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Most properties on this coast allow an outside photographer, and several charge a fee for it. Here is what each hotel asks, where it photographs best and at what hour, from a studio that has worked in more than 40 of them.
Ask About Your ResortEvery large resort on this coast has a photography concession inside it, and that studio would prefer you never learned there was a choice. There is. Bringing an outside photographer is normal, legal and common, and the hotel's own contract usually says so in a paragraph nobody reads.
What some properties do charge is an outside vendor fee, paid by you directly to the hotel, for a photographer who is not on their list. It varies enormously by property and it changes without notice. Several hotels waive it entirely if the photographer stays one night as a guest. Others do not charge at all.
We confirm the current rule at your specific resort before you sign anything, in writing, so the number never appears as a surprise on your bill. And the beach in Mexico is federal property up to the tide line, so no hotel can charge you for photographs made on the sand itself.
The Hotel Zone runs north to south, and that decides everything: the northern properties look west across the bay, the long eastern stretch takes the sunrise.
The peninsula at Punta Cancún, with water on both sides. It is the only stretch in the zone where a family can get sunrise and sunset without moving hotels. Detailed notes on the Hyatt Ziva page.
Adults only, white architecture, and the cleanest lines in the zone for couples. The property is strict about access, so we announce ourselves at the gate. See Le Blanc.
South end of the zone on its own cove, jungle behind and reef in front. The most private big property in Cancún. See Nizuc.
Long eastern beach, wide sand, and a golden hour that works from the water back toward the buildings. Notes on the JW Marriott page.
Newer, further north, and quieter at sunrise than anything in the central zone. The drive is longer and the beach is worth it.
The middle of Boulevard Kukulcán, closest to everything, busiest on the sand. Early morning is the only hour these beaches are calm.
The canal complex south of Playa del Carmen. Mangrove waterways, boardwalks and a light that behaves like nowhere else. See Rosewood, Banyan Tree and Mayakoba weddings.
Big properties with big beaches and an internal photography team that is used to outside photographers arriving. Announce, check the fee, and the day runs smoothly.
Architecture that photographs as well as the beach does, which is rare. Long walks between areas, so the timeline needs building carefully.
Quiet, mature properties north of Playa del Carmen with wide empty sand at sunrise.
Closer to the airport than to Playa del Carmen, calmer water, and the reef right offshore.
North of Cancún, the newest corridor on the coast. Wide beaches, few people, and the best sunrise light of anywhere we work.
Ask these before you sign the wedding or the room package, not after. The answers change what the session costs and where it happens.
And how much, in writing. Some properties waive it if the photographer books a night. Some do not charge at all. Very few will volunteer the information.
Beach, terraces, lobby, gardens. Some hotels restrict the restaurant areas or ask that other guests never appear in frame.
Sunrise is empty almost everywhere. Sunset is not. If your hotel runs beach activities until dark, we plan around them.
This coast builds constantly, and a crane in the frame is not fixable later. We check the current state of your property before choosing the spot.
The property name is enough. We know most of them, and for the ones we do not, we call and ask.
Vendor fee, access, permitted areas and the hour the light works on your side of the building. Before you commit to anything.
At the gate with your name, in position before the light turns, and out of the way of everyone else's holiday.
Yes. Bringing an outside photographer is normal and allowed at essentially every property on this coast. What some hotels charge is an outside vendor fee, paid by you to the hotel, for a photographer who is not on their in-house list.
It varies enormously by property and changes without notice, which is why we confirm your specific hotel's current rate in writing rather than quoting an average. Some properties charge nothing. Several waive the fee if the photographer stays one night as a guest.
Not on the sand itself. Mexican beaches are federal property up to the tide line and open to everyone. What a hotel controls is the access through its own property and its pool, terrace and garden areas.
It depends on the hour you want. For sunrise, anything on the long eastern beach or in Costa Mujeres. For sunset with the sun in frame, the properties on the north shore near Punta Cancún. For architecture as much as beach, Mayakoba and Grand Velas.
Yes, and there is no travel charge for Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Akumal, Tulum or the Mayakoba complex. It is all inside our normal working area.
Almost all of them do. You are not obliged to use them, and their package is usually structured around selling you photographs afterwards, one at a time. Ours is not: the full gallery is included and downloadable.
For a wedding, as early as you have a date, because we take a maximum of 12 a year. For a portrait session, two to three weeks is usually enough outside the December and Easter peaks.
Send the property name and your dates. We reply the same business day with its current vendor fee policy, the hour that works on that beach and two settings inside the hotel.
