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Playa del Carmen
City in Quintana Roo, Mexico
City in Quintana Roo, Mexico
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| official_name | Playa del Carmen | |
| settlement_type | City | |
| image_skyline | File:Aerial of Playa del Carmen, Mexico (28708057347).jpg | |
| image_caption | Aerial view of Playa del Carmen | |
| nicknames | Playa, PDC | |
| pushpin_map | Mexico Quintana Roo#Mexico | |
| pushpin_label_position | left | |
| coordinates | ||
| subdivision_type | Country | |
| subdivision_name | Mexico | |
| subdivision_type1 | State | |
| subdivision_name1 | Quintana Roo | |
| subdivision_type2 | Municipality | |
| subdivision_name2 | Solidaridad | |
| established_title | Founded | |
| established_date | 1937 | |
| leader_title | Mayor | |
| leader_name | Estefanía Mercado | |
| area_total_km2 | 49.8 | |
| area_footnotes | ||
| area_land_km2 | ||
| area_water_km2 | ||
| elevation_footnotes | tags-- | |
| elevation_m | 10 | |
| population_footnotes | ||
| population_total | 304942 | |
| population_as_of | 2020 | |
| population_density_km2 | 6100 | |
| population_urban | 304942 | |
| population_density_urban_km2 | auto | |
| <!-- General information ---------------> | population_demonym | Playense |
| timezone | Southeast (US Eastern) | |
| utc_offset | -5 | |
| postal_code_type | Postal codes | |
| postal_code | 77710, 77720 | |
| area_code | 984 | |
| website |
Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as Playa, is a resort city along the Caribbean Sea in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is part of the municipality of Solidaridad. As of 2020, the city's population was just over 300,000, a small yet thriving portion of whom are immigrants.
Playa del Carmen is a popular tourist destination in Mexico's Riviera Maya region. Its current growth rate is set at 7.5% per year. According to Guinness World Records, it is one of Latin America's fastest-growing communities. In 2016, the city was the tenth-most popular international travel destination for U.S. travelers, and more than one million tourists passed through the city a year later. Playa's main airport is Cancún International Airport, which is around 70 km away.
The area is known for its white sand beaches, turquoise waters, coral reefs, surrounding rainforests, and balnearios. The downtown area of the city revolves around Quinta Avenida, a busy pedestrian thoroughfare lined with shops, clubs, and restaurants. The weather is hot year-round. The summer and winter breaks are peak season for tourism.
Geography
Playa del Carmen is within the Riviera Maya, which runs from south of Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve. Playa is a stop for several cruise ships that dock at the nearby Calica quarry docks, about six miles (10 km) south of the city. The Xcaret Eco Park, a Mexican-themed "eco-archaeological park", is just south of the town in Xcaret (pronounced "ish-kar-et").
Climate
In October 2005, Hurricane Wilma passed directly over Playa del Carmen, remaining in the vicinity for two days and causing significant damage and a temporary drop in tourist arrivals. Most of the damage was relatively superficial and repaired within a few weeks. Wilma arrived from the Caribbean Sea, passing over Cozumel before making landfall in Playa del Carmen. It then moved north along the Mexican coast, hitting Cancún especially hard.
Playa del Carmen has a tropical savannah climate (Aw) with June to November receiving most of the precipitation. Summers are hot and year-round with warm nights.
| Jan record high C = 37.5 | Feb record high C = 33.0 | Mar record high C = 34.0 | Apr record high C = 39.0 | May record high C = 40.0 | Jun record high C = 39.0 | Jul record high C = 39.0 | Aug record high C = 39.5 | Sep record high C = 39.0 | Oct record high C = 34.0 | Nov record high C = 35.0 | Dec record high C = 39.0 | year record high C = 40.0 | Jan record low C = 8.0 | Feb record low C = 7.0 | Mar record low C = 5.0 | Apr record low C = 10.0 | May record low C = 15.0 | Jun record low C = 14.0 | Jul record low C = 13.0 | Aug record low C = 15.0 | Sep record low C = 14.0 | Oct record low C = 13.5 | Nov record low C = 11.0 | Dec record low C = 9.0 | year record low C = 5.0
Demographics
|1995 | 17621 |2000 | 43613 |2005 | 100383 |2010 | 149923 |2014 | 186700 |2020 | 304942
Tourism
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Originally a small fishing town, tourism to Playa del Carmen began with the passenger ferry service to Cozumel, an island across the Cozumel Channel and a scuba diving destination.
Safety
Playa del Carmen is generally a safe travel destination in Mexico. The town is generally secure for most tourists, except for risks such as hurricanes, sunburns, and common tourist scams. "Numbeo" reports that both the Safety Index and Crime Index in Playa del Carmen are in the low-moderate range, with scores of 50.55 and 49.45, respectively.
Sports
The city is home to Inter Playa del Carmen, an association football club founded in 1999. It competes in the south group of the Segunda División Profesional, the third tier of Mexican football league system.
The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba is a PGA Tour FedEx Cup golf tournament that was held at El Camaleón Golf Club between 2007 and 2023. Since 2013, it has been a full-points tournament where the winner earns full rights for a PGA TOUR win.
In popular culture
Numerous TV series have been filmed and set in Playa del Carmen. The telenovela Peregrina takes place there. The Canadian Real Housewives of Vancouver featured Playa del Carmen in two episodes. The Amazing Race was shot on location in Playa del Carmen, and The Celebrity Mole was set in that area. The UK reality series Geordie Shore featured Playa del Carmen. In the American series Spies in Disguise, the Yakuza arms dealer named Katsu Kimura lies low in a Playa del Carmen hotel.
References
References
- "Playa del Carmen (Solidaridad, Quintana Roo)".
- "2020 census".
- "Population of Playa del Carmen 2022 – Mexico".
- (2011-03-24). "Rapid Growth Rates for Playa".
- "Number of tourists by origin Playa del Carmen, Mexico".
- "Best times to visit Playa Del Carmen".
- "Estado de Quintana Roo-Estacion: Playa del Carmen". Servicio Meteorológico Nacional.
- (2015-01-08). "MEXICO: Quintana Roo". Citypopulation.de.
- "Crime in Playa del Carmen".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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