re: Playa del carmen info? Anyone been?

Playa's fun. We rented a house a little north in Puerto Morelos and then drove in to Playa to explore. The beach side of the interstate was nice. Inland side of the interstate was your typical Mexican urban area. Look in to Puerto Morelos. A little cheaper than Playa and gives you a laid back base to explore from.

Just a word of advice, if you take the ferry to Cozumel, note that there are two companies that do the ferries and they alternate times. Don't get suckered into buying a round trip ticket. Buy one way so you're not stuck waiting two hours for the other ferry.