3.3/5
1,193 reviews
Photo by Braden Collum via Unsplash

Playa del Carmen

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food

5th

good

beach

great

touristy

tourists

amazing

coworking

ave

seaweed

tourist

nomad

bad

spot

restaurants

Playa del Carmen is a mixed bag for digital nomads and travelers. It offers fast internet, a friendly international community, and is bike-friendly, making it accessible and versatile for many lifestyles. Amenities like US chain stores and the availability of coworking spaces make it convenient, especially for first-time nomads. The affordability is a draw as well, though value varies depending on location and rent fluctuations are common. Having a bike helps expand your experience beyond the tourist zone. Many recommend avoiding 5th Avenue due to overpriced food, scams, and safety issues.

Despite these advantages, Playa has downsides. Its touristy nature affects authenticity and price—everything is marked up and full of scams, even for fluent Spanish speakers. Coworking options are limited in quality and community engagement, and beach conditions are often poor due to seaweed and crowds. Safety is a concern due to cartel violence and corrupt police, though incidents rarely target tourists directly. Food options are a struggle for those seeking healthy or organic choices, and the climate can make getting around unpleasant—especially in the summer heat. Playa might be fine for short-term stays or beginners in the nomad lifestyle, but seasoned digital nomads often don't find it compelling long-term.

AI-generated summary of reviews
1 year ago

Playa has been really good to me. The digital nomad community (at least over my winter stay) has been INCREDIBLE. Join the Facebook groups, find the WhatsApp groups - it’s so easy to meet others. The beach is ok, seaweed isn’t as bad in winter but it’s very visible and does smell. It rarely kills my beach day. The city has so many conveinces and is very walkable - it’s perfect for someone looking to work and enjoy themselves. Internet has been stable and fast. I get it’s not authentic, but it’s a great place to take breather and just relax

3 years ago

Not my favourite place, but it has some positive qualities. If you want American comforts like Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club and live abroad, this is a good spot. You can also shop from both Amazon US and MX; there are many US/Canadian people here. It's a very comfortable place to be in many ways.

For many people, it's a great first digital nomad spot as many things are catered to tourists, making it easier for nomads. There are a lot of great, cheap gyms for every activity you can think of. There are restaurants from everywhere in the world at a lot of different budgets. The beach is amazing from October to around March when there is not too much seaweed - also amazing for kitesurfing. Scuba and snorkelling are amazing here. Mexican food it yummy. It also doesn't rain much when compared to living in SEA.

For me, I don't love it here, though. I don't love navigating the city. You can get a motorbike, but it's still car-dominant, and people drive in a crazy way. You also need a car if you want to live outside of the centre. You can walk or bike but it gets super hot and humid in the summer months. The food quality is very poor in terms of ingredients, organic food, etc. Mexican food tastes amazing, but I often find my stomach hurting after going out for a meal. There are a lot of police around - which can be good but sometimes makes me feel uneasy. There's a huge security culture - which can get a bit annoying when you're just trying to access a building/beach or somewhere but can't because of security rules.

Weekend trips are possible, but so many things are catered for tourists that you don't get that Euro or SEA type of prices when it comes to doing little getaways. It's very hard to speak Spanish here- even though I'm almost fluent and keep trying to speak Spanish - everyone replies in English. This is amazing for tourists who are uncomfortable speaking Spanish but sad when you're eager to keep learning/want to integrate more. Rental prices for homes are not the best value and at this exact moment - with the pesos rising, within three months our rent increased by $300/month.

I would say it's a good spot for a new nomad from the Americas, but not my personal favourite place.

3 years ago

Touristy circus of a place. Everyone is trying to rip you off... even as fluent Spanish speaker. Check out PV or anywhere west coast instead.

4 years ago

Playa Del Carmen is a super touristy beach town and the catch is, the beach is always full of seaweed, so if you expect to swim in it, have fun.
I stayed there for 5 months and only remember the beach being clear 2-3 times. The seaweed stinks so that means the beach stinks.

You have to go out of the tourist areas if you want to find some good food for a reasonable price or it's like you never left your home country.
The police are very corrupt and known to rob tourists walking home from the bar at night.
You won't get bothered by gangs, it's the police you have to worry about.

It's safe for the most part except for the random cartel hits that happen in broad daylight wherever it has to happen and with impunity.

Not sure where the positive reviews are coming from, or at least I've been a nomad for long enough to know this place is a bad spot to live and work, only good for a weekend of partying and that's it. Literally any beach town in Thailand will be better than Playa Del Carmen

5 years ago

This is a vacation spot, not very good for working. Super touristy and everything is marked up. The "coworking" places are tiny, I ended up working in my airbnb or a starbucks most of the time. The heat here is unbearable, so if you're planning on working anywhere without AC (most places) better plan on getting uncomfortable quick.

The beach is very small, very crowded and covered in seaweed. Some restaurants will sell you expensive dumpster food, I've thrown away food at least 3 times in my 2 weeks here. I'd stick to places that look busy or have solid reviews online, though you should still expect receive very small portions of "ok" food for the $$$ you pay. Either I have some high standards, or lots of reviews online are inflated. Oh also, I'd avoid the street food. It's nasty.

5 years ago

Wifi in Centro (downtown) should be 20-25MBps download. Playa del Carmen is an excellent DN place
Compared to
Mexico City 8-10MBps
Oaxaca City 8-10MBps
Puerto Escondido - Zicatela or La Punta 1 or less than 1MBps even on TelCell hotspot
Puerto Vallarta is supposed to have good internet. Tulum constantly loses power even in centro. Can't have internet without power.

5 years ago

Playa del Carmen is touristy but super liveable. I've found an amazing co-living space that's reasonably priced with great wifi, location, and excellent community. It's mostly other DNS living in it month to month so there's always someone to hang out with. It's called Anana coliving if you're interested. If you're looking to party or shop Playa is a good place. Check out the cenotes, use the ADO to travel up and down the coast, and honestly just embrace the touristy vibe. Sometimes it's fun to get drunk in the street on tequila so might as well just enjoy it while you're here. Are you going to have a Mexican cultural experience? Probably not. But it's a fun town.

5 years ago

I have only been to a couple of digital nomad spots around the world, but I must say I have been disappointed with PDC for several reasons.
I am a coworking space kind of girl and even though there are a few here, they are all not great. Especially if you compare them to the spaces in Bali Canggu/Ubud for example.
In PDC it was all about choosing the lesser „evil“ for me. They are okay, but I didn‘t feel the same community vibes or very inspired in these places.
The choices of healthy food here is very limited. Most places are all about meat, cheese and if you find something which sounds good and more healthy often is very bland.
As others said it is very touristy but there is quite a few things to do, but in order to find out whats happening you need to be in whatsapp groups, which for me is not ideal.
Getting around is decent as everything is quite close, yet the high temperatures make it always a sweaty endeavour.
Its mostly only comfortable to go out when the sun goes down.
Overall its not a bad place to be, but its not somewhere I see myself stay for a long time.

5 years ago

Love living here! This was my 3rd foreign country and the first that both myself and my husband got to figure out together. I highly recommend getting a bike while you're here and immediately signing up for a coworking space (I use bunker coworking). Not all places have great wifi and you have to be specific on the upload/download speed that you require when contacting hosts with questions. Avoid tourist traps. Do not rent a place off of 5th Ave or 10th Ave unless you are in Playacar or way off of Calle 40 or higher because this is a party atmosphere at night. Otherwise, the food here is awesome, the people are kind to foreigners and most speak English. Prices are great (especially if you're a talented bargainer). I only keep about 500-1,000 pesos on me when I go out and pretty much only use cash for tipping since everyone takes cards here except the street vendors.

6 years ago

Disappointing: much more expensive than SEA countries, less fun and more touristy. Quite often my expectations weren't matched. It's doable to work from but only if I'd recommend doing that only if you're limited to the western hemisphere timezone.

6 years ago

I'd advise you to stay away from gimmicky/touristy places along 5th Avenue. Not only is it overpriced, but there's a network of dark characters with bad intentions involving drugs and police shenanigans running all along it. Just avoid, especially at night.

There's so much more to Playa. You can still party if you want, but I'd look at going to special music events like DJs, mini-festivals, more local places off of 5th, etc. And for food, 5th Avenue again is just a tourist trap - there are some really amazing spots to eat that are off the beaten track that will give you a better taste of Riviera Maya cuisine for a lower price and bigger portion.

A lot of people just get overpriced rooms on or near 5th so they can walk around, limiting themselves to a tourist strip. I would recommend buying a bicycle at one of the shops on 10th Avenue to get around. It's actually a very bicycle friendly city. You can get them brand new for around 2000-2500 pesos at several shops there.

Using a bicycle will give you more freedom and not limit you to being stuck on 5th. Just follow locals and watch how they ride around so you can learn. Don't forget to get a lock, horn, and reflectors.

6 years ago

This place is a total gem! Bali/Thailand vibes + close to US. Also am impressed with their covid policies - not as much mask wearing, but I get an instant no-hassle temperature check virtually every place I go, which is so much smarter than stupid curfews, closures, and quarantine theater I dealt with in the US every day.

6 years ago

I very strongly don't recommend going to Playa. I lived in Playa del Carmen for multiple months in 2019 and LOVED my time there until multiple people got murdered next to my apartment in the same day. I never felt unsafe until that happened. People who live there or who visit there often will tell you there's some violence but it's no more dangerous than most U.S. cities.

The murder stats will tell you that this city has one of the highest murder rates of any non-warzone cities in the world. And the stats of how many journalists get murdered in Playa will tell you that you can't trust the press to be honest with you about the actual situation. While tourists aren't targeted, the cartel situation is very real and know that you can't trust the press or government to give you an actual read on what's happening in the city.

6 years ago

I spent a month here, just got back. There are several coworking spaces to choose from. Bunker is a popular one, it was full of young people. The best way to connect is via Facebook, believe it or not. It's still fairly active there. There are a couple groups. The city is a grid and the "Centro" part of town is below about 48 st. If you stay between 1st and 48st, crossed with 5th ave up to 15th, you'll be near everything. North of 48, you just see a lot of abandoned construction, trash, and poverty. People living in shells of buildings, putting up sheets for walls. Third World. Below 48th, you've got your choice of delicious restaurants, bars. and coworking. On the cross streets, 5th Ave is tourist central. 10th and 15th is for locals. Anything above that is the great unknown of a poor city. The housing market is depressed, so you can get great deals at airbnbs. Most modern buildings have rooftop pools etc. Every 3rd person on 5th ave will offer you weed and blow. The policia are just around the corner. I don't recommend it. Check out the coworking spaces and you'll probably meet people. On 5th, you'll just meet tourists. IMO the entire hoodmap should just be red for tourists along 5th ave, and the rest a new color representing Third World poverty. I didn't see any hipsters. Locals don't care about noise. They let their dogs bark unchecked forever. Guys on 3 wheelers bike around announcing cold treats with a clown horn that could drive you insane. 38th, 24th, 12th, are cool streets. If I could get a place on one of them at Ave 1 or 5, I'd give it a B+. Anywhere else in a mixed hood, I give it a C-.

7 years ago

Spent three months living in Playa in spring 2019. Weather is beautiful, though on the hotter side. One huge piece of the city, 5th Avenue, runs from the bus stop for a mile or two and is pretty much nothing but tourist junk. Bad restaurants, bars, and people trying to hawk you on garbage. Once the touristy stuff dies out, there is a small but growing area that's much nicer for living - quieter, greener, few-to-no sales vendors fighting for your attention, and some really nice little restaurants and apartments. The beach is nice (although EXTREMELY thin, sometimes 1-2 feet wide at high tide), but sargasso (seaweed washing up) is a continuous issue and makes the beach pretty much unusable in parts. English is pretty good, but a little Spanish can go a long way. The scuba diving is excellent.

Recommendations: Get a bike to ride around. Eat at Primo (restaurant). Try to find an apartment with a pool or rooftop so the sargasso problems don't mess up your ability to enjoy the outdoors. Rent a car and take a trip to Chichen Itza and Ik-kil. Avoid Cozumel.

All in all, mostly pleasant, decent cost of living, but wouldn't be in a rush to come back.

7 years ago

Nice place to work remotely. They do have fiber optic so you should update the info

8 years ago

✅ Fast internet

✅ Friendly people

✅ Very affordable

✅ Bike-friendly

✅ Good digital nomad community

✅ Convenient amenities

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Democratic

✅ Safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Safety concerns

❌ Very touristy

❌ Poor coworking spaces

❌ Unreliable beach conditions

❌ Corrupt police

❌ Low food quality

❌ Expensive housing

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Expensive

❌ Not very safe

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Nomads.com members didn't like going here

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ People don't speak English well

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

2577°
warm

3086°
warm

3290°
hot

3391°
hot

3595°
hot

2984°
warm

3188°
hot

Real (median)

2577°
warm

2780°
warm

2781°
warm

2882°
very warm

2984°
very warm

2679°
warm

2781°
warm

Humidity

nice
81%

sweaty
80%

sweaty
78%

sweaty
79%

sweaty
81%

sweaty
85%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
83%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
85%

nice
82%

sweaty
82%

Most common

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
65mm

dry
35mm

rainy
99mm

rainy
167mm

rainy
94mm

rainy
112mm

rainy
174mm

rainy
187mm

rainy
94mm

rainy
71mm

Cloud

cloudy
57%

pockets
34%

pockets
23%

pockets
36%

pockets
45%

cloudy
64%

pockets
48%

cloudy
59%

cloudy
54%

pockets
48%

pockets
33%

Sun

seek shade
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

seek shade
6 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

Remote workers

9,225 people

5,506 people

6,560 people

7,450 people

4,575 people

3,738 people

3,280 people

5,300 people

6,880 people

7,538 people

6,212 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Current weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 65° AQI 77 😷

✈️14h

$3,383 / mo

🌇 Also went here297 people

Chiang Mai

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 34° 93° 29° 83° Has AC AQI 64 😷

✈️21h

$1,789 / mo

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Bangkok

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 40° 104° 31° 88° Has AC AQI 60 😷

✈️21h

$1,665 / mo

🌇 Also went here435 people

3,600 remote workers in Playa del Carmen now, of which 6+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.3/5 (Rank #305) 1193 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍8 liked it 👎6 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	2% is nomad here
💵 Cost	🙂 Okay: $2,971 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 25 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 28°C82°F (feels 32°C90°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 80%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	😊 High: 75%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 16 US AQI
👌 Safety	Okay
👩 Safe for women	Okay
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Very bad
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Resilience to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Poor: $1,157 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
😄 Happiness*	Okay
🍸 Nightlife	Good
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Great
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Mexico
🗓️ Average trip length	23 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	25 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 28°C 82°F + 🥵 Sweaty (80%) = feels 32°C 90°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 16 US AQI 🍃 OK
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 MXN in USD	USD 5.34
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	MXN 10,000 = USD 534
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
💻 Best alt. coworking space	COFFICE
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
🦷 Fluoride added	🚫 No fluoride added
♻️ Return rate	👍15% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	240,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$13,889 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 54% 👱‍♀️ 46%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 51% 👱‍♀️ 49%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 77% 👱‍♀️ 23%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Linio
🏠 Apartment listings	Comparto Depa
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Volaris
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Aeromexico

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,971 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,182 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$4,352 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,243 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,182 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$3,211 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$962 / month
🏠 Median home price	$224,335
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$55 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$105 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$196 / month
🍛 Dinner	$11
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$3
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$4
👩‍🏫 International school	$3,846 / year
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$12 / trip

Playa del Carmen

3,600 remote workers in Playa del Carmen now, of which 6+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

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