Playa del Carmen is a resort town on the Yucatán Peninsula. It's approximately 45 minutes south of Cancún on the Mayan Riviera, and offers a more relaxed atmosphere, perfect for lounging around on the beach.

Sightseeing
Xel-Ha is an ecological theme park and natural aquarium. Here you can swim with dolphins, see manatees, bicycle, snorkel, cliff-dive, and scuba. If you choose to scuba you will get to pet stingrays and see larger fish. This park is quite large so bring good shoes to walk up river, you can bag your dry belongings and they will be driven back to the main area. There is a buffet restaurant and free drinks as part of the park entry-fee, as well as snorkel equipment and rafts. Cenotes are cavernous freshwater sinkholes which are found all over the Yucatán peninsula. Many of them are open to the public for swimming, diving, and exploration, however some of them are partially underground and the caves associated with these cenotes can run for miles. Cenotes also vary in size with openings as little as a foot wide to as large as a small lake. The water clarity in these cenotes is unsurpassed, with visibility often exceeding 200 feet, and makes for exceptionally good swimming.

Getting there
Buses can be taken directly from Cancún to get here.