For airport pickups and drop offs either in a Van, private vehicle or Limo, please make arrangements with Sea Side’s Concierge.
Transportation
Playa is a walking town, with mostly cobbled, uneven streets and sidewalks! Not the best place for pretty high heels!
Is easy to move around in the streets since it’s a coordinates system, the streets parallel to the ocean are called Avenues and start from the 1 going forward in multiples of 5 so it’s 1st Ave. 5th, 10th, 15th and so on., and the ones perpendicular to the see are called streets and this go in multiples of 2’s so it’s 2nd street, 4th, 6th, and so on.
For rental information on Cars, Scooter, Bicycles or Harley’s Information please follow the link for more information.
Taxi's
In the taxi world, Playacar is considered to be another zone so you will find rates to/from Playacar are higher to anywhere in Playa itself. If you walk a few hundred yds, past the Playacar gate on 10th Ave into Playa, taxi should/may cost you less. Otherwise from the driveway a o/w cab ride to Walmart for example will probably be $5 USD. ($ 60 pesos).
Taxis are plentiful everywhere. If you get one from a specific taxi line, they will cost more than flagging one down off the street. You should be able to stand at the end of the driveway and one will come along very soon. Always negotiate your price (they are meant to be fixed prices!) before getting in, and the normal rates downtown normally go from 15 to 24 pesos during the night. (except if you have to touch the highway).
Collectivos
These are white 12 seater vans that cruise the highway all day north and south, the locals mode of taxi transport. Many tourists like to use these too as they are very cheap, and immerse you into traveling very locally! Generally speaking, you can stand out on the highway and flag one of these vans down, and so long as there is room inside they will let you on. You may be squished in with more than 12 people and chickens some days!
Bus
The Ado Bus is great! Clean, comfy, A/C, washroom, movie what more could you ask for?! And very reasonably priced. The bus station is located on 5th Ave and Juarez right opposite Scotia Bank/McDonalds next to the square where the little white church is. Just go in and enquire at the ticket counter if and when the bus goes to where you want to go and price. You can purchase tickets a day in advance also advisable to do if you are bussing it back to the airport to secure a seat. Playa to Aeropuerto is $ 10.00 USD (120 pesos) which is expensive. Playa Cancun is $3.50 USD ($40 pesos)
Taking a Tour
If you book a tour, we recommend doing it with Sea Side’s concierge, this way we’ll make sure you receive the service for what you pay, and you’ll be safe. One of the main pick up points is Plaza Antigua. Near the Cozumel Ferry dock and South end of 5th Avenue, but be sure to ask as many tour companies will pick you up at your Sea Side Condo directly.
Normally you’ll find some of this tours:
Xcaret
Tulum – Xel Ha
Tulum – Coba
Jungle Tour
Cenote snorkeling tour
Fishing Tour
Speed boat
FERRY TO COZUMEL
Ferries run from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel every hour on the hour. The UltraMar ferries currently run from 5 am-10 pm from Cozumel (no service at 6am, 1pm, 7 pm or 9pm) and 6 am-11 pm from PDC (no service at 7am, 2pm, 8pm, or 10pm). The schedule is subject to change so it's best to check in advance if you are not close to the ferry terminal.
There are two different ferry companies, UltraMar and Mexicana, both of which took about the same amount of time (I think it was about 30-35 minutes), left at the same time and cost $180 pesos round trip (around $16 US). There were many booths around the 5th Avenue area that you could purchase tickets and there seemed to be plenty of room, we bought our tickets about 5 minutes before the ferry was supposed to leave.
Ferries can be picked up at the very south end of 5th Avenue at the ferry terminal. The sea can be quite rough so if you have problems with seasickness it can be a good idea to take a pill before you go.
