Playa del Carmen is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in the north east of the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, located at 20.62° North, 87.07° West. The city is the seat of the Solidaridad municipality. In 2003 the city had a population of about 49,000 people, though it is rapidly growing in population.

Tourism to Playa del Carmen began with the passenger ferry service to Cozumel, an island across the Cozumel Channel and world-famous scuba diving destination. While passing through, many people realized that it was a very nice place to relax away from the crowds of Cancún but with the same quality beaches and turquoise waters. Playa del Carmen's coast offers some good scuba diving opportunities, as well as cenote diving for the more adventurous.

Today Playa del Carmen, or just 'Playacar' as it is colloquially referred to, is the center of the Riviera Maya concept, which stretches from Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve. All activity centers on the Quinta Avenida, or Fifth Avenue; a pedestrian walkway located just one block inland from the beach, and lined with boutique hotels, shops, bars and small restaurants.

Playa Del Carmen wants to retain its small fishing village and artist colony charm, without becomng as large or tourist-dependent as Cancún. To this end, the city passed an ordinance by which all buildings, not matter what, have a limit of three stories, though a few four storey buildings were built before the ordinance.

There is a very large European influence in Playacar, especially Italian. It is not ununsual to find the proprietors of the hotel one is staying in, the owners of the restaurant one is eating at and the other diners or bar patrons to be from Italy. There are French, Americans, and various Northern Europeans, as well. The further one goes away from the ferry boat area to Cozumel, the fewer the number of Americans.

Riviera Maya is a tourism district following the highway 307 of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It historically started at Playa del Carmen and ended at Tulum pueblo, though the towns of Puerto Morelos to the north of Playa del Carmen and Felipe Carrillo Puerto inland are both currently being promoted as part of the Riviera Maya tourist corridor.

It is famous for its all-inclusive resorts such as Secrets Capri Riviera Cancún and smaller boutique hotels located in Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

Cozumel (Maya: Island of the Swallows) is an island off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is one of the eight municipalities (municipios) of the state of Quintana Roo. Cozumel is a popular tourist destination renowned for its scuba diving. The main town on the island is San Miguel.

The island is about 48 km (30 miles) north-south and 16 km (10 miles) east-west, and is the largest island of Mexico. It is about 20 km (12 miles) from the mainland, and some 60 km (36 miles) south of Cancún. Nearly everybody in Cozumel lives in the town of San Miguel (pop. est. 90,000 in 2003), which is on the western shore. The rest of the island is low, flat, and densely vegetated.

HISTORY
The Maya are believed to have first settled Cozumel by the early part of the 1st millennium AD, and older Preclassic Olmec artifacts have been found on the island as well. The island was sacred to Ix Chel, the Maya Moon Goddess, and the temples here were a place of pilgrimage, especially by women desiring fertility. There are a number of ruins on the island, most from the Post-Classic period. The largest Maya ruins on the island were bulldozed to make way for a airplane runway during World War II. The ruins of San Gervasio are located approximately at the center of the island and are the largest remaining ruins.

The first Spanish visitor was Juan de Grijalva in 1518, and in the following year Hernán Cortés came with a fleet and destroyed many Maya temples. Some 40,000 Maya lived on the island then, but smallpox devastated them and by 1570 only 30 were left alive. In the ensuing years Cozumel was nearly deserted, used as a hideout by pirates from time to time. In 1848, the Caste War of Yucatán resulted in resettlement by refugees escaping the tumult.

In 1959, Jacques Cousteau discovered the extent and beauty of Palancar, the coral reefs at the south of Cozumel and publicized it as one of the best places to go scuba diving in the world. Although the original airport was a World War II relic and was able to handle jet aircraft and international flights, a much larger airport ws built in the late 1970s. This resulted in much greater tourism to Cozumel where diving is still a primary draw.

Explore Yucatan
      archeological sites:
      Tulum • Chichén Itzá • Uxmal


  In the southeast of Mexico, surrounded by the clear blue waters of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, lies the peninsula of the Yucatan, where the great Mayan culture once flourished amidst tropical forests.
  
  We invite you to combine your beach vacation with the splendor of past eras. Visit the Yucatan Peninsula while enjoying the luxurious amenities and services expected of Dreams and Secrets Resorts.

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