Getting Around Playa del Carmen

The airport is about an hour north of our condo. Your best options for getting to the condo are:

• ADO bus. Buses leave the terminals roughly every 40 to 60 minutes from about 7 AM to 11 PM, around 210 pesos a person, and stop at the ADO terminal on 5th Avenue at Juárez. From there it's about 25 blocks to the condo, so take a ride for the last stretch if you have bags.
• A pre-booked shuttle or private transfer. The driver meets you outside arrivals with your name and drives you to the door.
• Uber Reserve. Book ahead in the Uber app for an airport pickup. Ordinary Uber and inDrive pickups at the airport aren't allowed, and drivers get fined, so don't order one on the spot.

Skip the taxi and timeshare touts in the arrivals hall, and say no to anyone who offers to help with your luggage. They'll ask for money once they've carried it; it's a scam. Airport taxis to Playa run 800 to 1,200 pesos.

• Prescriptions: bring only what you need for your stay (a 3-month supply at most), in the original labelled containers, in your carry-on, with a copy of the prescription. A doctor's letter with your daily dose helps, and a Spanish translation helps more.
• ADHD medication and strong painkillers are controlled in Mexico. Carry the prescription and a doctor's letter, and check with a Mexican consulate before you fly.
• Leave at home: cold and allergy pills with pseudoephedrine (Sudafed, Actifed) and anything with codeine. They're banned in Mexico even though they're sold in Canada.
• No cannabis, even if it's legal or prescribed at home. No guns or ammunition, and no knives with blades longer than 6 cm.
• Declare cash over US$10,000, and goods worth more than US$500. Adults can bring up to 3 litres of alcohol, 6 litres of wine and 20 packs of cigarettes.

Rules change, so check online for more before you go, at Canada's travel advice for Mexico and the U.S. Embassy's list of what you can bring into Mexico.

Centro is flat and walkable. 5th Avenue is 1.5 blocks from the door and the beach 2.5. For anything farther, use an app.

• Uber runs in Playa, alongside regular taxis.
• DiDi works much like Uber, and also delivers food as DiDi Food.
• inDrive has run in Playa since 2024. You offer a price and drivers accept or counter.
• Street taxis have no meters. Agree on the fare before you get in, in pesos.
• You can download these apps on your phone before you arrive.
• No data on your phone? Ask the security guards at the Quadra Alea gate to call you a cab.

• ADO buses to Tulum, Cancún, Valladolid and Mérida leave from the ADO terminal on 5th Avenue at Juárez. Buy tickets at the counter or in the ADO app.
• Colectivos are white shared vans that run up and down the highway to Puerto Morelos, Cancún, Akumal and Tulum. Southbound ones leave from Calle 2 near Avenida 20. They're cheap and frequent, pay in cash, and they don't go to the airport.

The ferry terminal is at the beach end of Juárez, about a 25-minute walk. Ultramar and Mexico Waterjets each run about every hour or two from early morning to evening, around 250 to 300 pesos each way, 40 to 45 minutes across. Check the day's times on the operators' sites before you go.

You don't need a car in Centro. If you rent one for day trips, the condo has one covered space in the building's underground garage.

• Carry pesos in small bills for taxis, colectivos and tips.
• When a card machine or ATM offers to charge you in dollars, choose pesos and let your own bank convert.