We spent a week in Playa in January and loved it. In terms of "must do" things, the ruins of Tulum are about an hour south of Playa, by car. The ruins aren't all that imposing, but the location, on a bluff overlooking the sea, is spectacular.
Playa has lots of good restaurants. Here are some of our notes on restaurants.
Yaxche. This may be the best restaurant in Playa. We went twice. It serves Mayan and Yucatecan cuisine. It is outstanding and the service is excellent. It is a little more expensive than most “Mexican” restaurants, but it is still pretty reasonable and well worth it. There is seating along the street, inside, and in an interior courtyard (which is pretty elaborately decorated). Reservations may be necessary for the courtyard, seating near the street is hit-or-miss. The restaurant’s website (
www.mayacuisine.com) is extensive and informative.
John Gray’s Place. We went to this place for a special event benefiting a local charity, it was special prix fixe menu, so we did not have the regular menu items. The food was outstanding. The owner/chef used to be with the Ritz Carlton chain. He has a restaurant in Playa and one in Puerto Morelos. It’s listed in Conde Nast Traveler’s 2005 Hot List Tables.
The Glass Bar. Excellent Italian restaurant, right on Quinta Avenida, attached to Mosquito Blue. They have an excellent cheese plate, great arugula salad, very good beef carpaccio, and good osso buco. Probably the best wine list in Playa. Can get busy, so reservations may be a good idea to get a good table (i.e., one on Quinta Avenida). They have a breakfast buffet that is not too expensive.
Byblos. Good French bistro (seriously!). Decent wine list.
El Oasis. Seafood and tacos. Great, cheap fish and shrimp tacos. They also have good ceviche. They offer other seafood dishes we did not try. I had tacos here three times, which is a big endorsement from me. Usually busy, which is a good sign, particularly for seafood.
Java Joe’s. Tiny coffee place. Very good coffee, espresso, cappuccino, etc. If you want coffee to go (say, to take to the dive shop in the morning), this is the place to go. Pretty good sandwiches.
Café Sasta. Happenin’ coffee place right on Quinta Avenida. Good coffee, espresso, etc. Directly across from Fah Bar, which has good live rock/roots music.
Gelato Stands. We found two pretty good gelato stands. One is on Quinta Avenida, towards the south end. I think it is called Ciao Gelato, and it is slightly better than the other. The other one is in Calle Corazon (a shopping plaza which cuts diagonally from Quinta Avenida to Calle 14).
