The Mayan Gateway – a 52 foot, 60 ton bronze sculpture by Jose Arturo Tavares in Playa del Carmen
The town of Playa del Carmen barely existed when I was born… it was basically an undeveloped region of beach and jungle. In the 1960s it gained notoriety when Jacques Cousteau filmed a documentary about the Great Mayan Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world. Once he labeled it the world’s top diving site, the Island of Cozumel took flight as a tropical playground. This post is a brief account of my encounter with the Yucatan Peninsula.
Mayan ruins of Xaman Ha in Playacar
Playa del Carman is the site of ancient Maya ruins known as Xaman Ha. Xaman Ha is the point where Mayans would rest before making the 30 mile canoe journey to Cozumel and beyond—and it is still the point at which ferries arrive and depart.
In the late 1960s the Mexican government embarked upon a mega-development project to attract tourists. Hotels and infrastructure was quickly established. The story of this amazing transformation unfolds at the Museum located at Manzana 27, #8, Xaman Ha, Playacar phase II.
The Museum in Playacar presents the history of Playa del Carmen
During my visit to Mexico last week I happened to stay in Playacar phase II, two blocks away from the Museum. A friend Todd Creger recently sold his house in Houston and moved fulltime to his casa in Playacar, which he’s owned for almost 20 years. When I arrived I was favorably impressed; Casa Estrella is pretty upscale—one might even call it, by Mexican standards, quite the shining mansion.
Casa Estrella – The home of Todd Creger in Playacar as seen from the golf course.
Not all visitors, I understand, have the luxury of a suite at a private swankienda. However, just beyond the Playacar Museum, two blocks down the road from Todd’s, is the Reef Resort at the heart of the Riviera Maya. As the guest of a resident of the gated community I had free access to the spectacular beach and vast pool at the Reef. But this is an all-inclusive oceanfront resort so $45 US entitles the visitor to food, drink, and beach umbrella for the day. I met people from Norway, Australia, Holland, Argentina, Brazil—I think I was voted Most Popular guy at the swim-up bar… I certainly got my $45 worth of booze.
The Caribbean Sea as seen from my lounge chair at The Reef Resort
Along the way to and from the resort the landscape is scattered with Mayan ruins. The structures, as noted above, are the ruins of Xaman Ha, which means waters of the north. This is where the ancient Mesoamericans would gather to prepare for voyages that extended from Cozumel to Honduras. Pathways weave through the jungle foliage with markers denoting basic information. Some of the ruins look like a pile of rocks while others are altogether impressive.
Of course they cannot be compared to the important Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza or Tulum (see TroysArt – Climbing the Mayan Ruins at Tulum) but it is pretty awesome nonetheless. They might have sacrificed people on the top of those rocks!
Todd’s manse is a coconut’s toss to the gates. And while armed policia carefully scrutinize every motor vehicle, foot traffic can enter and exit at will. And just beyond the gates is the city of Playa del Carmen.
This part of Mexico is not cactus, burros, sombreros nor Montezuma’s Revenge–this is a tourism mecca on the Caribbean Sea.
The town has experienced rapid development since the 1970s. Fifth Avenue is the Bourbon Street of the community—it’s lined with bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, boutiques, hotels, and even international chains such as Armani Exchange, Louis Vuitton, and Carolina Herrara.
Mayan dancers in downtown Playa del Carmen.
One thing that amazed me right off the bat was the street barkers. And it seems that every establishment has one, whether a souvenir shop, jewelry store, or boutique. It is like Bourbon Street, trying to get you into their shop. As Todd said, “It’s their job to separate tourists from their pesos.”
But their offerings are unique: “Hey cigars, weed, cocaine, girls?” If I heard “Hey cigars, weed, cocaine, girls?” once I heard it a thousand times.
Just outside the gates is a healthy restaurant called Fruta Madre. You cannot order a refreshing glass of iced tea in Mexico. Instead restaurants have fruit juices—and Fruta Madre is the king of the blended fruit juice, from smoothie to aqua fresca. My favorite was the Lemon Ginger Water. Fruit is very fresh in Mexico.
Fresh pasta in the case at Casa Sofia in Playa del Carmen.
And apparently, the pasta is fresh as well. Carmen del Playa is known for its Italian population with one part of town designated as Little Italy. And a coconut’s throw from Playacar is Casa Sofia, a relatively new restaurant known for pasta made fresh daily. I can’t remember ever having pasta so fresh. This restaurant is so authentic that we asked our server Luigi (from Italy) how long he had been in Playa and he answered, “Oh, about 10 or 12 hours.”
Is Casa Sofia so authentic that they import their waiters? Yes, looks like. Todd and I had a bottle of wine and a few plates for fresh pasta which barely cost a few pesos…
As fine dining goes in Playa del Carmen, a famous Cancun restaurant known for gourmet Brazilian cuisine Bovinos Churrascaria opened the week I visited. Bovinos is one of those restaurants where the gauchos come around to the table and slice off slabs of meat, upholding the traditional art of churrasco, the Brazilian concept of meat rotation.
The way dining works is that you have a card at each place setting, one side is green and one side is red. If you are hungry the green side of the card faces up; if you are full you flip the red. The servers keep slicing off meat until you flip the card to the red side. We had filet mignon, prime rib, every cut of beef, pork, lamb, and chicken… we even had calf brains (which was disgusting, by the way, but I tried it).
I joined Todd and his partner Jonathan Pena for a reservation at 8pm, which is early by resort standards. The mistake we made was that by being one of the first tables we were swarmed by slicers in a meat frenzy which quickly rendered us bloated and miserable. We were red cards up by 9pm! We should have paced ourselves. Bovinos is one price for all food, $48 US, plus alcohol, so it is a great deal. Don’t gorge too fast…
Why am I surprised about how freakin’ good the food was? Resort towns cannot survive without renowned cuisine.
El Ceiba Tree, 2015, by Troy Broussard
Another characteristic of a resort community is the number foreigners, not just tourists. Not only is there a large number of Italians, as mentioned above, but Playacar is crawling with Canadians. I had a glass of wine or two with Todd’s Canadian neighbor Cecile Welden who operates a charming Bed & Breakfast out of her home there. I spent a few evenings visiting Cecile on her back patio.
One evening I sketched the gnarled Ceiba Tree between her home and the golf course. The Ceiba was a sacred tree to the Mayans, but the cottony seed pods that it drops give Todd a fit.
As for the local Mexicans, more of them speak English there than in Houston…
A little pile of Mexican pesos.
And as for concerns about travel to Mexico these days, I must admit that leading up to the trip a bit of worry found its way into my thoughts. But that part of the country does not seem as affected by the trouble with drug cartels. Amidst the throngs of tourists there is a very strong policia presence on the streets—they ride around in trucks with flashing lights and machine guns. It is paramount for the government to keep tourists safe or their whole economy would come crashing down. I paraded around alone in my usual full regalia—cufflinks, Rolex, ruby ring—liquored up and spewing pesos like a fool without a lick of trouble.
I’m looking forward to my next trip.