welcome to our Site. My husband, Terry and I have condo’s in Playa del Carmen that we rent out.
We created this site for a couple of reasons: to share stories and pictures of Playa del Carmen and to show you some of the great condo/hotels in Playa.
I’m not sure if you’ve been to Playa del Carmen before, so in case you haven’t, let me tell you a little more about Playa.
Porto Playa
Terry, and I have been going to Playa del Carmen since 1993. We’ve been to beaches all over the world (Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Florida, and, of course, Mexico: Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, etc) and Playa is my favorite beach in the entire world (I am a beach girl).
The beaches are the best and the town offers everything you could want. I love that it is filled with Europeans, South American’s and some Americans.
The days are spent on the beach, the nights are spent on “The 5th”, world famous Fifth Avenue, a 2 mile pedestrian cobblestone street 1 block from our condo.
The beaches (100 steps from our condo) in Playa are white, soft sand, no rocks and the water is crystal clear. They are very clean beaches and you can see Cozumel on the horizon. You can walk for miles. Playa has a law that no building near the beach can be taller than 4 stories, so you’ll not see any tall buildings which is part of Playa’s charm.
You can walk for miles on the beach
You can walk north on the beach for at least 10 miles (that’s as far as we’ve ever walked). The water is crystal clear, about 78 degrees. There are numerous restaurants right on the beach and lots of places to get chairs, drinks, etc. You can w
alk south for about 1 mile, but after that, there is not as much beach and the water goes all the way to the buildings. That’s where a number of all-inclusives are, so there’s not as much to see anyway.
On the beach you can do boogie boards, parasailing, wave runners, etc. Snorkeling and deep sea diving and fishing are very popular. If you want to go snorkeling, I’d take the ferry to Cozumel (rated one of the 7 best in the world) and go snorkeling there. You can also take a tour bus or rent a car once in Playa and go south to ancient mayan ruins or a water park that has snorkeling, tubing in an underground river, and swimming with the dolphins. My son and his girlfriend went zip lining in the area and raved about it.
You don’t need a car in Playa You only need a car if you want to go off-site for something. Even zip-lining comes and picks you up.
Porto Playa Condo/Hotel is 100 steps from the beach
Fifth Avenue is about 2 miles long, is pedestrian only, and has open air restaurants and shopping. You can w
alk up and down and find a place you want to eat dinner or go shopping.
Playa is very European – half the tourists are American, the other half are a mix from all over the world: South America, Asia and Europe. It’s fun to walk 5th or be eating a meal and hearing all the different accents. Eating outside on 5th Avenue with a Gulf breeze and Mexican music at night will make you feel you are in a remote tropical paradise.
I have posted a list of our favorite restaurants if you decide to go. The restaurant in our building, Negrosol, is the best in all of Playa, but it’s also one of the most expensive. We have many other favorite places that have excellent food and the price can vary from $10 (grilled fish fillet with veggies, chips, salsa and a beer) to $25 per person. We end up spending the most at lunch – but we get a chair on the beach, have a few drinks, eat, go for a walk, have a couple of more drinks and then head back home.
You can walk for miles on the beach stopping along the way for drinks, lunch or just to sit back and relax
We have friends who now live down there and they buy all their food, beer and wine at either Wal-Mart or Mega – both are a 6 block walk from the condo. I know how that might sound, but down there both are great stores with the greatest fresh food. We typically walk over there the first day (in the morning before it gets too hot), and buy fresh fruit, wine and snacks. We then have breakfast on our balcony. Before dinner we open up a bottle of wine and have drinks and snacks on the balcony.
There’s no place like it that we’ve ever found. We’ve done all-inclusives and liked them, but prefer this. Everything is in such close proximity that it’s similar to an all-inclusve, but with much more variety.
The Playa Associates Properties
About 10 years ago a guy from New York came down, fell in love with this sleepy Playa, bought some property and took a huge risk, he built a small boutique hotel, Villas Sacbe on First Avenue. When Terry and I were going to buy a condo, we went there first and found out that a new property was going up a block away, Porto Playa. We bought a 2 bedroom unit and have been thrilled with both owning a condo in Playa and renting it out to people.
We feel Porto Playa (2006)is the finest of all the properties. With only 21 condo’s, a large tropical garden, an upper pool with waterfalls into a lower pool, jacuzzi’s, a coffee/smoothie shop, The Gym, Negrosol and other ammenities. There’s not another place in Playa that has all this and the most perfect location in town.
A third sister property, El Taj was completed in 2007. It also is within 1 block of Porto Playa and has a lovely pool area. The fourth property, Maya Villa was completed last year and sits between Porto Playa and El Taj. It has a gecko pool and a beautiful waterfall.
The last property, El Taj Ocean will be completed this year. It sits right on the beach and we will be offering a 1 bedroom with complete views of the water, large balconies, full kitchen, and lots more ammenities. Please leave me a note and I’ll keep you up to date when we are accepting rentals!
- Porto Playa Condo Hotel rated “excellent” by 22 travelers
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I love Playa del Carmen!! I have been there many times and I wish I could be there now! Don’t have a job right now, like many others, but when I have one I will be back down there. Thanks for your site and all the info.
Just to let you know, I went to Playa del Carmen in ’97, ’98 and ’99 (11 days each year) and we stayed in an all-inclusive. Being there was the greatest experience I had ever had. Everything you say about Playa de Carmen is exactly how I saw it. We did walk further south and came upon a senote. Wow! It was so exciting! Do they still have the police helecopter patrols? Please, keep me informed.
Great Website, you two! My Wife and I are always looking for new condos / Villas to stay in when we travel to Playa. We’ve been visiting Playa for eight years now and have stayed in five different places, most recently in Xaman Ha Condominios in Playacar. We’ll be down again in two weeks. At first, we’ll be at Xaman Ha, then moving to Playa Palms for the last couple nights. We’d love to see your units, if possible. We’re planning another trip down this coming June (25th – July 2) But have yet to decide on where to stay. Out oldest Son is going to be at the LAnguage School off of 5th, one block past Constitiones.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Ted & Julia Peterson (TJ-18, Emma-9 Casey-6)
I travel to the Riviera Maya almost every year.
I live Playa. I would be interested in knowing what you charge for a week or two on your two bedroom. I also love your pictures. I will be there the 1st week in March this year and can’t wait. I envy you!!
Sharon
We have been comming too Playa for the past 7 yrs.. This year we had to cancel at the last minute because of illness. We have stayed at the Iberostar Resorts ,& The Sandos Playacar, We really enjoyed both. Every sunday after Mass, we would migrate too 5th ave. for the day . After some shopping we would head too Senore Frogs for a few long ones & lunch.My wife needed her yearly Ceasare Salad from the Frog. We can’t wait too return next April. Thanks for the site. Love Playa, Carmen & JoAnn. P/S Love too know more about your rentals , Please forward some Info
Madeline,
Hi, Thanks for your inquiry. It’s a great, safe spot for 2 ladies – I am also in my 60′s and go there with girlfriends all the time.
Two weeks, including a 10% discount and taxes would be $5,171.04. Rates also include daily maid service, free beach chairs at Indigo Beach Club and free use of The Gym. Please email me at lauraleli@hotmail.com if you’d like more information.
Laura Leli Carmine
Please click on reservations and you’ll see rates.
Thanks,
Laura