The Family Session That Runs on Your Kids’ Schedule
The Reef Coco Beach sits at the calm end of Playa del Carmen, north of where the music starts, and the families who write to us from here want the same thing: one hour of real photographs that does not cost them the whole day. Last winter it was a mom travelling with a four-year-old, a baby and both grandparents — seven people, one nap window, a very firm eleven o’clock deadline. We met them at sunrise, they were back at breakfast by eight, and the frame with all seven of them in it hangs over her stairs. Your family can walk away with exactly that.
We’ve photographed thousands of sessions across Playa del Carmen, and the ones that go best are the ones where nobody had to travel to get there. That is this hotel’s quiet advantage: the public sand is about two minutes from your room with a straight walk out onto it — which means no taxi, no naptime gamble, no meltdown in transit. Six years and more than a thousand clients later, the lesson is always the same: the shortest walk wins.
The Sessions The Reef Coco Beach Families Book Most
Almost everyone who books us from this hotel is travelling with people who are either very small or in no hurry at all — exactly who this stretch of sand suits. These are the three sessions we photograph most often for guests staying here.
Families with little kids
This is the one we shoot most, and the reason is the water. The reef sits about 200 meters off the shore in front of the hotel and takes the punch out of the swell before it lands — so the shallows stay flat, and a four-year-old can wade in without getting knocked over once and refusing the sea for the rest of the trip. We never ask toddlers to pose. We keep a family session loose: chase the water back, dig the hole, steal grandpa’s hat — and we photograph the reaction.
The grandparents’ trip
When three generations finally land in the same place, somebody always ends up holding the phone and missing the picture. That is the one we fix first. We choreograph a group session so nobody is left out: the full lineup while everyone is fresh, then quick rotations — grandparents with the baby, the cousins in a heap — before the little ones are done with us. And nobody has to walk far to be in it, which is usually what decides it.
Everyday vacation memories
Plenty of guests here have no occasion at all. They simply do not want to fly home with a camera roll full of strangers’ shoulders: the toddler meeting the sea, the teenagers pretending they are too cool for this, a slow walk down the shore before the beach wakes up. Our vacation photoshoot guide shows the frames we mean.
Where The Reef Coco Beach Sits — and Where We Meet You
The hotel is in the Coco Beach area — Colonia Luis Donaldo Colosio, on CTM, the street almost everybody here calls Calle 46 — and what that address buys your family is quiet: it sits north of the busiest sand in town, so at eight in the morning your kids can run in a straight line and the loudest thing on the beach is the water. We meet you on the public sand directly in front of the property, about two minutes from your door, and send the exact pin on WhatsApp the day before.
Quiet is not the same as remote. The north end of Quinta Avenida, the pedestrian main street, is roughly three to five minutes away on foot — which is why so many families here shoot at sunrise and still get the whole avenue for dinner without anyone getting into a car. The reef out front is also one of the very few in Playa del Carmen you can swim to straight off the sand, no tour to book — so the snorkelling the kids keep asking about happens right after the session.
Plan on about an hour. Sunrise is the slot we push hardest for, and not because of the light: the sand is nearly empty, so your kids can run wherever they want while we work, and you are back at the buffet before the day has started. If their body clocks disagree, the hour before sunset works too.
Simple Pricing, No Session Fee
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 grandparents and the cousins want in — you only pay for the images you love, which takes all the pressure off an hour with unpredictable toddlers. 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.
And if somebody wants one frame of pure drama out of this trip, ask about our signature beach-gown editorial sessions in Playa del Carmen — the picture the grandparents will still be talking about at Christmas.
Tell us your dates and we will send back the sunrise time for your week — or see everything we photograph around town on our Playa del Carmen photographer page.
Ready to Book the Session Your Kids Will Actually Enjoy?
Send us your dates and your headcount. Sunrise slots on Coco Beach go first in high season.
Everything Your Family Takes Home
One unhurried hour on the sand in front of the hotel, and a gallery you choose from.
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Everyone in one frame
Somebody is always missing from your pictures because they are the one taking them. That is what we fix first: the whole family together, then every combination you want.
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A session built around naps
The sand is two minutes from your room, so we start the moment your baby is fed and happy — and if it falls apart anyway, your room is right there.
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Kids we never ask to pose
We build situations and photograph the reaction. The frames parents print almost always come from the stretch where nobody was cooperating.
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Photos you pick yourself
No session fee, and no bundle nobody asked for. You see the gallery, you choose the images you love, and those are the ones you pay for.
Family Sessions at The Reef Coco Beach — FAQ
Is a beach photo session realistic with a toddler and a baby?
It is the session we shoot most often here. We never ask small children to pose — we set up situations and photograph the reaction, in short bursts with breaks to dig and splash. The sand is two minutes from your room, so we start the moment your baby is fed and happy, and nobody is stranded far from a nap.
Can you photograph all three generations, grandparents included?
That is exactly what the group package from $200 USD is for. We shoot the full lineup first while everyone is fresh, then rotate quickly — grandparents with the baby, the cousins together, each couple on their own. And nobody has to walk far to take part.
How much does a family photo session near The Reef Coco Beach cost?
There is no session fee. It is $15 USD per photo with a 10-photo minimum ($150 USD), or a group package from $200 USD when the grandparents and cousins are in the frame too. You pick the images after you have seen them.
We are not photogenic and have never done this before. Is that a problem?
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. Nobody is left standing on the sand wondering what to do with their hands.