Member's Home Forums General Discussion Mexico Mexico Airports MMUN - Cancun Meetings with ATC in Cancun to address concerns

Hola Fernando. First, we would recommend that you have a copy of the CST Pilot's Guide to Mexico which contains information and aerial picture of the Playa Del Carmen airport. The runway parallels a road which has been mistaken for the runway to the surprise of motorists and pilots alike!

We regularly fly into Playa with our Skymaster and it is not a problem as long as we are not too heavy. Runway 11 is the favored runway in Playa due to the prevailing wind and it is 2,133 feet but has a displaced threshold. The threshold is right at the edge of the main highway from Cancun to Chetumal and there is a Chevrolet dealership on the other side other highway on the approach path. At the other end of the runway there is a 2-story building and numerous towers and antennas.

Due to the obstacles at each end of the runway and absence of any over-run areas it is not a forgiving runway. More than one Cessna 182,206 and 210 have either blown their tires trying to get stopped or have gone through the airport fence because they were too fast landing, forgot to set takeoff flaps or waited too long to go around.

If you have a good short field performing airplane and you are proficient at short field landings then you should be fine. If you are not on the ground by the first 1/4-1/3 of the runway go around while you still can. If you are not comfortable with s true short field environment then I would practise before coming or consider leaving the plane in Cancun.

There is some parachute jumping activity over the airport as well as banner towing with banner drops and pickups over the Playa runway. When you depart Cancun they will hand you over to Cozumel tower who will provide you with traffic reports until about 2-3 Nm from the Playa airport and then they will let you switch to the CTAF. Bear in mind that most of the local communications will be in Spanish so don't be put off, they will understand your English. Some of the pilots that fly out of Playa speak excellent English but some do not. Report in the blind as you would at any non-towered field and fly a left hand pattern.