I don't like Cancún. I don't like the Zona Hotelera with tens of miles of hotels-fortresses, each of them with a crowded pool deck facing the beach, with a wall spoiling the view. No way.

As much as I found Cancún impersonal, cold and intimidating, the Playa is friendly, warm and welcoming. The crowd is also more European in composition.

A taxi from the airport to Playa del Carmen will cost you less than US $25. All drivers I've met were honest and polite, and the fares are often posted at taxi stands (or in the cabs).

There are frequent buses between Cancún and Playa, and tickets are three or four dollars apiece. The bus terminal in Playa is situated at the intersection of the two main streets, within walking distance from almost anywhere.

A money-changer will change your greenbacks into pesos (some will even give you a credit card advance), but the exchange rate is a tad worse.

Last but not least, many services will accept payment in U.S. dollars, although be prepared to lose about 5% on the unavoidable rate round-down.

The main pedestrian promenade and a tourist hangout is Avenida 5, running South-North, parallel to the beach. Here (and in nearby side streets) are most of the hotels, restaurants and shops.

If you are after night life, you will find some clubs or discos, too. For the quiet types, eating out and shopping possibilities are plentiful.

A day trip to the nearby island of Cozumel is an easy choice: the ferry service from Playa offers more than twenty departures daily. There are also quite many side-trips within a reasonable bus or taxi ride: the Mayan ruins at Tulum (with a beautiful, secluded beach below), wildlife sanctuary at Xcaret, the manicured lagoon in Xel-Ha — take your pick.

Or take a bus (or taxi) ride to the nearby Jardin Botánico and watch free-roaming spider monkeys in their natural environment (a short trail into the forest just outside the compound is the best opportunity).

I was quite happy staying at The Treetops, 50 meters from the beach. A nice, small hotel run by an American couple, on very cramped (and very green) grounds; not much to write back home about, but friendly, clean and quite inexpensive: U.S. $80 or so a night in high season, and this was the most expensive room they had. The place got a facelift in '99.

The Pelicano Inn, built around a patio opening onto the beach, is a relaxed, no-nonsense hotel, charging about $80 per double in high season, including the best buffet breakfast in town. I've stayed with them in '2000 and I like the place.

In 2001 we've stayed in Hotel Costa Del Mar, next to the beach north of downtown. We made our bookings in the last moment and got a bungalow: close to the water, but generally disappointing. Their regular hotel part seems better, though.

• Ronnie's (formerly Ted's Mescaleros) at the Pelicano Inn, right on the beach, at Calle 6. Relaxed breakfasts, fresh guacamole con totopos, well-made tropical drinks served from 8AM. Live music on some nights.
  In late 1999 the place got a new management, but the food and the ambience are like before.
• Pez Vela on Avenida 5, with the tables upstairs overlooking the ground level and the street. A friendly place right in the middle of the action; good for a couple of drinks or a casual dinner (just avoid the bathrooms!). Live music on some night, and a very good house band.
• El Chino, located on Calle 4 two blocks from Avenida 5 (where the crowds are) has less trendy location but the food is quite enjoyable and less expensive than at similar places on the beaten path; certainly worth checking out.

• Guacamole con totopos — tortilla chips with avocado. Doesn't sound like much, but try them here; you'll never go back to the supermarket kind. Make sure you also get some salsa (with an obvious choice between salsa americana and salsa mexicana), or ensalada of chopped tomatoes, onions and peppers. Wash this down with a beer, or better two.
• Ceviche — chopped fish (not really raw, because marinated in lime juice) with tomatoes, onions and some other green stuff. (Shrimp may be used instead.) Very good.
• Sopa de pollo y limon — a lime-flavored chicken soup, a small meal by itself, nutritious and delicious.
• Cochinita pibil — pork: lean, moist, well-done, very aromatic and nicely spiced, baked in a wrapper of banana leaves. (Pork is delicious there, and the reason must be the free-ranging pigs; you can see them when passing through smaller villages.) A similar dish is also made out of chicken.
• Xtabentún — a traditional Mayan liquor, based on honey and flavored with anise; goes well with your espresso after dinner.

You can buy Kodak and Fuji film in many places around town. The Omega chain photo store at Avenida Juarez has a good choice of film and some of the clerks speak some English. They also offer one-hour processing not worse than that in the States at somewhat lower prices.

With most airport security nowadays flatly refusing to hand-check your film, buying and processing it at the spot makes a lot of sense. Or take a plunge and go digital!

• Playa del Carmen Information Center: a good place to start, with dining, hotel, day trip and folklore sections.
• Hotwired Rough Guide: the best quick-look resource on Playa I could find on the Web.
• Caribbean Coast and Mayan Riviera sites have two identical copies of a Playa page.
• Sistema Integral de Promoción Turística: some useful and entertaining information, but the listings are very short, clearly under construction.
• Best Day Tours: not much information, but you can check hotel prices and room availability, book, pay and get the confirmation on-line within 10 minutes. I have spent over $3000 with them and everything worked very smoothly. Recommended.

A day tour by bus is the last resort; you will enjoy the place much more if you spend a night or two in the nearby village of Piste; see the place early in the morning, without the bus crowds and while it is still not too hot.

Or take a bus to Coba (west of Tulum): the city ruins are less spectacular than Chichen-Itza, but more mysterious and much less crowded. Staying at the enjoyable Villa Archeologica there is a great value for money. I would plan for two nights there, with a lazy lunch or dinner in the small village restaurant, just to watch the life go by. Plus, where else you can meet an alligator at the lake right in the center of the village?