Moving to Playa del Carmen with Kids

Last Updated on Feb 20, 2024

Have you decided to move to Mexico with your family? Great choice! Playa del Carmen is a great spot to be with the kids, especially if you’re looking for a community of both expats and locals.

I’ll always tell you to first visit and see if you like the place. Then rent for a few months to see if you didn’t just get charmed with the place and long-term reality looks different. Only then proceed to buy a place.

Lifestyle in Playa del Carmen with Kids

Playa del Carmen has a large expat community. In some spots 2/3 of the population are expats, but I always recommend not closing yourself to just an expat community.

Some say that Playa has no culture, but I disagree – those who don’t bother to learn the language and only hang out with expats might say that, but it’s just like anywhere else in Mexico if you enter the local community. All places like Playa del Carmen, Cancun, or even Tulum has a tourist site and local site.

Living in Playa del Carmen is pretty quiet overall. You might think that it’s a party town when you’re a tourist, but as a local, you’ll notice that there are no events like Christmas markets, big parties or fairs. It’s more of a “jungle beach life” but with amenities like supermarkets, nice apartments, and shops. Not too commercialized thankfully.

On the bright side there are plenty of things to do in the area. You can pop into cenotes for a few hours, stroll through the beach, head to the jungle, find lakes, or head to Cancun to get the big city life… anything you want really.

There aren’t many playgrounds in downtown areas (centro), because locals mostly venture to places where tourists don’t. But, if you ask around you’ll notice that it’s not like they’re non-existent.

The weather is normally warm, but it can get rainy and cold during hurricane season. We always left Playa and went traveling during that time, to be honest.

Playa del Carmen is pretty safe for families, incomparably safer than Tulum in fact.

Overall, you’ll have more time to spend with your family due to lower costs of living and access to more amenities that will free up your time if you’re coming on a foreign salary (eg. housekeeper, babysitters, maintenance). That’s also why various single parents make a decision to move to Mexico with their child as well.

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Cost of Living in Playa del Carmen with a Family

This depends on what kind of place do you want to live, age of your kids, your necessities, and various other factors. The minimum I recommend for a family would be at least $1500-2000.

If you have a baby and skip babysitters and school, only stick to walkable places in the centro and don’t eat out much then you can probably survive on $1000 a month.

However, that’s forgetting the cost of health insurance which most expats ignore and that’s a dangerous thing to do – travel insurance won’t work for many things, especially if you’re coming from the US (why not is. atopic for an entirely separate post).

If you’re planning on working locally you won’t make the same as you were elsewhere, but you will be able to afford the necessities.

Buying a Car in Playa del Carmen

Once you sort your residency out you can proceed to buy a car. Do you need a car in Playa del Carmen? It depends on some factors.

If you’re just a tourist you can totally get away without it by living in centro and biking around. I know families who were able to get away without a car even with kids. However…

I will say that most likely you need a car unless you’re single. Better schools might be further away from you. It’s much more convenient going to bigger shops like Costco or Mega with a car than dragging it all with a taxi.

There is public transportation such as collectivos. They don’t go everywhere and it’s not everyone’s preferred form of transportation with little kids.

Many places where actual expats (not occasional expats that stay 2-3 months) live aren’t in the center. To get there and around you need a car. With a car, you’re also able to explore more and take day trips on your own rather than being doomed to taxis (which are very frustrating and expensive during high seasons).

Shipping a Car to Mexico

If you’re thinking of shipping your car to Mexico (or driving it if you’re in the US) it’s possible in some situations. You can drive and register your car in Mexico with a temporary residence permit.

If you’re coming down to Mexico with a permanent residency straight away then you won’t be able to register your car in Mexico as the law requires you to purchase a car locally.

In most cases, it’s really not worth bringing your car. Don’t get too attached to your vehicle as you may need to pay import and sales taxes and other fees associated with bringing a vehicle into Mexico. It’s cheaper to sell and buy locally.

Healthcare in Playa del Carmen

Most minor medical issues can be handled by local hospitals and clinics. There are also free walk-in clinics at pharmacies you can use if you speak Spanish.

You can also go to Cancun to handle more serious issues. I gave birth in Cancun while living in Playa del Carmen.

Babysitting in Playa del Carmen

There are various babysitting agencies and private people. I personally recommend Kangaroo the Babysitting Crew – everyone I met was lovely and always made it fun for the kids.

It’s super easy to arrange other things for kids like swim lessons, sports clubs and language teachers. Most things spread through the word of mouth and don’t really have a website (or it’s a bad one), so don’t be surprised that everything is handle on WhatsApp.

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Best Schools in Playa del Carmen

Most parents opt for private schools for their little ones. The good news is that in Playa del Carmen there are many great schools.

Mexican children don’t tend to go to bed early during weekends and school vacation periods, so you’ll frequently see children out late enjoying themselves with their parents. Most schools start at 9 am.

Here are a few recommended options:

Kookay – preschool and early education camps. Eco jungle school almost entirely outside.

Ak Lu’Um International School – Waldorf school in the jungle.

Colegio Ingles – bilingual accredited school with lots of extracurricular activities.

Colegio Montessori – bilingual Montessori school.

Comunidad Educativo El Papalote – from preschool to high school. Multicultural Waldorf school.

El Arbol Green School Playacar – green eco-school for all ages.

Yits’Atil – Preschool to secondary. Right downtown.

If you’re looking for preschool or school only for a few months your best bet is to contact Kookay and Yits’Atil as they allow short-term enrollments.

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What About Other Towns Nearby?

Tulum

What about Tulum? Raising kids in Tulum is absolutely the worst idea. While Tulum is a popular Instagram location in reality it’s full of issues.

Tulum is getting overrun by foreign investors who don’t care about infrastructure. As a result, the place is not only pushing locals away from it but also canalization is close to non-existent and things get dumped into the ocean, new roads cannot be built and internet connection is just awful.

As a result, Tulum is getting more and more dangerous, less local which means fewer things to actually do and schools are pretty bad, and awful for longer stays.

Merida

Moving to Merida is a popular option in the area for families and retirees because it’s safe and significantly cheaper than other spots on the Yucatan Peninsula. You can get a fantastic villa with various bedrooms and a pool for less than 300k.

There are a ton of great schools, good beaches nearby and it’s safe for kids.

Before you buy, visit Merida, especially in warmer months – February or the summer. For me, personally, it was awful due to the number of bugs and humidity and I wasn’t the biggest fan of food over there and found people not as warm and welcoming as in other places in Mexico. But, various of my friends like it.