They get off the bus. They stand in shock at seeing so many tourists. They immediately hate the place. They book a room and plan to leave the next day. They walk around. They start to like the place. They go to the beach. They now love the place. They eat at a restaurant away from the tourist zone. They now want to move here for a while. They ask me for apartment recommendations. This is the biggest dilemma. Should you try and secure an apartment in Playa del Carmen before you arrive or should you wait until you get here before you begin your search?
Also, consider this. Well, let me ask you… Would it make sense for someone in Japan to search Japanese-language websites in order to try and find an apartment to rent in the USA? Not really. As an example, I have a friend who rented an apartment for one month from an English-language website before actually arriving in Playa del Carmen. There are literally hundreds of excellent apartments available in this town and most of them are not advertised online, especially not in English.
The answer is yes. On the other hand, if you can communicate in Spanish, then you have an advantage in terms of being able to search websites such as VivaStreet.
This is actually the method I used when I returned to Playa del Carmen a couple of months ago. I typically waited in the car, and sometimes in the bushes, while Liz, who is Mexican, negotiated with apartment owners. While this might seem like an uncomfortable question to ask a complete stranger, it is actually quite common here in Mexico and people will usually be more than willing to give out that information.
Apartments will be outrageously expensive for such a short period of time. Given the amount of emails that I receive from people interested in moving to Playa del Carmen, I recently started thinking of ways for me to help make the process easier for everyone. This solution ensures that you end up paying local rents without having to speak Spanish and without having to wait until you arrive in Playa del Carmen to search for an apartment. New blog posts, honest updates from my 21 years of constant travel, personal recommendations and the best of travel from around the world.
