Traveling While Black…and Fabulous: Playa Del Carmen
For months Hubby and I have been super busy with work. He’s been on several projects at several networks. Meanwhile I’ve been sewing and writing day and night. When we came up for air we realized that we hadn’t been on a vacation in years. That streak had to end. So we booked an all inclusive trip to Playa Del Carmen.
I can only comment extensively on where we stayed and the excursions we went on. But I’ll try to include as many highly rated recommendations as possible.
Booking
A big group of our friends traveled to Playa almost two years ago. We wanted to join in on all the fun. But we had to miss out because we were just too busy. They had an amazing time on their trip so we asked them to send us some deets on where they stayed, what they did and how they booked.
Like them, we ended up using Bookit.com to book our all-inclusive stay at Live Aqua Boutique in Playa Del Carmen. The great thing about Book It is that in addition to being able to book your lodgings, flight, and transportation (rental car or airport shuttle service), you can also book excursions through them. We ended up not using them for the one excursion we went on. But it was nice to have the option there.
Vacation booking sites are a dime a dozen. So it can be pretty overwhelming when trying to pick one to use. However, because there are so many, you can likely find one to help you meet the most specific requirements. I would suggest making a short list of things that are important for your vacation experience. Plug that into your google search and the booking site will likely pick you.
Recommends: Booking, Expedia, Kayak, Hipmonk, Priceline,Trip Advisor,
Lodgings
As the name indicates, Live Aqua Boutique is a boutique hotel. What that means is that you can receive an all-inclusive deal just like you would at a big resort, except without the…well the bigness of the resort. I have no desire to stay at a giant compound or any place that has water slides at the pool. I also have no desire to be around any children while I’m on vacation. The hotel we stayed at was adults only. Praise God! Don’t get me wrong. I love children and want some of my own. But since I don’t have any yet, I don’t want to be around kids, especially stranger’s kids, when I’m trying to chill. Nope!
Anyway the staff was really amazing here. I felt like they were catering specifically to us. There were several other larger resorts in the area. But this one was perfect for couples. And the price we got it for…lawd. Y’all would be jelly.
Recommends: Azul Fives by Karisma, Grand Velas Riviera Maya, Hotel Riu Palace Riviera Maya, Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla, Playacar Palace, Royal Hideaway Playacar, The Royal Playa del Carmen
Food and Drink
We chose all inclusive, so I refused to eat or drink anything that wasn’t part of the deal. Thankfully the hotel had a sushi and tapas restaurant on the roof that was open during lunch hours. There was also a café open 24/7, a restaurant downstairs open for breakfast and dinner and room service. So I helped myself to ALL of it and it was all fucking delish. FYI the restaurants and bar at Live Aqua are open to the public. So even if you don’t stay there you can nosh on their grub.
PS-We also ate while on an excursion. It was an extra $20 bucks for lunch. But it was so worth it. Because we got a work out and because it was tasty AF. See our meal below...
I must say that the drinks were subpar. I was in Mexico for four days and didn’t have one good margarita. So early on I switched to my standard red wine. Since I drink wine all the time it helped me to manage my level of drunk. I also didn’t have to worry about pesky mixers getting in the way.
Recommends: Don Chendo, El Fogon, La Cueva De Chango, Nativo, Oh La La
Things to Do/Excursions
On our way out of the airport we stopped by an information agent just to find out where to find our shuttle and were damn near signed up for a tour we didn’t want to go on. Since it was supposed to rain the entire time we were on vacation, we’d decided to not go on any excursions. But after realizing that while the rain would be daily, it wouldn’t be constant, we sat down with the tour consultant at the hotel.
There are a million and one things you can do in the Playa Del Carmen area. We considered going to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Iza, Tulum or Coba. But Chichen was 2.5 hours away AND super expensive. Tulum and Coba are about 45 minutes away from Playa, but that still felt too far. We wanted something to do that was outdoors, not super adventurous, a chance to experience culture or nature in a new way and didn’t take up the whole damn day. We settled on visiting the Kantun Chi cenotes.
I was pretty terrified the entire time. I’m not the best swimmer and dark tight spaces freak me out. But after about 10 minutes in the underground cenote, I was so in awe of the beauty of the cave that I kinda forgot I was on the verge of pooping my pants. Despite being scared, I forced myself to get into the experience. I snorkeled for the first time. I swam in a fucking cave, and I didn’t die.
If you’ve never been to a cenote, I recommend…
-Bring a pair of swim shoes and goggles. Most places provide them. But if you’re grossed out by wearing wet things that have been on strangers’ bodies, then just bring your own. Also the swim shoes are clutch because the underground cenotes are super rocky and sharp.
-DON’T wear sunscreen cus it’s bad for the animals that live in the cenotes. DO wear insect repellent and lots of it. Cus those mosquitos will fuck you up.
-Read all the fine print about what occurs during the tour so that if you are uncomfortable with any part of it you can back out or just mentally prepare. For example, part of our tour included getting on a bicycle and riding from the underground cenotes to the open ones. Look, I haven’t been on a bike since the Amsterdam trip of 2012. And I fell off the bike in front of a tram and almost died. So bikes ain’t my thang. I got on the damn thing anyway because it was my “Say Yes” day so I wasn’t trying to wimp out. But getting my fat ass on a bike soaking wet while wearing espadrilles was probably a dumb idea.
Recommended Cenotes: Azul (Playa del Carmen), Dos Ojos (Playa del Carmen/Tulum), Gran Cenote (Tulum), Ik Kil (Chichen Itza/Valladolid), Jardin Del Eden (Solidaridad)
Ruins: Chichen Itza (Yucatan), Coba (Tulum), Ek’ Balam (Yucatan), Tulum (Tulum)
Amusement and Theme Parks: Bel Air Animal Park, Rio Secreto, Xcaret, Xel-Ha, Xenses, Xplor
Or you can just do nothing. We were in Mexico for four days but only spent one of them on an excursion. Mostly we just ate and drank and slept. There was a pool on the roof where we could lay out, swim, or just read a book. We managed to go for a walk down 5th, which was a lively little marketplace. But that was about it. Mostly we just chilled TF out.
While chilling one night we heard some activity in the hallway. Even though Hubby was bedridden with a stomach bug, he hopped right up to be nosey. And I caught a picture.
Another night I managed to force him to do a full on photoshoot of me because that’s just how I get down.
Final Thoughts
-Customs: Customs going into and coming out of Mexico via plane is actually pretty easy…for now. Going into Mexico we spent about 20 minutes going through customs. Coming home it was probably under 10 minutes. Keep in mind we were traveling early in the morning and late in the evening, so that may have had something to do with it. But I was pretty impressed.
-Travel Ailments: We didn’t drink the water and we still got sick. Call it Montezuma’s revenge. Call it Traveler’s Diarrhea. Call it whatever the hell you want. It’s pretty awful. And there’s literally no way to guarantee that you don’t get it. We both started to feel sick about halfway through the trip. Hubby refused to leave the bed. I refused to let it get me down. I wish I had some advice on how to deal with it. But alas, I don’t. I’ll just pray you don’t get hit with the bubble guts…and if you do, that you don’t have a shit attack on the plane. Good luck and happy travels.
-Research: I recommend researching your ass off before taking any trip, but especially if you’re traveling internationally. Make sure to research local customs, etiquette, and potential dangers. You don’t want to be so scared you don’t have any fun. Just be cautious. I saw Brokedown Palace. I know how bad shit can go.
-Download all the apps: There are a bunch of apps that will come in handy on the fly, whether you’re trying to find a last minute place to stay for the night, looking for a good place to eat or just trying to locate the nearest strip club.
AirBnb, City Mapper, Duolingo, Flight Aware, Google Trips, Google Translate, Hotel Tonight, Hotspot Shield, Mobile Passport, Memrise, Packpoint, Sit or Squat, Trip Advisor, Trip Case, Uber, Weather, Whatsapp, XE Currency, Yelp
-Contact your banks, credit cards and phone companies to let them know that you’ll be away. Some banks will lock your shit the fuck up if they see purchases in far away places. No one wants to be that guy that gets declined.
Overall we had a great time. We were able to relax, drink, eat, commune with nature, try new things, conquer a few fears, and keep from having a shit attack on the plane. I can’t wait to go back to Playa. Maybe next time I’ll actually remember the travel sized aloe vera for the bites we’ll inevitably get.
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