Cancun / Riviera Maya, Mexico Vacation

[SoaringUSAEagle]

I'll be heading there in mid June. I was planning on taking my Mk 3, 24-70 and 70-200. For those who have been there before, would that be good enough for a week long trip? I'm also debating getting a G9 with underwater housing for the days we go snorkeling and swimming with the dolphins/stingrays and whatnot.

Also, what is a must see in this area?

[MDJAK]

Wish I could answer your question about must see, but never been there.

As to lenses, I might consider throwing the macro in the bag, otherwise you've got it covered. I see you've got the primes, but how much can one carry.

As to the underwater housing, that sounds very interesting, but I prefer to just look at the beautiful fish with my eyes when snorkeling, unemcumbered by a camera.

mark

[AngryCorgi]

Well, if I was headed to the Cancun area, there is no way I would miss a chance to see the pyramids and shoot some HDRs of Tulum and the Chichen Itza compound. I hear it's gotten crowded some there, though. The swimming with the dolphins idea sounds great too.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Hey Mark, can I borrow your G9 for a week? :D

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Well, if I was headed to the Cancun area, there is no way I would miss a chance to see the pyramids and shoot some HDRs of Tulum and the Chichen Itza compound. I hear it's gotten crowded some there, though. The swimming with the dolphins idea sounds great too.

Yeah I dont think I will take a tripod though, but the ruins sure would be a great hdr subject.

[AngryCorgi]

Yeah I dont think I will take a tripod though, but the ruins sure would be a great hdr subject.

You have a respectable chance of getting something with the 1D3. You can wing it without the tripod by using the old 10fps speed + a little higher ISO + someone's arm/shoulder as a stabilizer (it might not stop all movement, but it will help lower the frequency of any vibrations). ;)

I did this for several of my HDRs with my 5fps 30D and my 8fps 1D2. The 1D3 should do this even better, as I think you can bracket them in liveview and not get the vibration of mirror slap playing into it. It's not an ideal scenario, but you couldn't ask for a better camera to try and pull it off with. :)

[BigBlueDodge]

Well, if I was headed to the Cancun area, there is no way I would miss a chance to see the pyramids and shoot some HDRs of Tulum and the Chichen Itza compound.

I whole heartedly second this. We visited Chichen Itza while we was in Cancun several years back, and it was an amazing site. You have to see this if you go down there. Most hotels will book you a trip (I think it cost us $70 a person while we were down, and it's an all day event). When we were there, you could climb to the top of the main pyramid, but I've heard that they no longer let people do that.

[sevillafox]

http://www.visitmexico.com/rivieramaya

You had better take lots of pics for me because I've been dying to see Tulum and Chichén Itzá for years. I've also heard cool things about Islas Mujeres and there is a cenote in the area which is I have heard is really cool to swim in.


Ugh, I made the mistake of actually looking closer at that site. Now I want to go. :cry:

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Well the Mk 3 will definitely be going. I may load the tripod as well. Natalie and I had a hard enough time making weight with our 4 day trip to Vegas a month ago. She has issues with packing 18,000,000,000,000 outfits per day.

I think I really should take my tripod now. That wonderful magic hour would be really cool to do some hdr work with, either in the morning or evening.

Thanks for that site Tiff. I will look into it.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Oh, well come with us then Tiff :) It'll be super fun lol.

[KENLUDE97]

I JUST got back from Cancun!

We went to Chichen Itza. What a amazing site. I have ~800 pics to go thru and as soon as i do i will post some. You can no longer climb on the structures anymore:cry:

We also went to "Xcaret" That was fun and interesting, the snorkel river was fun. There was intersting animal sites, Butterfly area, Botanical Garden, and the nite show was interesting if you like that sort of thing.

I took my kit lens and my 70-200. I bought a cheap underwater camera for underwater shots.... I have not had the film processed yet, so i don't know how they turned out. There was not a lot to take pics of underwater where we were at... also the water was pretty choppy that day so snorkeling was a bit of work....

Here is one quick shot from Chitchen Itza
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/Cancun/IMG_2563.jpg

The "Ball court"
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/Cancun/IMG_2573.jpg

Oh and the sink hole that you can swim in on the way there.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/Cancun/IMG_2332.jpg

The wife at Xcaret
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/Cancun/IMG_2692.jpg

Enjoy your trip and let me know if you have any questions!:cool:

[SoaringUSAEagle]

My wife will freak if any birds come near her LOL. That should be an interesting place to visit.

Looks like you had a great time. Are you able to photograph the Chichen Itza at dawn or dusk? Or is it only open during certain hours?

[KENLUDE97]

Haha Yea my wife was a good sport. She is actually holding a green one in her hands too! But i only had the 70-200 mounted at the time... and did not feel like switching lenses.

We did have a great time. I VERY worthwile visit.

To be honast i have no idea what time the park opens and closes.... We were on a Bus tour and we got there at about noon and left 4pm. Its a 3hr bus ride from the Hotel Zone in Cancun... And as you can tell all of these were taken at "high noon":( But its better than nothing. I would think that you could drive yourself and arrive and leave when you want... But not sure that i would want to drive there, and get lost in some Mexican village and end up at one of these prisions ;) Be gental they were taken out the window of a SPEEDING bus. Oh and i'm 99% sure that the guys in the tower are holding assult rifles.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/IMG_2296.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/IMG_2297.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/IMG_2301.jpg

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Looks like fun. Yeah we'll see what is going on when we get there and whatnot. We have 7 days so I think that'd be enough time. Thanks for the info :D

[KENLUDE97]

We were there for 7 days as well. And were stongly encouraged by the Hotel Staff to do big trips (like Chitchn Itza) everyother day. And they were right. We are young(ish) at 29 and we were tired after these trips. We also wanted a good amount of Beach time as well.

Good luck! 8)

[SoaringUSAEagle]

That sounds good. I cant wait to do the swim up bar LOL. What were some real tasty drinks?

[timnosenzo]

That sounds good. I cant wait to do the swim up bar LOL. What were some real tasty drinks?

I dooo love a pool bar! :cool:

http://www.timnosenzo.com/photos/247991956_5P36H-M.jpg

[SoaringUSAEagle]

That looks awesome!!! :D

[KENLUDE97]

Pool, POOL? I just don't understand why anyone sits next to a pool when you could be sitting next to the Ocean.... Isn't that why you are there in the first place?

[Killjoy]

Pool, POOL? I just don't understand why anyone sits next to a pool when you could be sitting next to the Ocean.... Isn't that why you are there in the first place?

Because after a day of SCUBA diving, sitting in a pool of non salt water is in itself relaxing.

[BearLeeAlive]

Because after a day of SCUBA diving, sitting in a pool of non salt water is in itself relaxing.
That, and the swim up bar is there too. ;)

I've been to the Mayan Riviera a couple times, great place. The water is great to swim and play in. Last time we did a day trip to snorkel in 3 different places, a fresh/salt water lagoon, a large open fresh water cenote, and in a cavern (underground cenote). This was an excellent trip.

The ruins are great too. Shopping for half a day in Playa del Carmen offers a few good sights and photo ops too.

[timnosenzo]

Pool, POOL? I just don't understand why anyone sits next to a pool when you could be sitting next to the Ocean.... Isn't that why you are there in the first place?

There's no bar in the ocean!! :)

Actually my wife and I would usually spend all morning and afternoon on the beach, then spend the late afternoon in the pool. Best of both!

[Killjoy]

There's no bar in the ocean!! :)

There's that too. ;)

[KirkHMB]

Check out locogringo.com

for some additional what to do on the Mexican Riviera