Playa del Carmen Travel Forum

Our family is going to visit Playa del Carmen in December for two weeks.
Our plan is to rent a car for 5 days. Is it safe to drive there? We two children so we thing it is easier to travel by car with them.
Is it easy to find the mayan ruins etc.?

We are staying at the Riu palace Mexico, any comments on the hotel?

Hola!

Driving in Mexico is not particularly difficult, and the roads in Yucatan are generally good. There are, however, some different rules and road signs. For information, I suggest you consult the People's Guide to Mexico, which has an entire chapter on driving in Mexico, and the AAA Mexico guidebook, which also focuses on driving. In addition to being packed with information, the People's Guide is a very entertaining read, and I recommend it to anyone traveling independently in Mexico.

The routes to ruins sites are well marked, but I suggest you get a good map of Mexico before you go. The rental car maps aren't always that detailed.

A word of caution: Avoid driving at night. If there is any criminal activity in the area, nighttime is when it happens. Also, some rural areas are open range, and livestock can wander onto the highway. Drive defensively. Mexicans (like Americans) sometimes drive recklessly. If you see an oncoming in your lane, get out of the way; don't insist on the right-of-way. If you come to a one-lane bridge or stretch of road, remember that the first car to flash its lights has the right-of-way.

Buena suerte,

Martha Racine Taylor (Author of Spanish-Live It and Learn It! The Complete Guide to Language Immersion Schools in Mexico)

I would suggest taking tours, maybe private tours, yes it may cost more but is safer. Corruption includes fines, cost- how much do you have in your wallet.
Small chance perhaps.

We have never had a problem driving in Mexico. We have only had problems getting fuel. We were charged for Premium when we got regular and once, the pump wasn't reset prior to us filling up and we were charged a great deal more than what we actually got.
So...
Get out of your car and make sure the pump is zero'd out prior to filling up.
Make sure you get the type of gas you request.

Other than that, I would say driving yourselves is the best way to go.

I would add the following to what has already been mentioned about driving in Mexico.

I would also suggest that driving at night is to be avoided. Besides the reasons mentioned, all towns have speed bumps (topes), and we found that not all of them were marked. These topes are major bumps in the highway, so hitting them with any speed at all will propel all of you to the roof of the car faster than you dreamed possible.

The other rule that almost caused us grief was the passing-on-the-highway rule. In Canada, we normally signal left to turn left. DON'T DO THIS IN MEXICO. Signalling left on the highway is a signal to the driver behind you that it is OK to pass. We signalled, and were about to turn left, and almost got wiped out by the car behind us who was in the process of passing us. The proper way is to signal right, get off the road, then when there is no traffic, turn left.

We rented a car three times from Buster Rent a Car over the course of three weeks and never had a problem. Just watch out for the killer speed bumps.