Playa del Carmen is on the Yucatan peninsula, about 40 miles south of Cancun and across the channel from Cozumel. See the view from above! It has beautiful beaches, primarily non-American tourists, and is a surprisingly short flight from the US.

• What's nearby?

• Beach!
• Some of the best snorkeling ever
• Great SCUBA.. reefs supposedly second in length only to the Great Barrier Reef, a ship graveyard off-shore at the Chinchorro Banks (more than 200 wrecks), cenote cavern dives...
• Mayan ruins!
• Guatemala and Belize are close (if you want more ruins).
• Deep-sea fishing, windsurfing, skydiving, etc.