When it comes to Mexico there is no shortage of great beach destinations, including Tripadvisor’s top picks for 2014; Playa del Carmen and Puerto Vallarta. Both of these hotspots offer great beaches, warm weather and delicious food, so how do you decide which one is for you?
We recently spent three months in each town, giving us plenty of time to compare and consider the things we loved about each one. We found that although they do have a lot of similar qualities they have enough differences to make each place unique.
For example they both have beautiful beaches, but one is on the calm turquoise waters of the Caribbean while the other is on the surfer favorite Pacific. Both offer delicious Mexican cuisine but there are small differences in the style of the street food, restaurants and markets. They are both well-developed resort towns offering lots of night life and activities, but they do vary culturally and historically. Put all of these subtleties together along with your own personal preferences and priorities and it should be easier to choose between the two.
We have already created a “Best Of Puerto Vallarta” list so we thought we would go one step further and have our own “Best Of” battle between these two favorites based on our personal experiences and opinions . Feel free to challenge us or add your own “Best” to the list!

Best Scenic Beaches Playa Del Carmen Probably no surprise or argument here since Playa is on the Caribbean sea. It’s pretty tough to beat the turquoise water and powder soft white sand. Xpu-Ha is one of our favorites.

Fun at blissful Xpu-Ha

Best Selection of Restaurants Tie It’s really impossible to choose between Playa Del Carmen and Puerto Vallarta for restaurant selection as they both offer a  wonderful array of varied restaurants from taco stands to world class cuisine. However as you’ll read further on there are  some differences in other restaurant related categories.

Best for Character & Charm Puerto Vallarta Definitely Puerto Vallarta hands down for its charming old town with cobblestone streets and quaint buildings. Playa del  Carmen didn’t stand much of a chance in this category as it is more of a planned tourist destination with very little old  world character.

Our Lady Of Guadalupe, Puerto Vallarta

Best Street Food Puerto Vallarta Although Playa Del Carmen has its share of taco stands we found that Puerto Vallarta offers a lot more options for  consistently good street food.

Street tacos

Best Nightlife Playa Del Carmen In some ways we preferred Puerto Vallarta for its more laid back nightlife along the Malecon and Old Town, however if  high energy and dancing all night is what you’re looking for then Playa is your place. With its blocks of nightclubs and bars  around 5th Avenue plus the Vegas style Coco Bongo it’s really hard to beat.

Best Public Transportation Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta has a fabulous bus system which will take you all over the city and beyond for one low price whereas Playa’s buses are much more limited and mainly just run up and down 30th Avenue

Best Watersports Tie Our first thought was Playa del Carmen in this category due to the superior snorkeling and scuba diving however the scales are more balanced when you account for the surfing waves of the Pacific. We personally spent more hours on the water in Puerto Vallarta due to the fact that you can generally negotiate the price of a boat ride more than in Playa but overall they have pretty much the same options. Parasailing, jet skis, paddle boards, fishing…you name it they both have it. You can watch a video of one of our days out on the water in Puerto Vallarta.

Fishing trip in Puerto Vallarta

Best Selection of Accommodations Playa Del Carmen Playa Del Carmen and the surrounding area definitely have more in the way of luxury and all-inclusive resorts whereas Puerto Vallarta offers more in the way of condos and smaller hotels. In looking at the overall picture though we would say that Playa del Carmen wins for having more variety.

Grand Park Royal

Best For Friendliness Puerto Vallarta It’s not that Playa del Carmen is particularly unfriendly but we did find Puerto Vallarta to be a bit more open and welcoming. We attribute this mainly to the fact that Puerto Vallarta is slightly less touristy than Playa and that there are many people (especially snowbirds) that return to Puerto Vallarta year after year often for months at a time. This tends to create more of a community feel as visitors and proprietors have time to develop relationships.

Best Bang For Your Buck (Food, Drink & Activities) Puerto Vallarta With the development explosion in Playa Del Carmen comes an increase in prices. Although some prices are pretty comparable between the two towns, overall we have to say that you have a much better chance of staying within your budget in Puerto Vallarta. We were able to scout out far more options for mid and low-priced food and drink in Puerto Vallarta including our favorite $1 Margaritas beach side at the Sea Monkey! Here are some ways we saved money in Puerto Vallarta.

$1 Margs at Sea Monkey

Best Vendor Free Beaches Playa Del Carmen There is a law in Playa Del Carmen that does not allow for beach vendors. This means that unlike in Puerto Vallarta you won’t have to be repeating the phrase ‘No, gracias.’ every 10 minutes to sellers of everything from sarongs to sunglasses and donuts to drugs. The downside is that you actually have to get off your butt to hunt down that coco frio or henna tattoo.

Beautiful Caribbean beach

Best Town For Romance Puerto Vallarta Surprisingly (even to ourselves) we had to go with Puerto Vallarta on this one. Despite the beautiful Caribbean beaches in Playa Del Carmen there are just so many more romantic, candlelit, beach side restaurants where you can watch the sunset in Puerto Vallarta like La Palapa which we experienced here. Plus you have the bonus of strolling along the quiet cobblestone streets of old town after dinner as opposed to the rowdy 5th Ave of Playa. *Note that this is based on the town itself, not accounting for the exotic and romantic resorts along the Riviera Maya

Best For A Family Vacation Playa Del Carmen This again could be a tie as the beaches of Puerto Vallarta are generally more kid friendly but Playa Del Carmen wins out because of all of the amazing theme parks such as Xel-Ha and X-Plore

Xel-Ha

Best For A Destination Wedding Playa Del Carmen The combination of the captivating Caribbean backdrop and the abundance of lavish beach side resorts make Playa Del Carmen a clear choice for a destination wedding.

Best For Living Puerto Vallarta Having spent almost three months in each place we can say without a doubt that for us Puerto Vallarta is the better option if we were to stay long term again. Puerto Vallarta is just more livable, feels less touristy and is overall less expensive than Playa Del Carmen. We also found it much easier to develop friendships and get involved in the community. You can read about our experience in finding a temporary home in Puerto Vallarta here and in Playa del Carmen here.

Yoga by the pool at our home in Puerto Vallarta

Best For Cultural Events Puerto Vallarta Probably due to the reasons above we found Puerto Vallarta to offer more in the way of cultural and community events. They have community centers, live theater and plenty of art galleries. One of our favorite things to do in Puerto Vallarta was the Southside Shuffle which you can read more about here. Best For Shopping Tie This is a very subjective choice as it depends on what you’re looking for. Playa del Carmen has more in the way of designer label and high end boutiques but Puerto Vallarta has better every day shopping. As you would expect they are pretty comparable when it comes to souvenirs and local crafts so ultimately we gave it a tie. Best For Excursions & Day Trips Playa del Carmen Although Playa del Carmen is a base for some fantastic day trips such as Bucerias, Sayulita and Yelapa, to name just a few, Playa del Carmen wins this one as it boasts the ruins of Tulum and Chichen Itza, the numerous Xcaret theme parks and the beautiful islands of Cozumel and Isla Mujeres. In addition to those listed they both offer many great snorkeling, fishing, diving and party boat excursions as well as zip lines and other more adventurous activities. You can learn all you need to know about a day trip to Xel-Ha (one of the Xcaret theme parks) here.

Sayulita

Best Weather Puerto Vallarta This is another one that we found difficult to decide as they both boast perfect weather depending on what time of year you visit. Ultimately we went with Puerto Vallarta simply because the humidity and rainfall tend to be a little less than in Best Scenery Tie Definitely a toss-up for us. Puerto Vallarta has the mountains whereas Playa del Carmen is as flat as a pancake but then Playa has the turquoise waters and powder white sand whereas the water and sand in PV is a little less spectacular. They both have blue skies and palm trees along with tropical flora and fauna so when you lay it all out it really is tough to decide…so we didn’t. Best For Markets Puerto Vallarta With the old town market along the river plus the Zapata food market and the weekend craft and farmers markets Playa del Carmen is no match for Puerto Vallarta in this category.

Yelapa, Mexico

Best For Sunsets Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta beaches and the malecon boast a front row seat for spectacular sunsets as they face West whereas Playa beaches face Southeast.

Puerto Vallarta sunset

It looks like for us at least Puerto Vallarta wins by a small margin which is actually a bit of a surprise to me. This was my first visit to Puerto Vallarta as I had always been pulled by the lure of the exotic Caribbean and had therefore just assumed I would prefer Playa del Carmen. Creating this comparison really opened my eyes to how much I’d been missing by making assumptions and dismissing the Pacific coast of Mexico…I guess that’s what travel is really all about.
We’d love to hear your opinions on this debate. Playa del Carmen or Puerto Vallarta; what is your pick and why?