hey guys.. My bf and I are heading out to Playa del Carmen next week (staying at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya -- so excited!!). I'm looking forward to the more laid-back atmosphere Playa offers over Cancun, and as much as there is to do there alone, I would really love for us to be party animals for a night and venture over to Coco Bongo and/or Senior Frogs. Does anyone know if you can take a bar hopping tour from Playa to Cancun, or if there are any other kinds of tours the hotels may offer that will take you there and back? If not I guess we'll have to take a taxi which will probably be a bit pricey. Thanks!
I believe there is a van (colectivo) that one can take for around $3 U.S.D. however there are several hours during the late evening (early morning) when it does not run. 212eric
Do the collectivos run into the hotel zone as well? I know that they run to downtown, but I swear I saw some collectivos going along Kulkukan in the hotel zone. Either way, a bus or collectivo if possible would be the cheapest way to get to Cancun. The party zone would be only a fairly cheap cab ride away from the bus station. Another idea would be to find other people at the resort to go with and pool in on the taxi fare to Cancun. For an extra tip you could probably get the driver to stick around for the return trip as well.
Again, I have not used this mode of transportation before but I am fairly sure they drop people off at one point, across from Cancun's main bus terminal in Centro (Downtown). The colectivos you see in the Hotel Zone are generally coming from "Private" tours or the airport, dropping people off at thier resorts. 212eric
The colectivo and the bus from Playa both drop you at the downtown Cancun bus station. The colectivos from Playa to Cancun and back say they run 24 hours. There's a private colectivo company called Playa Express, it runs from 5 am to midnight. I'll tell you though, we went to the clubs in Playa last month and they are a blast, I wouldn't go through the trouble of traveling to Cancun from down there to party. The most popular among the American tourists is the Blue Parrot and right next door, Coco Maya. Blue Parrot gets very crowded and they do charge a cover charge, but you get a couple of drinks to offset it, Coco Maya is no cover, and I actually like it better, (not as crowded) but, they are right next to each other on the beach. There are a few other clubs right in the same vicinity, (it's Playa's designated party area) Senor Frogs, next to the ferry to Coz is also a fun place to go dance, it's open air, and has alot more tourists, no cover charge and they have live music after 10 pm. I prefer the open-air places, closed in smokey bars aren't my thing, (maybe because I'm not 20 anymore!) Mambo club, are more locals than tourists, but tourists are welcome, they have a live band, and it's salsa/merengue dancing, I thought this one was alot of fun, it has a $5.00 cover charge. Bali Club is very Cancun nightclubish, modern, $10 cover or $35.00 open bar, Wednesday is Ladies night. Retro Club was fun, smaller place, and they had a live band the night we were there who sounded just like Bon Jovi!, they were great , there's no cover charge here. It was funny, because we were probably the only tourists there, and nobody else appreciated the band like we did The one I would definitely not recommend is Santenera, super crowded, and when we were there, there was only one door in and out, if there was a fire in that place, it would be a disaster (speaking as a mother here) besides the fact that it was seedier, and I have heard alot of drug use and dealing go on there. It's $20 cover with open bar.
Amen! If you have not been to Cancun yet, a day trip would be worth it, but otherwise Playa is a hell of a lot of fun. We enjoyed Playa so much on our last trip that we are now converts.
playa transport to cancun I usaually make the oposite trip from cancun to Playa del carmen. I take the bus from cancun el centro ( 32.00 pesos/about 3 dollars.) to Playas bus station ( close to the ferry). The buses (grey hound like)run about every 10 min or so and are air conditioned. From the main bus station in cancun you can take the R-1 bus to the hotel zone(6 pesos/about 60 cents). If you are coming back late I would definately think about taking a cab back to the bus station or colectivos. Or even better rent a room for that night in downtown cancun near the bus station. They are usually alot cheaper dowtown $50-$60 a night maybe.
I would have to agree with Jason and Laura on Playa. I'm a convert as well. Last trip to Playa I stayed at Blue Parrot-5th Ave so I had free access to all three of their hotels as well as the nightclub-no cover for me. I've been to several of the clubs that Laura mentions, and I agree with her run down 100%. I wouldn't go to Cancun just to go to a nightclub. Playa has everything, and everything is within walking distance and ALOT cheaper! I always stay on 5th Ave or someplace really close to 5th Ave. I like to be where the action is at......lotta boutique shops, non chain store restaurants, it's not dominated or overrun with ugly americans-waaaay more Europeans and the expats are a friendly bunch always willing to share their stories and help you out. Michelle
Well I just got back from Playa last night I thought I'd return to this thread and add that it is true, cabs to Cancun are pretty hefty, but you CAN take a bus from 5th ave, which takes you into downtown Cancun where you'd have to take another bus into the hotel zone. We opted to splurge a little and take a cab both ways.. it cost a little less than 100 bux. This however was not our original plan.. we were planning on doing the Disco Rolling Tour, which was supposed to pick us up at our hotel lobby at 8:45 pm, and take us into Cancun where we'd bar hop from Senor Frogs, to Dady Rock, and finally, end the night at Coco Bongo. Thought I'd let everyone know that these bar hopping thingies DO run out of Playa into Cancun.. It costs about 85 USD per person.. HOWEVER, believe it or not, the bus never showed up that night! There we were waiting in front of our hotel for almost 2 hours and no bus! I was super bummed because we had the night planned out and it was my birthday.. My bf was ready to tear our activities guy a new asshole the next day but he wasn't there, and his partner (a very nice guy) apologized profusely and gave us our refund, although he had no idea what could have happened but tried very had to find out. When we finally ran into "our guy" he had obviously been informed of what had happened and apologized and claimed that the bus was waiting for us at some mall which was actually the meeting point for the tour.. we think this is total bullshit which he had a whole day to conjure up before facing us and covering his ass. Anyway, we are highly disappointed in the American Express activities staff and are planning to avoid getting stuck with them again. He offered us free tshirts as a consolation :double finger: please. Anyhoo.... like I said, the next night we found our own way into Cancun and just went straight to Coco Bongo. WE HAD A FABULOUS TIME! and it made us feel a little better about what happened the night before. I agree that there is tons to do in Playa, but there is no place on earth like Coco Bongo. We thought the trip to Cancun (although we spent a good amount of money) just to go there was completely worth it. Just some words of advice based on our experience.. make sure you have all the odds and ends totally figured out and tell your tour person you would like for them to be available to be reached when your tour/activity is about to begin, in order to avoid an unfortunate incident like this.. it really put a damper on our night. On a positive note, the rest of our trip was incredible and we had absolutely no complaints. I can't wait to go back to Playa and/or Cancun very soon!
