Playa del Carmen (Xaman Ha' or Pláaya in Modern Maya) is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, in the northeast of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The city is the seat of the Solidaridad municipality. In the 2005 census, the city had a population of about 100,383 people and it is rapidly growing in population. It is the third largest city in Quintana Roo, after Cancún and Chetumal.

El Taj

Porto Playa

Paseo Del Sol

Luna Encantada

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Other great vacation destinations in Mexico are Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Cozumel, and Cancun.

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Playa del Carmen is named for Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who is the patron saint of Cancún. The first recorded visitors to the beaches of what is now Playa del Carmen came during the Early Classic Period (a.d. 300-600) of the Mayan civilization. Then called Xaman-Ha, or "waters of the north," Playa del Carmen was a rest stop of sorts for travelers making their way from the great cities of the Mayan world to the island of Cozumel.

The coast and lowlands of the peninsula were still heavily populated with the descendents of the fallen civilization when the Spaniards arrived. Tulum, less than an hour south of Playa, was the last Mayan outpost and there are plenty of small ruins in Playa del Carmen. The Spanish focused their attention around the area of Mérida, where conditions were better for growing henequén (sisal), a fibre used to make rope. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Caribbean coast was considered a savage place with not much to offer for potential settlers.

Quinta Avenida, also referred to in English as 5th Avenue, is the main tourist thoroughfare in Playa del Carmen.

Tulum is approximately an hour south of Playa and most famous for its beautiful Mayan archaeological site which sits on a low cliff overlooking a beautiful beach and the turquoise Caribbean sea.