9 Best Adults-Only Hotels in Playa del Carmen

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Want 5th Avenue on foot after dinner? Then sleep in town, not up the highway. The adults-only all-inclusives north of town sit off the Cancun road, so every night out starts with a taxi. In town, the blocks between Calle 26 and Calle 38 put Mamitas beach and the avenue a short walk apart. Here’s where I’d book, from beachfront all-inclusives to a nine-room hotel a block from the sea.

Adults-Only Hotels in Playa del Carmen

Where to Stay in Playa del Carmen Without Kids: Town, Playacar or North

Playa del Carmen’s adults-only hotels fall into three zones, and each one decides how you spend your evenings.

• Downtown, Calle 26 to Calle 38: This stretch puts the beach, 5th Avenue and dinner within a few blocks. Mamitas beach runs from around Calle 28, with beach clubs and DJs behind the sand. Expect music by day.
• Playacar, south of the centre: Playacar is a gated resort area just south of downtown, with its hotels set back from the avenue. Plan on a taxi or a long walk to 5th Avenue.
• North end of 5th Avenue: Past the busy blocks, the avenue runs on to the Colosio area and Punta Esmeralda beach. Central 5th Avenue is about 3 kilometres south, a taxi ride for dinner.
• Km 299, up the highway: The all-inclusives north of town sit off the Cancun highway, a taxi ride from 5th Avenue. Every trip into Playa del Carmen means a cab. In return, you get beachfront grounds, and at Ocean Maya Royale golf carts carry you and your bags to the room.

Minimum Ages at Adults-Only Hotels in Playa del Carmen

Adults-only means different things across the coast, so check the age in each hotel’s own policy before you book.

• Eighteen as the standard: Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen, Devossion by Live Aqua Playa del Carmen, Royal Hideaway Playacar, Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya, Ocean Maya Royale, Senses Quinta Avenida Hotel by Artisan and The Reef 28 Hotel & Spa all set 18 as the minimum guest age. No one under 18 will be at the pool.
• Shared grounds next door: Paradisus La Perla is adults-only, but it sits beside the family hotel Paradisus Playa del Carmen. Several restaurants and bars on the family side are open to guests of both. Expect to see children at dinner if you eat at the shared venues.
• Adult-oriented, not adults-only: Viceroy Riviera Maya, north of town at Xcalacoco, takes guests from 12. Check the age in the hotel’s own policy whenever a resort calls itself adult-oriented.
• Adults-only corners: Grand Velas Riviera Maya keeps an adults-only infinity pool in its Grand Class section. Its kids’ and teens’ clubs serve the families staying across the resort. Book a whole adults-only hotel if you want no children anywhere.

Sandy or Rocky: Playa del Carmen Beaches for Swimming

The sea floor changes from beach to beach along this coast. Check what’s in front of your hotel before you pack fins or water shoes.

• Mamitas: Deep sand, a rock-free sea floor and calm water make this the easy swim downtown. Beach clubs with DJs line the back of the sand, so it’s loud by day.
• Punta Esmeralda: A point shelters this northern beach, so the waves stay small and the water shallow. A freshwater stream from a cenote meets the sea here and pulls with a current. Watch for rocks and seaweed underfoot in spots.
• In front of Ocean Maya Royale: The water in front of Ocean Maya Royale runs murky rather than clear, so plan on the pool for long swims. Sargassum smell reaches the Privilege end of the beach in heavy weeks.
• Hyatt Vivid’s narrow strip: Sand in front of Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen is narrow, and it has shrunk over the past decade. Plan on the pool for long lounging days there.

Sargassum Season in Playa del Carmen

Brown sargassum seaweed washes up along the whole Quintana Roo coast in the warmer months. It decides whether you swim in the sea or the pool.

• When it lands: The season runs April to October, with June, July and August the heaviest months. Some years start early, and in a bad year the landings start in January.
• How much arrives: Tens of thousands of tonnes reach Quintana Roo in a year. Local monitors say it’s impossible to clear all of it.
• Check before your beach day: Quintana Roo’s sargassum monitoring network publishes a traffic-light map covering more than a hundred beaches, from none to excessive. Conditions change within hours, so look on the morning you plan to swim.
• What hotels do: Crews at Ocean Maya Royale and Paradisus La Perla clear the sand every morning, and Devossion by Live Aqua Playa del Carmen rakes the beach in front of the hotel. That keeps the sand clean, but the water and the smell still follow the season.

Getting From Cancun Airport to Playa del Carmen

Cancun airport sits north of Playa del Carmen, and one main highway runs down the coast between them.

• Private transfer or taxi: A car takes 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes, depending on traffic. It’s the quickest way to the door.
• Shared shuttle: Shuttles stop at several hotels along the way, so plan on an hour to an hour and a half. Ask where your hotel falls in the drop-off order.
• The ADO bus: ADO, Mexico’s intercity bus line, runs from the airport terminals into Playa del Carmen. Allow an hour and a quarter to two hours, and note that the buses don’t run overnight.
• Which bus station? The main ADO station sits at the 5th Avenue end of Juárez, near the beach and the Cozumel ferry. A second station sits on 20th Avenue, so check which one your ticket names.

Best Time of Year for an Adults-Only Trip to Playa del Carmen

Hotel demand along this coast swings between the winter holidays and the late-summer lull, and rates follow.

• High season: Demand picks up with the December holidays and stays high through January, then climbs again at Easter. Book early for those weeks, New Year’s week first.
• September and October: These are the low months, when small hotels in town run well under half full and cut their rates. They overlap with the end of sargassum season and the peak of hurricane season.
• Hurricane season: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October. Buy travel insurance that covers storms for a trip in those weeks.

FAQs

1. Is Royal Hideaway Playacar better than Wyndham Alltra?

For the beach, yes: Royal Hideaway Playacar sits on Chac Halal beach inside gated Playacar, while Wyndham Alltra Playa del Carmen has a rocky shoreline that’s hard to swim from. Royal Hideaway spreads across two- and three-storey colonial-style villas with little nightlife, so it stays quiet after dinner. If swimming in the sea matters to you, that settles it.

2. What’s the cheapest way to stay adults-only in Playa del Carmen?

Skip all-inclusive and the bill drops fastest: book Hotel La Semilla or Senses Quinta Avenida Hotel by Artisan downtown and eat on 5th Avenue. Hotel La Semilla has no pool, but the sea is a block away and the hotel lends bikes and beach kit. The Reef 28 Hotel & Spa sells all-inclusive as an add-on, so you pick room-only or the full package.

3. How far are the Maroma resorts from Playa del Carmen?

Maroma sits 14 to 17 kilometres up the coast from 5th Avenue, on the highway toward Puerto Morelos. Resorts there, such as Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun and El Dorado Maroma, sell themselves under Riviera names, not Playa del Carmen. Plan on a taxi for every trip into town. Book Maroma for a week on the beach, and weigh it against the other adults-only resorts in Riviera Maya.

4. Is Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen the old Hilton?

That’s right: Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen used to be the Hilton Playa del Carmen, and it left the Hilton system to run under Hyatt. The building and the beach by 5th Avenue are the same. It stays adults-only, and guests must be 18 or older. Older trip reports under the Hilton name describe this same hotel.

5. Can you walk from Playacar to 5th Avenue?

From Royal Hideaway Playacar, the walk to 5th Avenue takes around 20 minutes, a stretch of 2.2 to 2.7 kilometres. A taxi covers it in a few minutes, which suits the trip back after a late dinner. Walk there in daylight and ride back after dark, and the distance stops mattering.

6. How do you get to Cozumel from Playa del Carmen?

Take the ferry from the terminal where 5th Avenue meets the beach, beside the main ADO bus station. The crossing takes 40 to 45 minutes. Several companies run the route, so compare departures at the pier and check the terminal printed on your ticket. From the downtown hotels, the terminal is a walk; from Km 299 or Playacar, take a taxi.

7. Does the Tren Maya stop in Playa del Carmen?

Yes, Playa del Carmen has its own Tren Maya station, on the edge of town off Avenida Colosio, about 6 kilometres from the centre. It sits well away from the ADO bus station and the beach, so take a taxi between the train and your hotel. Downtown hotels are a short ride from it; Km 299 resorts are a longer one.