Photos Worth the Five-Minute Ride
You are staying at Sandos Playacar, down at the southern end of Playacar, and by the third day you have the rhythm of the week: somebody calls a taxi, five minutes later you are eating on Quinta Avenida, and the little ones fall asleep in the back on the way home. What has not happened yet is one photograph with all of you in it. A grandmother wrote to us from this hotel in March — nine people, three generations, one week — and put it exactly this way: "forty pictures of the kids and not one of us together." The photographs you actually want from this trip are the ones nobody in your group can take.
We've photographed thousands of sessions across Playa del Carmen, and for families staying here the answer is almost always the ride you were already going to take. Playa Fundadores opens onto the sand at the foot of Avenida Juárez, at the northern end of Playacar beside the pier where the Cozumel ferry loads — the same direction as dinner, which means the session costs you no extra trip and nothing you had planned gets moved. Six years and more than a thousand clients later, that is still the easiest hour we can hand a family.
Three Occasions We Photograph for Sandos Playacar Families
Almost everyone who writes to us from this hotel is travelling with people they do not get to see often enough — parents, in-laws, a sibling and their kids, everyone under one roof for a week that took a year to coordinate. These are the three sessions we photograph most for guests staying here.
Families with little kids
With a three-year-old, the distance between your room and the sand is the entire risk, so we keep it as short as it goes. The ride north is about five minutes — which means no long transfer, no nap gamble, and nobody melting down before the first frame. You get out, we shoot, and you are back with the day still ahead of you. We let kids run, too; the pictures parents end up printing are almost never the ones where everybody stood still. Our family photoshoot guide for Playa del Carmen covers outfits and how long an hour with small kids really lasts.
The multi-generation trip
Grandma in four pictures, the kids in forty, and not one frame with all of you in it — somebody always has to hold the phone. This is what we get asked for most from this hotel, and it is why we ask for a headcount in the first message: nine people need a different piece of beach than three do. Fundadores is wide and open where Avenida Juárez meets it, so we can line up three generations properly and still have room for the running candids afterwards. Our group session guide shows how we pace a shoot that size.
Anniversaries
You booked the family trip; the anniversary just happened to land in the middle of it. It usually does. Twenty minutes of the hour belong to the two of you — same sand, same morning, while the kids are busy being the grandparents’ problem — and that is the frame that ends up on the wall instead of in the album. Our anniversary session guide shows how we work an hour like that.
How We Get You to Playa Fundadores
We work where the beach belongs to everybody. About five minutes north of your lobby by taxi — the same ride you take for dinner on the Quinta — Playa Fundadores opens up wide and public at the foot of Avenida Juárez, beside the Portal Maya sculpture and the ferry pier, which means there is nothing to book and nothing that can cancel your morning. Some guests bike it in around ten minutes; at roughly three kilometres from the centre, Playacar is not a walk we would build a session around. We send the exact pin over WhatsApp the day before.
That stretch is where we send families for a reason: open beach with the real Playa del Carmen behind you — the pier, the boats loading for Cozumel — rather than a row of loungers and a logo in every frame. It is the backdrop your kids will still recognise in twenty years, and getting there costs you a ride you were taking anyway, which is exactly what lets us charge what we charge.
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 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 group package from $200 USD when the whole family wants in — 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 your headcount, and we will tell you which morning to keep free.
Ready to Get All Three Generations in One Frame?
Tell us your dates and how many of you are travelling, and we will hold a morning for your family. The early slots go first, and they go fastest in the weeks the whole family flies in.
What Your Family Gets on the Public Sand
Everything we shoot for families staying at Sandos Playacar happens at the end of the same short ride — here is what it buys you.
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Everybody fits in the frame
Fundadores is wide where Avenida Juárez meets it, so a nine-person lineup gets shot properly instead of squeezed — and the cousins still have room to run.
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It is the ride you were taking anyway
Five minutes north puts you on public sand, so the session chains onto a plan you already had instead of eating a morning of your holiday.
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We direct the whole thing
Almost nobody who books us has done this before. We tell everyone where to stand and what to do with their hands, so it looks like your family, not a school photo.
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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 — useful when a toddler is setting the schedule.
Family Sessions at Sandos Playacar — FAQ
There are nine of us across three generations. Can you photograph a group that size?
Yes — multi-generation groups are what we photograph most for guests of this hotel. Tell us the headcount in your first message and we will pick the piece of beach that fits it. Fundadores is wide enough that we build the full lineup, then break it into couples, siblings and grandparents-with-grandkids without moving anyone twice.
How much does a family session at Sandos Playacar 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 when the whole family wants in. You see the full gallery first and choose from it afterwards, so you only ever pay for the images you love.
Is a beach session realistic with a toddler?
It is the most common thing we shoot for families staying here. We work fast while the mood is good and let small kids move instead of asking them to hold a pose — and the ride is short enough that nobody falls apart in the car.
Where do we meet you if we are staying at Sandos Playacar?
At Playa Fundadores, on the public sand at the foot of Avenida Juárez by the Portal Maya sculpture — roughly a five-minute taxi from your lobby, the same direction as the Quinta. We send the exact pin over WhatsApp the day before.
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 emptier beach; late afternoon is still lovely, just not quiet. Either way, plan on about an hour.