Muscle Beach Gym Playa del Carmen
10 Avenida Nte. 8, Luis Donaldo Colosio, 77728 Playa del Carmen, Q.R., Mexico
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri: 800-2200, Sat: 800-2000, Sun: shut
Cost: 100 pesos per visit.
Location and Entry
Having visited other gyms around 5th Avenue (Quinta Avenida) in the centre of Playa del Carmen, I found them to be very expensive and was keen to find somewhere more suited to a backpacker’s budget.
As my hostel was towards the north of town, I decided to venture further in this direction and settled on Muscle Beach Gym. A fifteen minute walk later, I was pleasantly surprised at both the rates and facilities.
Facilities
The gym was laid out over three floors. The ground floor is the smallest and contains a few resistance machines along with an assisted chin-ups machine (yay!), along with a separate floor area with boxing gloves, pads and bags. However I was informed this separate area is private and not for general use.
The next floor predominantly consists of cardio machines, including a large number of spinning bikes, treadmills, normal bikes, cross trainers and steppers. You’ll also find inclined benches for abs work.
The top floor contains most of the weight training equipment, including fixed weight barbells up to 110lbs and dumbbells up to 100lbs. There are numerous dumbbells too – two separate racks! You’ll additionally find a corner with a few mats (very thin but well cushioned). Plenty of Swiss balls here and enough space for floor work if you choose.
The female changing rooms contained two showers and toilets each (with paper!) and I found it in good condition. I didn’t use the showers in this occasion.
Compare Prices on Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia, Hotels.com and more!
Comfort
The only considerable negative was the lack of aircon. Although there were ceiling fans, these were not in use, but other fans at the side of the room were in operation. I attended at 10am on a Saturday and I found it very hot even with fans and I sweated considerably (not helped by walking there!). I didn’t even do cardio, yet I could wring out my towel and top by the end! Having to walk up and down the stairs between the different machines is mildly inconvenient but certainly not a show stopper – see it as burning a few bonus calories. The gym was quiet at this hour and both staff and customers were friendly.
Summary of Muscle Beach Gym Playa
Equipment is all in good condition and the gym is well spaced out and extremely well cared for. It’s very clean and indeed someone was mopping the stairs as I trained.
Muscle Beach Gym in Playa del Carmen is an extremely good gym and well worth the fifteen minute walk out of town to save money if you’re on a budget and don’t mind sweating!
Want A More Central Gym?
Check out details of other Gyms in Playa.
Enjoyed this?
Check out my Five Top Tips For Keeping Fit Around the World and
How to Look Ripped on Your Travel Adventure – For Free!
Need Travel Insurance?
Check out my feature on Travel Insurance for Adventurers!