KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
What To Expect
Transportation
We have your arrival information and we’ll be coordinating shuttles for folks to get them to the hotel! Once we get closer to the date we’ll share details with each of you. Each shuttle holds 8-10 people and will be dropping you off within a block or two of your hotel (Quinta Avenida is pedestrian only so a short walk may be required).
Accommodations
Folks will be split up between 3 hotels located within a couple blocks of one another. Casa Central will be the main venue for nightlife and daytime hangs. Maya Bric is directly across the street and Los Itzaes is a block away on 10th.
Food and Drinks
We’ll be providing a number of meals and will have a bar set up all weekend at Casa Central. Check the full itinerary for a complete rundown of activities, or read up on our favorite spots to eat and drink and venture out on your own!
Pack It Up, Pack It In
What's The Vibe?
Presuming the weather doesn’t completely turn on us, we’ll be spending most of our days by the pool, on the beach, or on a boat. Bring a swimsuit (or a few), suncreen (it’s weirdly expensive in Mexico), and whatever you need to relax.
If you’re interested in nightlifing, Playa Del Carmen is pretty casual. You’re welcome to dress as formally or as casually as you’d like at most places! While much of Mexico is fairly conservative, PDC is an international beach town and just about anything goes.
For The Wedding
A lot of folks have asked what to wear to our wedding. We like to say ‘resort casual‘. Our ceremony and dinner will be at a hipster Mexican roof top bar and we’ll be migrating back to Casa Central for poolside dessert and dancing. Depending on the vibe, we may head to nearby club for a reception after party for the hardcore folks.
Wear what makes you feel comfortable! And hot!
What Should I Leave Behind?
Mexico is a pretty chill country, but you can still get yourself into trouble. Some random stuff you can’t bring into the country: Fruits, vegetables, eggs, and vapes (this is intermittently enforced, just don’t bring anything you’re not prepared to throw away).
For THC users, edibles are technically not allowed but generally not a big deal. That said, please don’t get arrested on your first day.
Stay Connected
All three hotels have usable wifi and there public wifi networks at many Playa Del Carmen businesses. There’s solid cell coverage through most of the Yucatan peninsula if you decide to add an international plan. A few apps that you might want to download ahead of time:
Google Translate: English is very, very common in PDC, but sometimes you’ll run into a menu item you don’t understand or hit a snag in communication. Download the Spanish language pack ahead of time and you can translate conversations and images on the fly!
InDrive: Uber is not allowed in Playa, but InDrive is the taxi cartel-approved alternative. It functions in more or less the same way except that you can bid on rides and then you pay the driver directly with cash when they drop you off. You can grab taxi drivers off the street, but there’s usually some haggling involved and this gives you a set price.
Whatsapp: For those unfamiliar, this is how most of the world communicates! It’s a basic chat program and useful for reaching out to restaurants, our hotel hosts, etc. We’ll make a giant Whatsapp group for all hotel guests before the event for realtime info.
Biciplaya: This is a bike sharing app with locations around PDC. You can pay by the ride or get a day pass for about $7. They are NOT nice bikes. If you’re looking to do some more serious exploring, consider renting a bike or scooter from a rental agency.
Rappi: UberEats is used by many restaurants, but Rappi is the Latin America equivalent and tends to have more options and specials if you’re willing to navigate in Spanish! You can get pretty much anything delivered at any time of day.
What's A Peso Anyway?
$1 US is worth about 18 pesos. When you’re looking at prices in Mexico it will usually be specified whether the price is in USD or MXN. Almost everywhere in Playa Del Carmen takes credit cards and/or US Dollars, so there’s really no reason to exchange money ahead of time, especially if you have a credit card that doesn’t charge international fees.
If you’d like to have some pesos in your pocket, your best bet is to use an ATM after you land. Just make sure the ATM is connected to a major bank (Scotiabank, Banamex, Santander, etc) and when the ATM asks if you accept the USD to Peso conversion, always select NO. This will let your US bank perform the currency conversion and you’ll always get a better conversion rate.
For frequent travelers, this is my opportunity to shamelessly plug the Betterment checking account, which doesn’t charge any international fees and reimburses all ATM fees. And it’s free with no minimum balance!
For Your Health!
Food Safety
Playa Del Carmen is a pretty easy place to avoid food-borne illness if you follow a couple of rules:
1) Don’t drink the water! It’s fine for brushing your teeth, showers, etc, but stick to bottles for drinking.
2) If a place is busy (especially with locals), it’s a good sign. If it’s empty, you might want to avoid it.
Our gut biomes always take some time to adapt when we travel, but keep those two things in mind and you’ll be just fine!
Crime
PDC is a very safe city! Its crime rate runs slightly lower than most Midwest cities and you’ll have no trouble walking around at night in any major tourist area.
You will be offered a LOT of drugs on Avenida Quinta, especially if you’re a man. Please don’t buy them! Everything will be fine for you, but you’re directly supporting the Mexican cartels and it’s a real bummer for the local economy.
Not Feeling Well?
Got a tummy ache? Let us know! Antibiotics and many other medications are available over the counter and we’ll have a little stash of the essentials on hand. Need something more serious? Ahorro is a legit pharmacy chain just a block away. There’s another location a bit further out with an onsite doctor as well!
Looking for something more…recreational? There’s a tourist pharmacy every block on 5th that will sell you weight loss drugs, steroids, viagra, and anything else you may want.