When you come to Hotel La Semilla in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, you will notice that our property is quite different from the stereotypical atmosphere you may have heard about in Playa del Carmen. From the first moment that you step foot onto our property you’ll hear the quiet hum of nature: the melodic chirping of birds, babbling water and the breeze through the trees on our garden terrace. Our guests like to have a certain type of experience in Playa del Carmen, one that is authentic and tranquil—far from the tourist areas that seem to garner more attention than they are worth.

For us, Playa del Carmen is full of subtle beauty and quiet, tucked away corners where you can connect with nature. It is a place with unbelievable beauty and pristine beaches. In this post, we would like to share with you our favorite beaches in Playa del Carmen. We are partial to more secluded areas with local appeal. This means that most of our choices are far from the main strip and don’t have access to beach clubs or restaurants. If you are like us, you won’t mind packing a lunch, grabbing a cozy towel, and journeying beyond the most popular spots. Here are our top 3 recommendations for the quietest beaches in Playa del Carmen.

Calle 38 ( 38^th Street)
Located at the end of our street, the beach access at Calle 38 is the perfect place to spend the day. Just a 5-minute walk from Hotel la Semilla, you’ll arrive at the beach to discover a popular yet much less crowded stretch of sand. This beach is still convenient as there are a handful of restaurants near the beach entrance. There is also one boutique resort on the beach where you can rent chairs and an umbrella if desired. This beach is a good option if you want a nice balance between accessibility and tranquility.

Coco Reef
If you continue to walk north towards 48^th street, you’ll arrive at Coco Reef. This area and beyond are considered the most secluded beaches in Playa del Carmen. While there are no restaurants, beach clubs, or bars you can enjoy this virtually secluded beach in near privacy save for a few locals and fishing boats that pass by. It is also considered one of the best places to snorkel in Playa del Carmen. Important to note, Coco Reef isn’t easily accessible. The best route is to walk along 5^th Ave until you reach 48^th street and walk onto the beach from there. The beaches just south of this area have become quite eroded due to natural causes over time, which may make it difficult to walk if you are carrying a lot of things.

Playacar Beach
The beach of Playacar is located within a residential community and is a 10-minute taxi ride from Hotel La Semilla. The beach is well kept by the community management and you’ll find that the sea and surrounding areas are unspoiled. There are clusters of palm trees that line the area offering shade, which is nice as the sun gets extremely hot here in Mexico. We suggest getting to this beach early, as the shaded areas tend to fill up with local residents on the weekends.

Regardless of where you choose to spend your beach day in Playa del Carmen, we encourage you to find the shores that are off the “beaten path.” There are wonderful things to discover and experiences to have if you allow yourself to explore and get wrapped up in the amazing nature that surrounds us.

“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” -Tecumseh

Everyone struggles to stay thankful. It does not always come naturally. It’s much easier to think about all the things we don’t have and dwell on negativity – especially during difficult times. But, there is a solution: gratitude. Being grateful benefits both physical and mental health.

There’s no better place to reveal some simple ways we can practice gratitude and having a positive mindset than Hotel La Semilla & Villa La Semilla.

Be thankful – not just today, but every day!

STAY OPTIMISTIC. How not to be in paradise?

Although our future is uncertain, never lose your hope and always make an effort to see the positive side. Instead of sweating small things and thinking about the negative, you can have peace knowing that even though the sun goes down, it will rise again the next day. Live the experience in any of our two La Semilla properties and let life take its course.

FOCUS ON BLESSINGS

They recognize and appreciate their blessings. We can’t be grateful without being mindful of life’s many benefits and the rich blessings we have been given. There is no “Oh, woe is me” mentality here.

Try It: Try making your own gratitude list! Take some time to jot down some things you are grateful for (these could be long-term or everyday things), and spend some time reflecting.

Photo by @black_palms

GRATITUDE TO NATURE

Like a garden, gratitude requires nurturing and cultivation. All of us have many, many things to be thankful for, beginning with the infinite gifts from nature — the sun that warms us, the food that the earth provides, the water we drink, and our own physical body. We can be grateful for the friends and family who share our joys and challenges, the myriad people who make up our community, and indeed, all living things and existences in the universe.

LIVE WITH PURPOSE

Living with purpose allows us to make the most of our time on earth and bring meaning to our lives – whether this means acting a certain way or doing something for somebody else. Those who live with purpose find meaning in life’s mundane activities and make an effort to press forward and enter relationships that have lasting, meaningful value.

Photo by @callmecall

Everyone at La Semilla would like to take a moment to say how thankful we are for you, and we hope you have a wonderful LIFE!

What are you thankful for?

“No one is you and that is your power.” –Vybe Source

Self-love is the first step to any successful relationship and genuine happiness in life. So, today grab your favorite treat, find a cozy spot, and curl up with us as we give you a little seasoned advice on how to put yourself first today and every day. A good way to love and pamper yourself: live La Semilla experience.

Here’s 10 things you can do to begin the self-love process today:

Make positive affirmations.
Reframe your mind to be grateful using positive affirmations. Focus on your amazing talents and the things that make you special person you are.

Take care of yourself.
Taking care of yourself means ensuring you are healthy mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Your body and mind should be treated as temples.

Appreciate beauty.
Appreciate the beauty around you! Literally stop and smell the sea, the trees, the flowers. We have everything in our two properties. Sometimes the simple things can make the biggest difference.

Nurture your dreams.
Why deny yourself your dreams? When you nurture your dreams, you enjoy life more. Live life thinking of the future and all the things you’d love to accomplish one day. This fills your life with more purpose and gives you hope. When you nurture your dreams, every moment is filled with joy because you are expressing yourself fully. Include Playa & Soliman Bay in your wish list.

Express gratitude.
Be thankful for you and the person you are. Feel a sense of gratitude that you are alive, healthy, and on the path for success.

Let go of worry.
Be patient and stop worrying! Many times situations are beyond your control, so surrender the outcome if you know something is out of your hands. Worry and fear will get you nowhere, so relax and let nature take its course.

Trust yourself.
Have confidence in your abilities and know you are capable of accomplishing anything you put your mind to.

Grow spiritually.
Whatever makes you more spiritual, do it. Whether it’s prayer, meditation, journaling, etc., when you spend time growing spiritually, loving yourself becomes automatic. You become more peaceful, connected, kind, and compassionate.

Be kind with yourself.
When you start to think kindly and positively about yourself, you go from being your biggest critic to your biggest supporter. Make it a habit to praise yourself everyday and be kind. Understand that perfection is unattainable, so don’t sweat the small stuff!

Love yourself.
No one is perfect and the stress of trying to achieve and maintain perfection is not only rough, but it can eat you up. Take the time to focus on all the wonderful, amazing, positive traits that make you special and unique! Take action and create a beautiful life for yourself.

So, as the words best spoken by La Semilla, “Treat yo’self” today. And every day!

Be limitless for your passion and dedication.

A dream woke us one day. A powerful force for what we were born, so strong that every hour we live, every minute we live, every second we live… keeps us inspired until today. Our dream was sown, a seed that today gives us one of the most gratifying satisfactions of life.

Everyone has passion, and everyone can have a dream but only few have the courage and perseverance to turn dreams into reality. All you can do is believe! Believe that this passion that you have will turn into purpose and that purpose will turn into greatness.

The humility of working with the heart, having faith in what we want to achieve, and flowing with the positive energy that moves us, is the key to enjoy what we are passionate about. The real connection with genuine gratitude puts us in a positive state immediately.

Passion can move a person beyond themselves, without passion life is nothing so we made the decision to work hard and that makes anyone unstoppable, unbreakable.

So, we started with La Semilla and today we have become one of the best boutique hotels in Mexico and the world. Teamwork, excellent service, quality in every detail distinguishes us, we create our own style and of course our passion has made us unique.

Thanks to our customers for trusting us. Our gratitude to Travel+Leisure Mexico for the recognition and we are in debt to life for allowing us to live our dream every day.

Follow your passion and happiness will always remain by your side.

“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” –Gary Snyder

La Semilla is a philosophy to do everything with pure intentions. This means we must be authentic, everything must be purposeful, and must be of the highest quality.

We want to encourage others to stop over-manipulating nature and start embracing its goodness. We believe nature has always held the answers, and we understand the opportunity and responsibility that has been provided to us. To have a healthy future let’s give the planet good energy. The time to make the change is now.

We invite you to join us on our journey to wellness and share the La Semilla Movement with others. You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

Start small and do your part just by changing your daily habits. To help save the environment, try decreasing energy and water consumption; changing your eating and transportation habits to conserve natural resources; and reducing, reusing, and recycling to be more environmentally friendly. Once you’ve made your own lifestyle more environmentally conscious, help inspire those around you to return to nature and see a more complete vision of what true health really is.

YOU hold the key to empowering yourself and inspiring future generations to make positive changes.

Live Better. Live Responsibly. Live happy.

“Meditation and water are melded forever.”

–Herman Melville

There is no deeper connection of water with life than through the ocean. Meditation is a state of thoughtless awareness. A time to slow down, rest your mind and thoughts, and achieve a true form of peacefulness. A time to focus on becoming more appreciative and attentive.

Meditating allows you to experience true happiness as a result of the ultimate peacefulness you – hopefully – attain.

The beauty of meditation is there are no set rules! Do what works for you. Find focused, attentive, and quiet time to yourself.

In the morning, your mind is clear. Achieving a peaceful state of mind, you can carry this clarity with you throughout the rest of your day.

Afternoon meditation relieves any tension built up during the day and helps mentally prepare you to tackle the rest of your day!

Meditating in the evening can help you process your thoughts and experiences from the day and prepare you for a peaceful night’s sleep.

How long should you meditate? You tell us! Do whatever works best for you. Try starting your sessions at 2-3 minutes and working your way up to 10 minute sessions – maybe a little longer or maybe a little shorter – but ehh…who’s counting, right?

Any of our properties will allow you to experience moments of absolute peace and fusion with nature, a unique space to be with yourself. Enjoy!

“When two givers indulge in a connection; it´s magic. Its alchemy. I water you, you water me, we never drain each other, we just grow.” –Brandon Nembhard

We believe that creating real change starts with ourselves, with an open heart, and challenges us to become an embodied part of the transformation we wish to see in the world. Putting love into action.

Loving others in difficult times reminds us of water as a symbol of love because, water is known to be a universal solvent. Water goes everywhere, seeps into everything. No matter how hardened a substance may be, water will soften it.

Water is patient as it persistently wears away even the hardest granite mountain over millions of years, flushing away the rock’s minerals downstream to the ocean. Unconditional loving allows us to wait, to take time, to be steady and still, to know only the best during intense moments, to have faith in the innate goodness of the other person and us, to believe that a positive, life-affirming outcome is always possible.

So too is love like water: Love is the natural medium that carries messages, that flow incessantly and silently, bringing us together, conveying what is often unspoken — the message from our hearts to others and to the world — allowing life to continue and flourish in all our relationships.

Our two sister properties in Playa & Soliman Bay will allow you to live and feel a close connection with nature and the essence of life: water. So, connect with the water and feel the power of love now!

“It’s all about quality of life and finding a happy balance between work and friends and family.” –Philip Green

Photo by: @glady_s

When you are living with balance in your life, you are living with peace and harmony every day. Balance comes in physical forms, emotional forms, and a spiritual form.

It is also important to find quiet and down time as well as fun and playful time. Quiet or down time allows us to rejuvenate and refocus. Your body, mind, and spirit need time to refuel. Take some down time each day to reflect on the things that are important to you or escape to some little paradise a few days. Refuel your soul!

Sometimes fresh air is all we need.  For many people, being outdoors encourages them to appreciate nature and reminds them that they’re a part of a much larger universe, lifting their moods and making it easier for them to get good sleep.

You have the power to find balance in life, to live with no regrets, where you feel fully engaged. Where each day holds meaning and purpose, and brings you joy.

Photo by: @megansnedden

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” –Frank Lloyd Wright

Photo by: @ajdasitar

Why we feel so empowered when we are close to nature? What happens to us when the soft breeze or the warm sun touch us? Our affinity toward nature is genetic and deep-rooted in evolution.

It seems so obvious that we often forget it: being out in nature is really good for us! From the freedom at the beach to the relaxing cool air of a forest walk, getting out into nature is an important component of a healthy lifestyle.

The sights, sounds, and smells of nature produce an automatic relaxing effect on both body and mind. Take any opportunity to step away from a digital screen, get outside and let nature work her magic.

Photo by: @ajdasitar

Nature provides. A day out in the sunshine can suffice us with vitamin D, a nutrient we don’t get from food as much we need it.

Nature improves. Looking at the green grass, the trees, the flowers, and all the other aspects of the environment improve focus and eyesight.

Nature cleanses. The environment is a natural purifier. Spending some hours outdoors helps in releasing the toxins from our body and leave us all fresh and rejuvenated.

Nature builds. Any exercise (walking, jogging, cycling, diving, surfing, swimming) in the outdoors helps in burning fat and improves the metabolism rate in the body.

Photo by: @megansnedden

Nature heals. A strong human-nature relationship means emotional balance, more focus, solution-oriented thinking, and an overall resilient approach to life.

For there is no bond more primitive and ingrained in us than our love for nature and nature’s care for us.