Accommodations range from youth hostels to upscale, luxury boutique hotels. Along beach you can find modern hotel rooms with a balcony overlooking Caribbean Sea or beachside palapas with colorful hammocks strung outside.

If you would like to shop in Cancun for a day, bus to downtown Cancun departs Playa's bus station every 15 minutes. How about scuba diving in Cozumel? The ferry departs Playa del Carmen every half hour. More experienced divers can explore cenotes, or underground caves, all around Mayan Riviera. If you'd like to explore other Mexican towns, you can take a bus over to Tulum or Vallodolid for day, or explore magnificent ruins of Coba or Chichen Itza.

For shorter day trips, there is a collectivo van that runs up and down Highway 307 all day from Playa del Carmen to Tulum. For about two dollars you can hop on and go out to snorkel at Yal Ku lagoon in Akumal, Xel Ha or XCaret Parks, take an ATV jungle tour, or explore Mayan Ruins in Tulum.

Of course, you can also just lounge on pristine beaches with an ice bucket of Dos Equis and a good book.

For up-to-date bus and ferry schedules, trip reports, photos, hotel reviews and vacation packages visit www.iloveplaya.com.

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