The Photograph You Will Actually Frame
You booked Alila Mayakoba for a week that is entirely about the two of you — a quiet, grown-up kind of trip, with nothing on the itinerary you have to share with anyone else. Then the week runs the way these weeks always run, and the photos pile up: the pool, the plate, the sunset, and almost none of the two of you in the same frame. The messages we get from couples staying here tend to arrive the same way — one wrote to us in spring, on her tenth anniversary, and put it plainly: "we want one picture good enough to hang in the hallway." You came for the photograph you will still want on the wall in ten years.
We've photographed thousands of sessions across Playa del Carmen, and for couples staying inside the Mayakoba gates the answer is almost always the same: the calm public beach a short ride away, where the real Riviera Maya coast stands behind you instead of a row of loungers — which, for a portrait you actually plan to print, works entirely in your favour. Six years and more than a thousand clients later, that quiet hour is still the easiest thing we can hand a couple.
What Couples at Alila Mayakoba Book Us For
Almost everyone who writes to us from this resort is here for the same reason — time alone together, and the wish to come home with proof of it. These are the three sessions we photograph most for couples staying here.
Anniversaries
Five years or twenty-five, the number changes and the request never does: one unhurried hour, the two of you, dressed the way you dressed for the dinner you already booked. We shoot it at first light, so the beach is empty and you are back with the whole day still ahead of you. Our anniversary session guide shows how we pace an hour like that.
Honeymoons
A honeymoon is the one trip you will describe for the rest of your life, and it deserves better than a phone held out at arm’s length. We keep the session soft and slow — a walk, a little direction, the two of you doing very little beyond being newly married. Our honeymoon session guide for the Riviera Maya covers timing and what to wear.
Couples portraits
No anniversary, no announcement — just a week that belongs to nobody but the two of you, and the sense that a proper picture of it is worth keeping. This is the most relaxed of the three, and the one most likely to end up printed and framed on a wall at home. Our couples photoshoot guide walks through outfits and the best hour to meet.
Where We Meet You — Just Beyond the Mayakoba Gate
The Mayakoba complex sits behind its gate at Km 298, roughly nine kilometres north of downtown Playa del Carmen — about a fifteen-minute taxi ride, which is the same short trip you would take into town for dinner anyway, so the session simply chains onto a plan you already had. We meet you at Playa Xcalacoco, the free public beach beside the complex, which means there is nothing to book and nothing that can cancel your morning. We send the exact pin over WhatsApp the day before, and for couples or groups of up to four we can arrange to pick you up.
We work where the beach belongs to everyone, and for a couple that is the whole point: open, photogenic sand with the real Riviera Maya coast behind you instead of a wall of resort loungers and logos. Xcalacoco carries a Blue Flag and has showers and bathrooms a few steps back; Punta Esmeralda, a little further along the same public coast, is where we take couples who want almost nobody else in the frame. That short ride out is exactly what lets us keep the price this simple.
Want one frame that belongs on a wall rather than in an album? Ask about our signature beach-gown editorial sessions in Playa del Carmen — metres of fabric in the morning breeze, made for a trip like this one.
No Session Fee — You Pay Only for the Photos You Love
Pricing is refreshingly simple: there is no session fee. You pay $15 USD per photo with a 10-photo minimum ($150 USD), or choose a package from $200 USD if friends are travelling with you — so you only ever pay for the images you love. You can see everything we offer, and hundreds of recent sessions, on our Playa del Carmen photographer page.
Every hotel has its own rules about photography on the property. We know how each one works — message us and we’ll tell you exactly what your options are where you’re staying.
Almost nobody who books us has been photographed properly before, and they usually apologise for it in the first message. There is nothing to apologise for — we direct the whole thing, and you can see how that turns out on our Playa del Carmen photographer page. Send us your dates and we will tell you which morning to keep free.
Ready to Get the Two of You on the Wall?
Tell us your dates and what you are celebrating, and we will hold a morning for you. The first-light slots are the quiet ones, and they go first.
Why Couples Choose the Open Sand Next Door
Everything we shoot for couples staying at Alila Mayakoba happens on the public sand a short ride away — not despite the gate, but because of what open beach gives a portrait you plan to keep.
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The coast behind you, not a logo
Open, wide Xcalacoco puts the real Riviera Maya coast in the frame instead of a row of resort loungers — the difference between a snapshot and a picture you print and hang.
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The beach to yourselves at first light
We shoot early, before the sand fills up, so your anniversary photo has the two of you in it and nobody else's morning behind you.
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We direct the whole thing
Almost nobody who books us has done this before. We tell you where to stand and what to do with your hands, so the result looks like the two of you.
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You keep only what you love
There is no session fee. You choose from the full gallery afterwards, which takes the pressure off the hour.
Couples Sessions at Alila Mayakoba — FAQ
We are not models and we have never done this. Will it look natural?
Yes, and it is the thing almost everyone apologises for in the first message. Practically nobody who books us has been photographed properly before. We direct the entire hour — where to stand, where to look, and when to simply talk to each other and ignore us — so what comes out looks like the two of you, not like posing.
How much does a couples session at Alila Mayakoba cost?
There is no session fee. You pay $15 USD per photo with a 10-photo minimum ($150 USD), or choose a package from $200 USD if friends are travelling with you. You see the full gallery first and choose from it afterwards, so you only ever pay for the images you love.
It is our honeymoon and we only want a handful of really good photos. Is that still a session?
It is one of the most common things we shoot here. The only minimum is on the photos you keep — ten — not on the experience. We spend an unhurried hour on the sand, you see everything afterwards, and you choose the few you love. Most honeymoon couples end up keeping more than ten, but nobody has to.
Where do we meet you if we are staying at Alila Mayakoba?
At Playa Xcalacoco, the free public beach next to the Mayakoba complex — no resort access needed and nothing to book. We send the exact pin over WhatsApp the day before, and for couples or groups of up to four we can arrange to pick you up.
Can we do it at sunset instead of the morning?
You can, though it is worth knowing the trade. This coast faces east, so there is no sunset over the water here. Mornings give you soft light and an empty beach; the hour before sunset is still lovely, it just will not be quiet. Either way, plan on about an hour on the sand.