What's REALLY Happening In MEXICO? - Day 2, PLAYA DEL CARMEN

After having a delectable buffet breakfast at Dreams Cancun, we said goodbye to our gracious hosts and jumped in a van for the ride down to Playa Del Carmen.  At the end of a smooth and uneventful drive, we arrived at The Royal Playa del Carmen, which would be our luxurious base of operations in downtown Playa del Carmen for the next two days.  We received a very warm welcome from The Royal’s staff, and set out to see if this sunny oceanside town could offer us more blood-curdling thrills than it’s big sister up the peninsula Cancun had. 
I must say, that so far the most sinister sign of danger I have seen here in Mexico has been the many “Piso Resbaloso” signs posted all over the place.  It means “Slippery When Wet”, and is good to keep in mind, as there must not be any marble left in Italy, because the hotels on the Mayan Riviera must have used it all in their construction.  I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the streets are lined with it, there’s so much of it, and it is, indeed, slippery when wet!  Resbaloso… Say it out loud to yourself.  REZ-BA-LOSSO! I think it’s my new favourite Spanish word.
So we roamed poolside and scoured the beach all day, talking to tourists of all stripes – from young spring breakers to more experienced travellers.  We were out to hear the most terrifying tales of danger.  Tales that would curl your toes and make you run home to momma.  What we got was a far cry from that.  No one reported a run in with a voracious under-tow, or a tough negotiation with a slippery silver salesman, or even so much as a hangnail.
So what gives?  Could it be possible that Mexico’s Mayan Riviera remains a safe, sunny respite from the cold reality of the northern winter?  Perhaps everyone we spoke with has been hypnotized, put under a spell by some dastardly Mexican Merlin… Or perhaps, and this theory seems more likely to me – the hoo-haw in the news and whatnot is speaking of an area in Mexico that is as far away from Playa del Carmen as Edmonton is from Toronto.  Could it be that this fear of going to the resort towns of Mexico is completely unfounded?  Could it be that the blanket warnings about Mexico are the same as saying don’t visit the aquarium to see the cuddly sea otters because the killer whales might up and jump right out of their tank and eat you!