How low did you go? Price of dolphin photos

Going to be in Cozumel next week and plan to do the dolphin swim at Chankanaab. I have read on several threads that people had "negotiated" a bit for the final price of the photos. If that is something that is possible, what has your experience been? What was the starting price and what did you actually end up paying? Although this is going to be a once in a lifetime experience, not sure I can swallow paying hundreds of dollars on top of what we have already spent. Hoping there might be a little wiggle room!!

We were there last week. Had an awesome time but really ticked at how much the photos were! I believe individual photos were $60 and for the 4 of us they wanted $280 (USD) for the CD. They went down to $200 ($50 pp) and that is all they would do. I will say they were great pics. We got a CD with 96 pics of the 4 of us plus a bunch of generic dolphin pics. But I did feel totally ripped off.

[emoji35]

So frustrating how they are so inconsistent.

My sister was there last week on land vacation (but nobody knew that) and she got them down to $150!!! And still felt ripped off!!!

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[emoji35]

So frustrating how they are so inconsistent.

My sister was there last week on land vacation (but nobody knew that) and she got them down to $150!!! And still felt ripped off!!!

 

 

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How many people was that for? I have heard that about $50pp is how low they will go. We did laugh when the guy told us to "keep quiet" about how low of a price they gave us because they don't do that for everyone. Yeah right!

How many people was that for? I have heard that about $50pp is how low they will go. We did laugh when the guy told us to "keep quiet" about how low of a price they gave us because they don't do that for everyone. Yeah right!

Oh good point!! It was 3 people!! DUHHH

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They should just stick with one price and stop messing around!!

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I was just there on Wednesday. We did the Dolphin Encounter and then got a few minutes with the Manatees. After it was all done they take you inside to sell you the pics. There were roughly 60 pics of me and my 2 kids. They said the price is $210 or $40 for 1 picture. We said no thanks and started to walk away. She dropped the price 2 more times and we said we weren't interested. She then asked how much we were willing to pay and my wife said $100 (in retrospect she should have said nothing or at least a lower price) They agreed to $100. The odd thing is they would do the $100 but only for pics with the kids in them. Any pic that I was in was not part of the package!?!

Now that we are home and had a chance to look at them closer, I am not that impressed. We ended up with 46 pics but many of them are identical. I should have just bought the best picture of each of my kids.

It was still a great experience and fun to see the dolphins, manatees and sea lions.

Interesting... Wonder if anyone else has the duplicates on the CD issue... Seems to be a scam if they claim more photos than are actually there. Sis returns next week-

I'll be sure to ask!!

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The only duplicates we got were that they made a few pics into black-and-white, as well. Which we really didn't care for. But other than that, we didn't have duplicates exactly, but there might have been several very similar - like 4-5 of each of us on the boogie board, for example, but they were slightly different - like they were snapped in rapid succession.

We were there back in 2013 and talked them down to $100 and it was for pics of me & my daughter. We got the CD and a T-shirt as well. The CD has really lot of good pictures on it. I have never counted them but there are a lot! Best of Luck!

My Husband and GD will be swimming with the sea lions and if I don't go in the water with them they won't let me take pictures of them either?

My Husband and GD will be swimming with the sea lions and if I don't go in the water with them they won't let me take pictures of them either?

I assume you mean dolphins? I don't think they have swimming with the sea lions. Assuming you mean the dolphins, if you had a really good camera with a nice zoom, you could probably get some decent pics from shore. Just tell them to look your way. They won't let you walk out on the docks to be close to them.

What I meant is the sea lion discovery at the same location :)

Thanks for answering !

What I meant is the sea lion discovery at the same location :)

 

 

 

Thanks for answering !

I didn't realize they had a sea lion encounter but just checked their website and they definitely do! Not sure where you'd be for that so can't tell if you'd be able to take pictures or not. Hopefully someone else here has done it and can help!

My hubby and two kids are doing the Sea Lion swim very soon and I am going to be an observer. I don't see them letting me take any photos unfortunately. The prices are ridiculous for the photos.

My hubby and two kids are doing the Sea Lion swim very soon and I am going to be an observer. I don't see them letting me take any photos unfortunately. The prices are ridiculous for the photos.

Please come back and let us know how it worked out for you :D

I just read on another board it is cash only?

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I just read on another board it is cash only?

 

 

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No. We put it on our MasterCard with no issue

I think the post about cash only, was in reference to ordering food and drink down by the beach (snorkeling) area.

I think the post about cash only, was in reference to ordering food and drink down by the beach (snorkeling) area.

Oh that's probably true.

Oops! Thank you!

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I booked Chankanaab online so I also purchased two $40 photo certificates for $33 each. That saved $14 total. If I can get the CD for $50 per person then we will only have to pay $20 since we will already have $80 in photo voucher certificates. In total we would have only paid $86 for the CD for 2 people. Still a lot but I can deal with it if the pictures are nice.

Back from Cozumel and the Sea Lion swim in Chankanaab. DH and two kids did the swim. Zero opportunity for me to snap my own photo, as I had 'gaurds' put out to chat with me during the event. They were friendly but it was obvious what they were there for, and I was the only person sitting and observing the swim.

We were taken straight to the photo booth. We were offered the spectacular prices of $280 USD for the cd with all photos. I laughed out loud. I asked how much for single photos. $40 USD. Laughed again.

Walked away with no intention to buy, I do not appreciate the pushy tactics. Within 10 minutes of shopping with the kids in the gift shop the same lady approached us two more times with 'new prices her manager told her not to give to anyone else.' Yeah right.

She wandered off when I said no and we wandered out and to the taxi. Standing there waiting for the taxi at the front of the park, boom, I look and there she is standing beside me. She then says "final price is $80USD for all the pics of the kids." DH turns and says to her "I will give you $60 for ALL the photos on the CD, take it or leave it" She jumped at it and they ran off to pay. There are about 100 photos. A lot are not repeats, but very similar. I never wanted all these photos, just one or two momentos but it was pretty clear they were hard pushing the cd.

I figured people in the dolphin groups probably shared the price of the cd and then shared the photos once they got home. Nope, they charge you per person in your group. It was 1100 pesos, so I believe that is 70-80 USD each person.

I booked Chankanaab online so I also purchased two $40 photo certificates for $33 each. That saved $14 total. If I can get the CD for $50 per person then we will only have to pay $20 since we will already have $80 in photo voucher certificates. In total we would have only paid $86 for the CD for 2 people. Still a lot but I can deal with it if the pictures are nice.

Just curious how the photo vouchers worked out for you! I'm thinking of getting them, but not sure...

I'm told the "unspoken rule" is about $50 per person is the lowest they will go.

Back from Cozumel and the Sea Lion swim in Chankanaab. DH and two kids did the swim. Zero opportunity for me to snap my own photo, as I had 'gaurds' put out to chat with me during the event. They were friendly but it was obvious what they were there for, and I was the only person sitting and observing the swim.

 

We were taken straight to the photo booth. We were offered the spectacular prices of $280 USD for the cd with all photos. I laughed out loud. I asked how much for single photos. $40 USD. Laughed again.

 

Walked away with no intention to buy, I do not appreciate the pushy tactics. Within 10 minutes of shopping with the kids in the gift shop the same lady approached us two more times with 'new prices her manager told her not to give to anyone else.' Yeah right.

 

She wandered off when I said no and we wandered out and to the taxi. Standing there waiting for the taxi at the front of the park, boom, I look and there she is standing beside me. She then says "final price is $80USD for all the pics of the kids." DH turns and says to her "I will give you $60 for ALL the photos on the CD, take it or leave it" She jumped at it and they ran off to pay. There are about 100 photos. A lot are not repeats, but very similar. I never wanted all these photos, just one or two momentos but it was pretty clear they were hard pushing the cd.

 

I figured people in the dolphin groups probably shared the price of the cd and then shared the photos once they got home. Nope, they charge you per person in your group. It was 1100 pesos, so I believe that is 70-80 USD each person.

Thanks for the update! I guess the typical thing I have heard of about $50 per person is NOT true, then. I just have to be willing to walk away completely, apparently!

Did you really intend to leave with zero pix?I dont know if I can do that!!!

Going to be in Cozumel next week and plan to do the dolphin swim at Chankanaab. I have read on several threads that people had "negotiated" a bit for the final price of the photos. If that is something that is possible, what has your experience been? What was the starting price and what did you actually end up paying? Although this is going to be a once in a lifetime experience, not sure I can swallow paying hundreds of dollars on top of what we have already spent. Hoping there might be a little wiggle room!!

HI there!

How did you make out with the photos? We will be there in a couple weeks, and having the same dilemma.

Thanks for the update! I guess the typical thing I have heard of about $50 per person is NOT true, then. I just have to be willing to walk away completely, apparently!

 

Did you really intend to leave with zero pix?I dont know if I can do that!!!

Yes, I would have walked away with zero pictures. Honestly, I could be a millionaire and would still have struggled with paying those prices. I understand there is a cost to pay for being in such a touristy place but I don't appreciate the whole cloak and dagger approach. "Shhh, don't tell anyone" and then seeing reviews everywhere that it would seem every single person leaves paying a different price.

The pictures are nice. But in all honesty I framed one of one child with the sea lion and one pic of the other child with a sea turtle (Grand Cayman) As for the other 200 photos? They are sitting in a folder on my laptop and will be two years from now.

I would have been happy paying a reasonable price for one photo for each child but it was obvious the big push was for the sale of the DVD. They posted a response to my trip advisor review which I thought was pretty comical. Basically states, we charge those prices because we can.