The Guide To The Best Beach Clubs in Playa del Carmen: Prices & More

This post may contain affilliate links. It means that if you buy something through one of these links, we might get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate commission helps us keep this travel blog running.

Heading to Playa del Carmen & not sure which beach to use? Don’t worry, in this post, I wanted to share with you the guide to the best beach clubs in Playa del Carmen. We’ll go through the prices, menus, opening times, quality of food and the quality of the beds on the beach.

If you’re new to this blog, hi! We are Liza and Jose, a millennial couple based in London, UK. Jose (long for Pepe) was born and raised in Mexico, hence, as you can imagine, we travel to Mexico quite often. This year was our third time visiting Cancun & Riviera Maya, and this time, we also managed to stay in Playa del Carmen for a bit longer. Interested in more posts about Mexico? Check our Mexico blog posts category!

Without further ado, let’s get started!

Playa Del Carmen beach clubs: which one should you pick?

There are quite a few beach clubs in Playa Del Carmen, however, the beach isn’t equally great in all the Playa. I recommend using the stretch of the beach that is marked in green. The red one has a lot of seaweed and rocks at the entrance, and I wouldn’t recommend it.

Do you need to pay for a beach club to use a beach in Playa del Carmen?

If you’re wondering whether you need to pay for a beach club to use a beach in Playa Del Carmen, then no, you don’t have to! All the beaches are public in Playa Del Carmen, so you can arrive at whichever part of the beach you fancy and sit there. If you’re wondering, where are the best beaches in Playa del Carmen, I like the beaches slightly outside Playa!

If you’re comfortable to walk for 40-50 minutes on the beach, head to the right to PLAYACAR (we reached as far as Palmaia and the beach was stunning and empty). Alternatively, head to the public beach on the left – it’s also very lovely, much nicer than the beaches in the heart of Playa del Carmen (and less crowded, too). Make sure to bring a beach umbrella with you, great sunscreen like this one and an inflatable beach lounger.

However, if you want to visit a beach club – you’ll be paying for a sunbed, a parasol and food and drinks and comfort, of course. Some beach clubs also have entertainment – live DJ and dancers.

Kool beach club

Opening hours: 9am – 5pm
Price: 400 MXN per person for a bed in the swimming pool area
600 MXN for a beach bed (used as credit for food and drink)

Kool beach club is a large beach club very close to Mamitas Beach. It has a swimming pool and loud music, however, it’s not a party club, at least in the first half of the day. Most people visiting are couples and families from nearby hotels.

Drinks at Kool beach club are okay, quesadillas are mediocre, and ceviches are good!

To be fair, I liked Kool beach club a lot, however, it found it a bit overpriced. My favourite thing about Kool is the beach – while I liked some other beach clubs more; Kool really had a lovely beach with a perfect entrance to the sea.

Martina Beach Club

Opening hours: 8am – 7pm
Price: 150-200 per bed, 500 for a cabana, 100 MXN if it has a partnership with your hotel

Martina Beach club is located a bit further away, on the stretch of the beach just after the Mahekal resort. It’s one of the most affordable beach clubs, however, the price doesn’t include any food credit. The beds are quite uncomfortable unless you manage to get one with a mattress. However, for that, you need to arrive early, as the number of mattresses is limited.

Martina Beach club is a party club – there is a tiny swimming pool where parties are held in the afternoon.

Coralina Daylight Club

Opening hours: 11am – 7pm
Price: 1000 MXN for a cabana (there are only cabanas there)

Coralina Beach club is located just next to the Hyatt Hotel and the Kool beach club. It’s the most expensive beach club in Playa Del Carmen. All the beds are cabanas and they look very comfy, however, the focus of the club is not on the beach, but rather on entertainment. There are dancers and loud music and it’s more of a party place than a beach club.

Mamitas Beach club

Opening hours: 8am – 6pm
Price: 600 MXN (although the prices keep changing so it’s always best to ask at the entrance)

Mamitas Beach Club is the most famous beach club in Playa! It used to have some very fancy beds and cabanas, however, right now, it looks very simple and only had standard sunbeds on the beach. It’s neighbouring Kool beach club, hence that stretch of the beach is really nice.

Mamitas used to be a party place, however, because of the pandemic it has switched its focus and invested in a large number of sunbeds instead of DJ and entertainment.

Summary of the best beach clubs in Playa del Carmen

There are four main beach clubs in Playa del Carmen. As you can see, there aren’t that many! There are some other clubs like Mandarino Beach Club (has horrible reviews, hence, we didn’t want to visit it) and Indigo Beach club that has no beach (it’s all covered by seaweed and you can’t swim there).

I was also surprised that there aren’t that many beach clubs in Playa del Carmen, however, I would imagine a lot of people just go to public beaches instead. If you’re okay bringing you own parasol/umbrella, an inflatable sunbed like this one and a very strong sunscreen like this one, then you should be fine as well!

I have also heard that you can visit the beach of the Mahekal resort for a fee (around $30 per person), so that could be an option for you if you prefer quieter holidays.

If you have any questions, you can send me a message on Instagram! You can find me as @lizatripsget!

Some other posts you might find useful:

Cancun vs Riviera Maya – what are the main differences
Driving to Chichen Itza from Playa del Carmen, Tulum or Cancun
Best resorts in Riviera Maya
Most Instagrammable places in Tulum
The guide to the best places to stay in Tulum (from Aldea Zama to La Veleta and Zona Hotelera)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.