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Palafitos Overwater Bungalows

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

4.8(601 reviews)

Adults OnlyLomas Hospitality

Palafitos Overwater Bungalows is a category of one in Mexico. There is no other way to wake up over the Caribbean on this coast, and for anyone in North America who wants the overwater experience without crossing the Pacific, the 30 bungalows on this pier off Maroma Beach are the whole market. Glass floors, a ladder into the sea, a plunge pool on the deck and a butler per bungalow are standard across all three categories, and the Overwater Grill & Bar at the end of the pier is kept for bungalow guests. One thing worth updating if you looked at this property a few years ago: it is sold by Lomas Hospitality now, under the More Inclusive concept, not by Karisma as Gourmet Inclusive, and the booking listings carry the change in their names.

Traveler Insights

Pros

+The only true overwater bungalows on Mexico's Caribbean coast, 30 of them on a pier off Maroma Beach, so you get the Bora Bora photograph after a four-hour flight instead of a twenty-hour one
+Glass floor panels set where you actually spend time, so you watch fish under the living area and the bed rather than peering into a novelty porthole
+A ladder straight off your own deck into the Caribbean, a private pool on the deck and a butler assigned to the bungalow, confirmed on all three categories by the operator in February 2026
+The rate is the unusual part. Lomas Hospitality's More Inclusive concept bundles round-trip Cancun airport transfers, a two-hour catamaran and reef snorkel sail off Maroma with drinks at 11am or 3pm, guided wave runner runs, kayaks and paddleboards, beach club access with the Cocotales restaurant, a cenote swim with an underground cave tour, and an eco-ranch day with a freshwater spring swim
+Palafitos guests get unlimited access to the group's water park for the whole stay, where guests at the sister hotels get one entry per three nights, a split that took effect June 1, 2025
+The Overwater Grill & Bar sits on the pier for bungalow guests, and the rate also covers the restaurants next door at El Dorado Maroma: Lima Limon, Mio Cuccina Italiana, the Caribbean Grill and the Papitos beach club
+Maroma has been named one of the world's ten best beaches by both Travel Channel and Discovery, and Forbes Travel Guide gave the property its 2026 Recommended Award in February 2026

Cons

−The entry Overwater Bungalow lists from about 22,400 pesos a night with taxes included on the operator's own booking engine in October 2026, roughly 1,300 dollars, and the Elite and two-bedroom Presidential categories run higher. That is the top of the Mexican market, full stop
−The deck pool on a standard bungalow is a plunge pool, small and shallow, despite marketing that calls it a private infinity pool. Guests who expected something swimmable from the photographs say so loudly
−Water depth under the pier varies with position and tide, and guests on the shallow side report water barely past the shin, so the ladder is not always a jump-in proposition. Ask where your bungalow sits on the pier before you pay for it
−Mosquitoes and small flies turn up around the bungalows at dusk, and the decks sit close enough together that you can see and hear your neighbors. Being out over the water fixes neither
−2026 was the worst recorded sargassum season for the Mexican Caribbean, with about 125,000 tonnes cleared in Quintana Roo between April and August and out-of-season surges in January and March. This stretch of coast faces due east and takes the heaviest accumulations, and when seaweed arrives it is in exactly the water you are looking down at through the floor
−Travelers who have stayed in the Maldives or French Polynesia consistently say Palafitos does not match them for water clarity or for the feeling of being alone, which is a fair comparison to make before you book it as a substitute

That matters because More Inclusive is unusually broad. Round-trip Cancun airport transfers are in the rate, and so is a two-hour catamaran and reef snorkel sail off Maroma with drinks, guided wave runner runs, kayaks and paddleboards, beach club access with the Cocotales restaurant, a cenote swim with an underground cave expedition, and an eco-ranch day with a swim in a freshwater spring. Palafitos guests also get unlimited water park access for the length of the stay, where guests at the sister hotels are capped at one entry per three nights. Activities need booking in advance at the hospitality desk and are subject to availability; the spa sits outside the rate, as do zip lines and horseback riding. Dining is the Overwater Grill plus the four restaurants at El Dorado Maroma next door, which is a short list by Riviera Maya standards and a reason some guests find the food better than expected rather than extraordinary.

This is honeymoon and milestone-anniversary territory, and the price reflects it: the entry bungalow was listing from about 22,400 pesos a night with taxes included in October 2026, roughly 1,300 dollars, with Elite and Presidential categories above that. The sensible comparison set is not other Mexican resorts but international overwater destinations, and against the Maldives or Bora Bora the win is accessibility and the bundled excursions rather than water clarity or seclusion. Two practical notes before you commit: the deck pool on a standard bungalow is small, and the depth of water under the pier varies enough that it is worth asking which bungalow you are being given. Quintana Roo also collects an environmental sanitation charge at the hotel on top of the rate, repriced on February 1, 2026 to 35.19 pesos for the first guest and 23.46 for the second per night in this municipality.

Common Questions

What does the rate actually include, and who runs the property now?

Palafitos is sold by Lomas Hospitality under the More Inclusive concept, which is why current listings carry words like catamaran and cenote in the property name. The rate covers round-trip Cancun airport transfers, all meals and drinks at the Overwater Grill & Bar and at El Dorado Maroma next door, a two-hour catamaran and reef snorkel sail off Maroma with drinks at 11am or 3pm, guided wave runner runs, kayaks and paddleboards, beach club access with loungers and the Cocotales restaurant, a cenote swim with an underground cave tour, and an eco-ranch day with a freshwater spring swim. Activities are subject to availability and need booking at the hospitality desk, so do it on arrival.

Are these really the only overwater bungalows in Mexico?

They are the ones sold as true overwater bungalows on the Mexican Caribbean, built out on a pier into open sea rather than over a lagoon or a shallow bay. A few other properties market overwater decks or lagoon-side rooms, but the water under these bungalows is the Caribbean itself, which is what makes the glass floors worth anything. Depth and clarity still vary along the pier.

How do they compare to overwater bungalows in the Maldives or Bora Bora?

Travelers who have done both are consistent: this is a very good version of the experience, not a replica. The Indian Ocean and South Pacific properties give you clearer water, more marine life directly beneath the deck and a stronger sense of being nowhere near anyone. Palafitos wins on getting there, on cost once flights are counted, and on the bundled excursions, which no Maldivian resort includes.

Is the private pool actually a pool, and can you swim off the deck?

The deck pool on a standard bungalow is a plunge pool: cold-dip sized, not lap sized, regardless of the infinity-pool language in the marketing. As for the ladder, depth under the pier depends on where your bungalow sits and on the tide, and guests on the shallow side report water only shin deep, so jumping in is not always an option. Both are worth raising with the hotel before you book a specific category.

What will cost extra once I am there?

Spa treatments are outside the rate, and so are zip lines at the cenote park and horseback riding at the eco-ranch, even though the cenote swim, the cave tour and the horse-contact experience are included. On top of all that, Quintana Roo collects an environmental sanitation charge at the hotel that no all-inclusive rate covers: it was repriced on February 1, 2026 and in this municipality runs 35.19 pesos for the first guest and 23.46 for the second per night, so a few dollars a night for a couple.

Restaurants (5)

Type	Restaurants
Mexican	Papitos Gourmet Beach Club (at El Dorado Maroma)
Italian	Mio Cuccina Italiana (at El Dorado Maroma)
Seafood	Overwater Grill & Bar
Caribbean & local	Caribbean Grill (at El Dorado Maroma)
International & fusion	Lima Limon (at El Dorado Maroma)

From the resort's own dining pages. Only restaurants the resort lists are shown.

What's nearby

Xcaret
30 min drive · 16 mi
Ferry to Cozumel
25 min drive · 12 mi
Playa Mamitas
25 min drive · 11 mi
Río Secreto
30 min drive · 15 mi
Xcalacoco Beach
20 min drive · 8.2 mi
Puerto Morelos reef snorkel trip
30 min drive · 14 mi

More things to do (19)

Xenses · adventure park30 min drive · 15 mi
Playa 88 · beach20 min drive · 9.9 mi
Croco Cun Zoo · wildlife25 min drive · 14 mi
Punta Esmeralda Beach · beach25 min drive · 9.6 mi
Playa Maroma · beach20 min drive · 4.2 mi
El Camaleón Golf Course · golf20 min drive · 6.2 mi
Iberostar Playa Paraíso Golf Club · golf20 min drive · 5.8 mi
Museo del Chocolate · museum25 min drive · 11 mi
Parque La Ceiba · nature25 min drive · 11 mi
Frida Kahlo Museum Playa del Carmen · museum25 min drive · 11 mi
Playa del Carmen Fifth Avenue · town25 min drive · 11 mi
Voladores de Papantla (Parque Fundadores) · historic site25 min drive · 12 mi
Puerto Morelos Botanical Garden · nature25 min drive · 12 mi
Dr. Alfredo Barrera Marín Botanical Garden · nature25 min drive · 12 mi
Puerto Morelos Town Square and Malecón · town30 min drive · 14 mi
Leaning Lighthouse of Puerto Morelos · historic site30 min drive · 14 mi
Xplor · adventure park30 min drive · 16 mi
Cenote Chaak Tun · cenote30 min drive · 13 mi
Delphinus Riviera Maya · adventure park35 min drive · 16 mi

Amenities

Nightclub

Room Service

Water Sports Rentals

Free Wi-Fi

Spa

Gym

Beach

Style & Rooms

Atmosphere

RomanticOcean View

Room upgrades

VillasOver Water RoomsPlunge Pool Rooms

Seaweed & sargassum

Playa del Carmen gets sargassum, typically worst May through August.See the month-by-month guide →

Every all-inclusive in Playa del Carmen →

Google Reviews★ 4.8 · 601 reviews

Dave R.

a week ago

“My wife and I spent a week here for our 20th anniversary at the beginning of January. We have been to Mexico numerous times previously and wanted to step it up a notch for our 20th. We knew going into it the room would be great. What really exceed...”

Melissa S.

2 months ago

“Our stay at Palafitos Overwater Bungalows—specifically the Elite Overwater Bungalows—was truly the definition of paradise. We had an completely unobstructed view of the ocean and the most breathtaking sunrises right from our deck. From the moment we...”

Kelsey S.

3 months ago

“my husband and I came here for our honeymoon in October 2025 and we were absolutely blown away by this resort. All of our expectations were exceeded from the moment we arrived to the El Dorado property. We were met at our car and welcomed as ‘Mr. and...”