Quintana Roo
Drone photo & video · Tulum
In short
Drone photo & video in Tulum starts at $300: 60 min on location with a photographer who works in Tulum, and 25 edited photos + a 1-minute edited film delivered to a private gallery within 7 days.
Why choose drone photo & video in Tulum?
Tulum looks made for a drone: a reef line, a cliff-top ruin and a jungle that runs to the beach. The airspace is more open than people expect, and the ground rules are tighter. The international airport opened in December 2023 well inland near Chunyaxché, so the town and the beach road sit outside its 9.2 km exclusion ring. What actually limits a flight here is the land below it: an INAH archaeological zone and two federal protected areas cover much of the coast.
Worth knowing about Tulum
The Tulum International Airport sits at about 20°10' N, 87°39' W according to the decree that declared it international, roughly 20 km straight-line from Tulum town, so its 9.2 km NOM-107 ring does not reach the beach road. The limits that apply instead are INAH's ban on drones without authorisation over the Zona Arqueológica de Tulum and CONANP's authorisation for flights inside the Parque Nacional Tulum and Sian Ka'an.
What does the session in Tulum look like?
- Hotel-zone beach on the Boca Paila road
- Turquoise water, reef and palms from above, flown from public sand with the hotel's agreement.
- Tulum Centro and Aldea Zamá
- Town and jungle canopy for real estate and lifestyle aerials, away from crowds.
- Parque Nacional Tulum coast
- Only from outside the park, or with CONANP authorisation in hand, because protected areas need it.
What does drone photo & video in Tulum include?
- 60 minutes on location, with the time in the air set by batteries and conditions
- 25 edited aerial photos
- A 1-minute edited aerial film with licensed music
- Flown by a local pilot under commercial liability insurance, with the drone registered with AFAC when it weighs over 250 g
- Photos and film delivered within 7 days
FAQ — Drone photo & video in Tulum
Can a drone fly over the Tulum ruins?
Not without authorisation. INAH requires prior authorisation from its legal office for drones inside archaeological zones, including the Zona Arqueológica de Tulum, and the ruins also sit inside the Parque Nacional Tulum, where flights generally need CONANP's prior authorisation. Tulum drone sessions frame the coast from outside both.
Who flies the drone for a Tulum session?
A local, Mexico-registered pilot. NOM-107-SCT3-2019 restricts drone operation by foreign operators and foreign-registered drones, and tourists may not do paid work in Mexico, so every Tulum drone session is flown by a Mexican pilot with an AFAC-registered drone over 250 g, liability insurance, in daylight and within visual line of sight, below 122 m.
Is the Tulum airport a problem for drones in the hotel zone?
Not by distance. The Tulum International Airport is roughly 20 km in a straight line from the town, well beyond the 9.2 km that NOM-107 requires from an aerodrome. The pilot still checks the aeronautical information and NOTAMs before every Tulum flight for heliports and temporary restrictions.