Proof the Two of You Were Actually There
You booked a private pool villa at Banyan Tree Mayakoba for a reason with a number on it — a thirtieth anniversary, a honeymoon, a promise you decided to make again out loud. Then the week fills with long dinners and slow mornings and the odd photo a waiter offers to take. A couple wrote to us last spring for their thirtieth: three decades together, they said, and “the only picture of the two of us is the blurry one from the restaurant.” The photographs you flew down for are the ones neither of you can take while you are standing in them.
We’ve photographed thousands of sessions across Playa del Carmen, and the ones couples book from this resort are almost always the quiet kind: one early hour on an open public beach a short drive from your villa, with the real Riviera Maya coast behind you instead of a resort wall. Six years and more than a thousand clients later, that unhurried hour is still the easiest thing we can hand a couple marking something.
The Celebrations Banyan Tree Couples Ask Us to Photograph
You did not book a villa this private for a crowd. Almost everyone who writes to us from this resort is marking one thing — an anniversary that took years to reach, a vow they want to say again, a honeymoon that only happens once. These are the three sessions we photograph most for guests staying here.
Anniversaries
The trip is the gift; the photographs are the part that outlives it. Five years, twenty-five, forty — 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 early, so you are back with the whole day still in front of you. Our anniversary session guide shows how we pace an hour like that.
Vow renewals
Not the big day over again — the quieter, later thing: the two of you saying it again, on an open beach, with whoever you chose to bring along to hear it. We keep it small and unstaged, and because the public sand is empty at first light, the moment stays yours and nobody walks through it. Our symbolic ceremony guide covers how a small beach ceremony is photographed.
Honeymoons
The first week of a marriage is not one you want to remember through a stranger’s phone at arm’s length. We give you a slow hour on the sand, gentle direction, and the two of you doing very little beyond being newly married — the frames you will still be looking at on an anniversary years from now. Our honeymoon session guide covers outfits and timing.
How We Get You From Your Villa to Open Sand
Mayakoba sits behind its gate about nine kilometres north of downtown Playa del Carmen — a fifteen-minute drive we treat as part of the service rather than a hurdle, because the beach it leads to is worth leaving the complex for. 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.
That beach earns its place for the thing couples actually want here: privacy. At first light Xcalacoco is open and nearly empty, so a vow renewal stays between the two of you and whoever came to witness it — no loungers, no crowd walking through the frame. Xcalacoco carries a Blue Flag, and Punta Esmeralda, a little further along the same public coast, is the even quieter alternative when you want almost nobody else in sight.
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 — Pay Only for What You Keep
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 group package from $200 USD if family or friends joined the trip — so you only 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 what you are celebrating, and we will tell you which morning to keep free.
Let’s Get the Two of You in Front of the Camera
Tell us your dates and what you are marking, and we will hold a morning for you. The early slots are the private ones, and they go first in the weeks couples fly in for a milestone.
Why Couples Here Book the Quiet Beach
Everything we shoot for couples staying at Banyan Tree Mayakoba happens on the open public sand a short drive away — not despite the gate, but because of what an empty beach gives a private moment.
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The beach is yours at first light
Before anyone else is on the sand, Xcalacoco is open and quiet — so a vow renewal or an anniversary frame has the two of you in it and nobody else’s morning behind you.
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A short drive, and we handle it
The public beach is a few minutes north of your villa. We send the pin the day before, and for a couple we can arrange to pick you up — so the only thing you plan is what to wear.
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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, not like posing.
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You keep only what you love
There is no session fee. You see the full gallery afterwards and choose from it, which takes the pressure off the hour on a morning that already means something.
Couples Sessions at Banyan Tree Mayakoba — FAQ
We are not models and we have never done this. Will it look awkward?
No, and it is the thing almost everyone apologises for in their 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. What comes out looks like the two of you, not like posing.
How much does a session at Banyan Tree Mayakoba cost?
There is no session fee. You pay $15 USD per photo with a 10-photo minimum ($150 USD), or choose a group package from $200 USD if family or 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.
We want a vow renewal, not a big ceremony — something small and private. Can you do that?
Yes, and it is one of the three things we photograph most for guests of this resort. We keep it small and unstaged: the two of you, a few words, and whoever you brought along to hear them. On an open public beach at first light there is no crowd to work around, so the moment stays between you.
Where do we meet you if we are staying at Banyan Tree Mayakoba?
At Playa Xcalacoco, the free public beach beside the Mayakoba complex — no resort access needed and nothing to book. It is a short drive north of downtown; we send the exact pin over WhatsApp the day before, and for a couple or a group of up to four we can arrange to pick you up.
Can we do it in the afternoon 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; late afternoon is still lovely, just not quiet. Either way, plan on about an hour on the sand.