Playa del Carmen in December: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and Prices

PLAYA DEL CARMEN · DECEMBER · QUINTANA ROO

December in Playa del Carmen means 87.1°F afternoons, sea water at 82.4°F and a hurricane season that closed on November 30. It also brings nights that average 63.7°F and a sunset at 6:11 p.m., the two December details a beach vacation plan should account for.

Playa started in 1937 as a small fishing settlement and counted 304,942 residents in the 2020 census, second only to Cancun in Quintana Roo. A December visit comes down to three dated questions: how warm the water is, how much rain falls, and whether November or January would treat the same trip better. Lodging and neighborhoods are covered in our Playa del Carmen guide.

On this page

• Playa del Carmen weather in December87.1°F highs, 63.7°F lows and 5.0 rain days
• Can you swim in Playa del Carmen in December?Sea at 82.4°F, from the marine API
• Is Playa del Carmen crowded in December?Airports, the Visitax fee and Xcaret pricing
• Things to do in Playa del Carmen in DecemberCozumel ferry, Xcaret hours and cenotes
• Playa del Carmen itinerary for DecemberTwo days built around a 6:11 p.m. sunset
• December vs November or January in Playa del CarmenSea at 84.3°F, 82.4°F and 81.6°F
• Is December a good time to visit Playa del Carmen?Who it suits, and which month to pick instead

Hurricane Wilma struck this coast in October 2005 and stayed in the area for about two days, one of the storms that shaped the town’s rebuilding. December falls outside the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks on September 10, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October.

Playa del Carmen weather in December: average highs, lows and rain days

Every air figure here comes from Mexico’s national weather service (SMN, part of CONAGUA): the 1991–2020 normals for station 23014 at Leona Vicario, near Puerto Morelos. That thermometer stands about 25 miles north of Playa, the nearest official normals on this stretch of coast, and Playa itself is not measured separately. For December it records an average high of 87.1°F, an average low of 63.7°F and 2.02 inches of precipitation.

SMN counts 5.0 days of measurable rain in an average December, roughly one day in six. On average, 26 of the 31 days go without any. SMN does not publish its rain-day threshold on the station sheet, so the count should not be set beside U.S. rain-day numbers.

The gap between afternoon and night is 23.4°F, from 87.1°F down to 63.7°F. Shorts, swimsuits and sunscreen cover the day. Add one light layer for evenings and for the ride back from anywhere outdoors, since 63.7°F is the average night and cooler ones happen.

On December 15 the sun rises at 7:15 a.m. and sets at 6:11 p.m. in Cancun time, about 10 hours 56 minutes of daylight (the source gives 12:15 and 23:11 UTC, which we converted). A cenote swim, a photo walk or a beach afternoon has to finish by then. Dinner happens after dark.

Can you swim in Playa del Carmen in December? Sea temperature

Off Playa del Carmen, the sea surface averages 82.4°F in December. That figure comes from Open-Meteo’s Marine API, averaged over 2015–2024, and it is a mean of daily maxima, so it runs a shade warmer than a 24-hour average would.

Yes, you can swim, and 82.4°F is swimsuit water for most people. The sea sits 18.7°F above an average December night’s low of 63.7°F, so the chill arrives when you step out after sunset. Bring a towel that wraps and a layer you can pull on over a wet swimsuit.

Our sources carry no December wind or swell data for this coast, so we can’t say how choppy the beach or the Cozumel crossing will be on a given day. We also read no December record of sargassum seaweed and make no claim about it. Check conditions the morning you go, and ask the ferry operator about the crossing.

How busy is Playa del Carmen in December? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series and no monthly hotel rates for Playa del Carmen, so we crown no month expensive or cheap and quote no room price. Hotels set December rates on their own calendars. Price the exact nights of your trip on two or three booking sites before you commit.

We could not verify how far ahead December rooms sell out, so we give no number of weeks. What can be fixed early is the flight: Cancun International (CUN), run by ASUR, lies about 42 miles (68 km) from town, and Tulum International, open since December 2023, sits to the south as the closer option for the southern Riviera Maya. Price a flight into each on your dates. For the basics of planning a trip, start at Travel 101.

Quintana Roo charges foreign tourists a mandatory environmental sanitation fee, the Derecho de Saneamiento Ambiental, known as Visitax, under Article 51 Octies of the state’s Law of Rights. It is payable online at visitax.gob.mx or through authorized companies. We could not confirm the peso amount on the portal, so we give no figure. Check it before you fly.

Xcaret is a budget line where the date you pick sets the price, because the park prices its tickets dynamically. We could not read a current price, so check xcaret.com for your day. The park stays open until 10:30 p.m., more than four hours after the 6:11 p.m. sunset, and its evening show, Xcaret Mexico Espectacular, features more than 300 performers.

Things to do in Playa del Carmen in December

December fits a water day, a park day and a town night into one short vacation without a separate rain plan for each, given 87.1°F afternoons and 5.0 wet days. Daylight ends at 6:11 p.m., so outdoor places go first and Quinta Avenida comes after dark.

Ultramar’s Cozumel ferry departs from the Terminal Maritima NAVEGA on Avenida Benito Juarez. Xcaret Xpress, Grupo Xcaret’s ferry brand, sails the same crossing, but we could not read a current fare or crossing time for either operator. Parque Xcaret, on the coast south of town, opens daily at 8:30 a.m. and advertises more than 50 natural and cultural attractions, from underground rivers and an aviary to a butterfly pavilion and a coral reef aquarium.

For cenotes, the Dos Ojos system and Gran Cenote are both closer to Tulum, with several smaller sites toward Puerto Morelos, each independently run with its own posted price. We have no water temperature for any of them, so December’s effect is on the air: afternoons reach 87.1°F while nights fall to 63.7°F. A midday swim and a drive back before the 6:11 p.m. sunset fit that spread.

Quinta Avenida, a pedestrian street of shops, clubs and restaurants that runs parallel to the beach, costs nothing to walk. It makes an easy evening after a Xcaret or cenote day. We could not verify any free-entry days at the paid sites above, so we list none.

Playa del Carmen itinerary for December

Day one is Xcaret. Sunrise comes at 7:15 a.m., the gates open at 8:30 a.m., and the underground rivers and reef aquarium suit the middle of the day, when the air nears its 87.1°F average high. Sunset at 6:11 p.m. leaves the evening show still ahead (check its start time on xcaret.com), then a late dinner back on Quinta Avenida.

Day two is Cozumel. Reach the Ultramar terminal 30 minutes before departure, and confirm both operators’ crossing times, since we could not read them. If a wet day lands on it (5.0 in an average December), swap it with a beach and Quinta Avenida day: an Ultramar ticket stays valid for six months from purchase. A third day suits the cenotes, with the drive back done before dark.

Playa del Carmen in December vs November and January

Highs barely move: 87.4°F in November, 87.1°F in December and 86.5°F in January, a spread of 0.9°F. Lows drop 2.9°F from November to December, then another 1.1°F to January. December is the driest of the three at 2.02 inches, against 3.54 in November and 2.48 in January, and its 5.0 rain days compare with 5.9 and 6.2. The sea reads 84.3°F, 82.4°F and 81.6°F in the marine API.

A month earlier buys 1.9°F of sea temperature and 2.9°F of night warmth, and costs 1.52 inches more rain plus a trip inside the last month of the hurricane season, though most activity falls between mid-August and mid-October. A month later gives nothing back on the thermometer: the sea loses another 0.8°F, the nights another 1.1°F, and the rain rises by 0.46 inch over 1.2 more wet days.

Is December a good time to visit Playa del Carmen?

Yes for anyone who wants swimming water and mostly dry days: 82.4°F sea, 87.1°F highs, 2.02 inches of rain. Less so for anyone who wants warm evenings, since nights average 63.7°F and the sun is down by 6:11 p.m. The U.S. State Department’s advisory dated May 29, 2026 puts Quintana Roo at Level 2, ‘Exercise increased caution,’ citing terrorism and crime, and advises paying attention after dark and staying on well-lit pedestrian streets and in tourist zones. It names Playa del Carmen among four cities with Tourist Assistance Modules for emergency numbers, legal advice and police-report help.

If evenings matter more than rain, prefer November: nights average 66.6°F and the sea reads 84.3°F, in exchange for 3.54 inches of rain and a month inside the hurricane season’s tail. If another coast suits your dates better, our where-to-go-by-month guides compare other destinations.

December pairs the lowest rainfall of the three months, 2.02 inches over 5.0 rain days, with sea water still at 82.4°F.

The last word

December on this coast is easy to like: spend the daylight on the water and plan the evening around a 6:11 p.m. sunset. Book a flight into Cancun or Tulum on your dates, pay Visitax online at visitax.gob.mx, and pack one layer for 63.7°F nights. The town sits about 33 feet above sea level, so the stroll down Quinta Avenida after dark is flat.

Sources & data for this guide

• Air temperature, precipitation and rain days for December, November and January · Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (CONAGUA), normales climatologicas 1991-2020, station 23014 (Leona Vicario, Puerto Morelos, about 25 miles north of Playa; Playa itself is not separately measured) · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Sea surface temperature (mean of daily maxima, 2015-2024) · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Sunrise, sunset and daylight on December 15, converted from UTC to Cancun time · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Hurricane season dates · NOAA National Hurricane Center · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Quintana Roo advisory, Level 2, dated May 29, 2026, and Tourist Assistance Modules · U.S. Department of State, Mexico Travel Advisory · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Visitax environmental sanitation fee · Gobierno del Estado de Quintana Roo · checked Sep 30, 2026 · peso amount not confirmed
• Cozumel ferry terminal, check-in and ticket validity · Ultramar · checked Sep 30, 2026 · Xcaret Xpress fare and crossing time not confirmed
• Parque Xcaret hours, attractions and evening show · Xcaret · checked Sep 30, 2026 · ticket price not confirmed, the operator prices dynamically
• Town founding, 2020 census, elevation, airport distance and Hurricane Wilma · Wikipedia, Playa del Carmen (secondary source) · checked Sep 30, 2026
• We found no occupancy series and no monthly hotel-rate series, so no month is ranked on price. The cenote list is general knowledge, not an official register. Hours, fares and fees change · check operators when you book.