Playa del Carmen, Mexico – Ten p.m. is early evening at the Blue Parrot Beach Club. Moroccan goatskin lamps emit a soft glow; luxurious rugs cushion sand floors. Instead of pulling up stools to the bar, patrons sit on swings, swaying to a pounding dance beat. Hours hence, a choreographed fire show will explode on a stage near the ocean. And now the international socialites arrive.
Amir, a former Israeli basketball star here to celebrate his birthday, arrives by Vespa and employs a unique skill – the ability to call a woman beautiful in six languages. (Around here, guapa works best.) Enzio from Monaco and Steve from Kansas quickly join the party. All three may have respectable day jobs, but the atmosphere at night is as decadent as any world traveler might wish.
An observant local sums up the company as new money, old money and no money. Gilligan might have come here to get plastered; but Thurston Powell might have too. In short, this may be the Maya Riviera, but is there any reason Playa del Carmen shouldn’t feel like the Casbah?
“Twenty years ago in Playa, there was a dirt road through town and one traffic light,” says Tom Doody, a Chicago transplant who owns and runs the Blue Parrot complex with his wife, Pam Robins. “The Blue Parrot was the only place to stay.”
The hotel’s original owner was a mysterious beachcomber who might have been invented by Jimmy Buffett. He set up his beachfront hotel in what was then a quintessentially sleepy Mexican village, entertaining guests who flew to Cozumel and ferried over to Playa on a whim.
“To give you an idea, he decided at one point to put stronger doors on the hotel rooms so the wild pigs wouldn’t snuffle their way into someone’s honeymoon,” Doody recalls.
Hurricane largely spared Playa
Many years later, Tom and Pam celebrated their own Playa honeymoon and decided to stay. Like many of the formerly high-powered businesspeople who can’t seem to stay away, they adjusted to the slower pace of Mexican entrepreneurship and flourished. They have since expanded the hotel’s original 39 rooms to 23 suites and 18 rooms overlooking their new restaurant, Playasia. Hurricane Rita’s assault last fall only intensified their desire to stay.
“The sea came into town for 36 hours,” recalls Tom, who had escaped to inland Mexico by the time the storm hit. “It taught us about everything we take for granted, and we won’t do that again.”
Hurricane Rita was heart-stopping for the Playa locals, almost all of whom make their livings from tourism, but the damage is barely visible. You have to look up past street level even to be aware that the tops of some buildings and a lot of trees were savaged. Meanwhile, reconstruction proceeds frenetically. On an evening walk, you might see a deserted bar. But 24 hours later, it is wide open for business, candles flickering in open-air patios sectioned off with fluttering white curtains. And is that a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling of a humble palapa?
Shifting to that low gear
As always, there is plenty to do in and around Playa, though one of the best options is to do very little – less a beach-vacation mode than an approximation of Paris street life. In the stretch between Little Italy – so named for its Italian restaurants run by actual Italians – and Playacar, you might hear 10 foreign languages. The people you see lunching at a Fifth Avenue cafe could easily be part of your social circle by cocktail hour.
Though average condo prices have recently soared from about $100,000 to more than $300,000, the town retains a slightly eccentric quality, with no building allowed to top three stories. The more prefab amenities – golf courses, all-inclusive high-rise hotels, blocks-long shopping strips full of the same franchises you find at home – are a few miles south in Playacar.
And unlike at these tourist-designed oases, the Playa beach is more a launchpad for fishing boats and less a pristine white-sand lounging area. You won’t find much in the way of parasailing or jet-ski rentals. All that American get-up-and-go just doesn’t seem to fit. Once in a while, a jogger sweats down Fifth Avenue … and people stare.
And if you must be active …
Not that there aren’t ways to stay active nearby. In addition to the more famous Xel-Ha nature park, several smaller companies have jumped into ecotourism. Alltournative Off-Track Adventures offers a selection of jungle activities, including “cohabiting with native peoples,” which turns out to mean a casual outdoor lunch after a morning’s adventure. After a quick, flat, mountain bike ride, guests are given a quick zip lining lesson and soon find themselves shooting along a slim wire high above the jungle vegetation and the sunken pools known as cenotes. There’s nothing dangerous or technical about zip lining, but it does qualify as extreme kicks.
“OK, I once got my Harley up to 150 miles per hour,” says a tourist from Michigan, “but that last zip line got my heart pounding.”
Snorkeling through the cenotes is a welcome and cooling change of pace – occasionally, you see the lights of cave-divers scuba-exploring far below. Then comes the ultimate chill-out: a lazy inner tube float, followed by native dishes served with irresistible homemade tortillas.
Back in Playa, night descends. If you can manage to stay awake long enough, all kinds of Euro-decadence await. In the meantime, you might settle on a beach chair – or, at the Blue Parrot, a beach bed. Pay a strolling musician to play you something off-the- beaten-CD track. (This is no time for the Mexican Hat Dance.) In the distance, you will see the lights of the floating Vegases known as cruise ships. Fun may be nonstop there, but it’s a little obvious.
Insider’s guide
GET THERE
Frontier and United airlines fly nonstop from Denver to Cancun. From there, it is about 45 minutes to Playa del Carmen, by taxi, van or hotel transportation.
STAY
The Blue Parrot Hotel, Blue Parrot Suites and Blue Parrot at Fifth Avenue: A three-hotel boutique complex that includes 80 rooms, from beachfront and condo amenities to a more hip, urban ambiance. Rates and information at blueparrot.com or (011-52) 984-873-0083.
Alltournative Off-Track Adventures:
A variety of jungle and cenote tours, with roundtrip transportation to and
from Playa: rates and information at 01-984-873-0083 or alltournative.com. Several Fifth Avenue storefronts.
EAT
A selection of Fifth Avenue eateries:
Playasia features a series of gorgeous wooden decks on stilts over indoor waterfalls. Exotic, romantic and known for carved-ice platters of ultra-fresh sashimi.
Au Cacao sits just off Fifth at Constituyente, perfect for after-dinner chocolates in candy form, or try the ever-so-slightly-bitter hot cocoa. All locally grown ingredients.
Café Corazon is run by New York ex-pat Allison Fonte, a beautiful, folk-art-festooned café indispensable to anyone requiring a strong morning jolt. Check out the love notes in the communal notebook. Las Delicias offers tortilla soup and must-have margaritas made from little but tequila and the freshest lime juice. They’ll put you off sweet-and-sour mix for life.
Deseo is known for its bar and is the hands-down hippest night spot. Minimalist and almost intimidatingly chic. Guests drink margaritas from the comfort of king-size beds.
Acá Los Tacos is cheap, fast and wonderful.
Ciao Gelato offers the perfect foil to the overpriced Häagen Dazs just steps away.
Fruti Yogurth serves up perfectly fresh tropical fruit crammed into smoothies that will keep you going all day.
