Hey man, let's be real: Playa del Carmen is a tourist hub. It's fake in all the good ways (and the bad ones too). If you have no real reason to come here, just don't. It's not worth it. I'm not saying you won't have fun, but it'll be the obvious type-1 fun that any party-gringo can't be mad at. Regular easy-going people that have some sense will have more trouble appreciating this place.

The beach is overcrowded, the shopping street an endless stream of empty commerce and hedonism, and the people are out for your money. Not to say there's no kindness, there's a lot of it (albeit in the overly informal, almost impolite, "hey buddy, free shots, come have some fun man, hey come back, ok I'll wait here" kind of way), but capitalism ruined anything that was ever authentic about this place.

But that's mostly the beach and the first two blocks behind it though. 5th avenue, the shopping street, is a trainwreck of redundancy and empty money-making tactics. 10th, which is the immediate next street after that, is maybe 20% of that. Though still highly developed.

But anything beyond that though. The streets past 5th and 10th, is where it's still really interesting. People opening up shops, bars and restaurants here are a different breed from the ones on the Main Street. The vibe is more laid back, the attitude much more genuine, the prices lower, and the quality of goods sold much higher.

I'm sure there's an entire residential area hidden behind those few blocks as well that tourists like us never visit. We had a lot of fun meandering the couple of blocks on the outskirts of the tourist area. Special mentions go out to The Lost Tiki Bar on 20 Avenida Norte (Alejandro I see you!), where we watched live music as well as the Super Bowl, Casa8 on Avenida 25 Norte, an amazing breakfast spot with kind staff, and Manne's Biergarten on Calle 4 Norte that serves us our first (!) draft beer in Mexico. Shoutout to the Canadian couple that frequents Manne's that we met there too. 75 years old and still backpacking like its 40 years ago despite being a doctor and a lawyer just for the heck of it is admirable.

Other than that, this area of the city is also much more photogenic than anything closer to the beach. And, ultimately, that's what I care about most.