Playa del Carmen, Tulum & The Riviera Maya: Great Destinations Mexico: A Complete Guide (Great Destinations) (Paperback)

~ Joshua Eden Hinsdale (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The definitive guide to this popular destination.

For travelers in the know, Playa del Carmen is the little gem with all the beauty of white sand beaches that has drawn crowds from around the world to Cancun, with none of the high-rise overdevelopment. Playa remains a wonderful, sleepy town on a human scale, yet its discovery has resulted in a wide range of lodging and dining options. For families and adventurous travelers alike, there's something for everyone in this Mexican Riviera, known as the "Riviera Maya." You can explore the fascinating Mayan ruins on the beach at Tulum, shop and have a fabulous lunch on the pedestrian area in Playa, stay in a full-service resort along Playacar, and go for some of the best fishing in the world near the famous Sian Ka'an biosphere in Punta Allen. The Riviera Maya is one of the true travel hot spots in the world today.

As in all the Great Destinations series guides, you'll find important contact information, including websites, transportation details, a calendar of events, an abundance of photos and maps, and essential local information. 100 black & white photographs, 12 maps, lodging & dining indexes.

About the Author

Joshua Eden Hinsdale has worked as a marketing consultant for various hotels and tourism companies throughout Mexico. He has continued to work in the Riviera Maya, writing hotel reviews for Expedia.com, Hotels.com, and Custom Classic Vacations, providing guide services and doing freelance travel writing for a number of publications. He makes frequent trips to the region from his home on Galveston Bay in Kemah, Texas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Countryman; 1 edition (May 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581570325
• ISBN-13: 978-1581570328
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #322,253 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take this book on your next trip to Riviera Maya!, July 18, 2006

By	James Brumfield "Author 'Across the High Lone... (San Juan Bautista, CA, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mr. Hinsdale has penned an excellent travel guide for the Riviera Maya (The Carribean coast line of Mexico), the heart and soul of which is Playa Del Carmen, at least for those looking for something more laid back than the high rises and high octane lifestyle of Cancun. In spite of the rapid growth along this coastline, Playa has managed to retain much of its sleepy, beach bum charm with a very international flavor. The guide is packed full of usefull information for the travler along with an extensive listing of dining and lodging options to fit most every budget. Included are plenty of pictures that give an idea of what to expect when you get there. The guide also gives the traveler plenty of ideas for adventure and fun, from touring ancient ruin sites to cenote diving with good descriptions of each of these adventures (you'll run out of money or time before you run out of things to do!). All the needed contact information is included. The guide books side boxes also make for fun reading. These are gray colored boxes located on almost every page that are full of interesting information and or fascinating facts about the area. I had fun just paging through the book and reading these side bars. If I had to find one fault in the book is that its coverage of the ruins sites, while adequate, does not give much depth; so if you are planning any extensive visits to the ruin sites I would pick up a guide covering those sites. For the casual traveler this book will be sufficient. I would Highly recommend this guide to anyone headed to Riviera Maya. The authors love of this place is evident along with the joy he gets from sharing it with others! (And if you are looking for a fun beach read check out my thriller novel "!")A Tourist In The Yucatan

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Outdated an only has positive reviews, December 30, 2007

By	Robert Deutsch "Blackberry fan" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This may have been a fine guide in the past (published 2006, info from 2005... and now it is 2008). The area has developed rapidly and pricing in the guide has basically doubled. Numerous great hotels are not listed, and many restaurants no longer exist or have moved or the telephone number has changed. This guide is limted in its usefulness. The guide is focused on the tourist as opposed to the traveler and does a fine job of guiding you through the various tourist options. It does a very poor job of helping you get to some of the less crowded places.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 2nd Edition could have used a lot of work, February 3, 2009

By	Stanley Townsend (Portland OR, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Playa del Carmen, Tulum & the Riviera Maya: Great Destinations Mexico: A Complete Guide, Second Edition (Paperback)

Just returned from a trip to Riviera Maya. I researched pretty thoroughly before purchasing Hinsdale's guide book and did so largely due to the recent release of this 2nd Edition. My impression is that more work needed to have been done and that it is essentially still a 2005 edition. I found (make that failed to find) several Playa restaurants closed, non existent, or mislocated. Tried to find a few beaches based on the guide, going to the specified Km post and finding an entrance to a mega-resort instead of the described dirt road. Tragically, such change is occurring rapidly to this stretch of coast, but I have to believe that a lot was not checked in putting together this 2nd Ed.

That said, Hinsdale's might be the best guide out there. In most guide books, the Riviera Maya is a chapter at best.