While in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico I decided to explore one of the biggest tourist attraction they offer. 5th Ave (short for 5th Avenue) in Playa Del Carmen has restaurants, shopping, tattoo shops, coffee shops, fast food, hair braiders, dancers, musicians and pharmacies. They have local restaurants and some U.S. chain restaurants like Mcdonalds, KFC and starbucks. You can find any food you have a taste for. Tacos, fried foods, grilled foods, vegan foods, desserts, high end buffets, wings, salad. The options are endless.
A lot of the shopping options consist of souvenirs. T-shirts, hats, bags, vanilla, swimsuits, cover ups, shot glasses, alcohol, etc. At the far end of 5th ave you can find a mall that has stores like Old Navy, Sunglass Hut, Starbucks, At&t, a nail salon plus other clothing and shoes options. There is a mall at the other end of 5th ave that has stores like Forever 21, Sephora, Pandora, and American Eagle to name a few.
Shopping vendors can be really pushy so try to become comfortable with saying No -Thank You. These vendors will be the ones at the stores selling t-shirts, alcohol, bags, crystals, necklaces and similar items. It’s pretty much most of the stores except the mall. They will say and do anything to get your attention. They will even say “do you remember me from last night? I was your waiter at dinner”. Don’t believe them! It’s a trick they use to get you in their shop to look and buy something. If you don’t see anything you like, keep walking. A lot of the stores there have the same items. Find one that will offer you a good price.
You can find the the Cozumel ferry at the end of 5th Ave. It’s near the mall with Old Navy. The ferry boat will take you to Couzmel and bring you back to PDC. You can buy a round trip ticket from the ticket booth in front of the pier. There will also be vendors selling tickets before you make it to the ticket booth. I didn’t stop to hear the pricing or offers from the vendors. I kept walking until I saw the main ticket booth. Make sure you are there early because the line can be long.
Once you purchase your ticket you will walk over to the ferry entrance. You will have to go through a metal detector and your bags will be put through a scanner. The ferry boat departure times can be looked up online before you leave home. I suggest getting there early because the line to get on the ferry can be long. As you can see in the picture there is a long walk to get from the pier to the ferry. If the water is rocky the boat will rock some but you will be completely safe. I suggest sitting on the lower level if you get sea sick easily.
As a whole 5th Ave in Playa Del Carmen was fun. Good food, good drinks, interesting things to see. It was definitely worth your time.
***P.S. 5th Ave is a block from the beach. Bring swim clothes if you want to get in the ocean.
Flowing With My Spirit 