Essential Safety Tips & How to Avoid Scams in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Overall, I felt very safe in Playa del Carmen. My husband and I stayed a few blocks off the tourist street “Quinta Avenida” or “5th Ave,” and we always felt safe walking back at night. I’d say my advice for staying safe here is the same as anywhere: use common sense, be respectful of locals, be alert, and don’t take unnecessary risk.

1. Bill Switching Scam

Most common at gas stations, but the gist of it is that they will make you pay in cash, switch out your bill for a smaller one and then say you haven’t paid enough or give you the wrong change.

This happened to us where the total was 120 pesos and I gave him 500 pesos. He quickly swapped it for a 50 and said I was 70 short. Without hesitation, I sternly said I gave him 500 pesos. Then he laughed a little, said he was mistaken, and gave me the 380 back. If you try to pay with card they might say the machine is broken or your card was declined.

2. Gas Pump Scam

This common scam is the attendant not resetting the pump before filling up your tank. At many gas stations, an attendant will pump the gas for you, but this allows them to sneakily begin pumping before they have reset the pump. So if you ask for 300 pesos worth of gas, you will pay 300 pesos but may only get 150 pesos worth of gas.

Sometimes they’re even sneakier and they’ll show you the pump is at zero, but then pull the gas from a different pump where you can’t see the numbers, potentially adding your charges on top of an existing charge.

3. Fake Taxi

I read a lot about taxi safety before going to Mexico, so we were very careful. Essentially there are plenty of taxis that will try to overcharge for the ride. Official taxis will have meters or a fare sheet they can show you if you ask. When you get in a taxi, just ask how much for your destination and hold them to that.

Some taxi scams aren’t as innocent, where criminals will “borrow” taxis to scam tourists by taking them to an ATM and forcing them to pull out a large sum of cash. I assume this is very rare and can be easily avoided by getting a taxi in the way I explain above.

4. Police

This isn’t technically a scam, but I’ve heard of many tourists getting pulled over driving for small violations such as speeding a little or a rolling stop. Often, the cops just want cash. What I’ve heard being done in this case is listen to the cop and see what they want, then see if you can pay whatever you have on hand in cash to make it go away. Always comply with the local laws and listen to the cops, but they do target foreigners for money, so be smart with the interaction.