'Video' cameras at Mayan Ruins

[DrJohn999]

I've heard that the Mexican government charges a small fee ($8?) to take a video camera onto the ruin sites. I don't mind the fee so much, but what constitutes a 'video' camera these days? Between my DS and I we will have four devices capable of recording videos at various quality levels: two iPhones, one point-and-shoot, and one DSLR with video capability. None of these are strictly speaking 'video' cameras.

 

Has anyone gone to Tulum, Coba, Chitzenitza, etc., recently and have you encountered this issue? As I said, I don't mind the fee, but I'm not going to pay 4x fees one for each device!

[awboater]

When we went to Chaccohoben (via Costa Maya) in Jan 2011, I was charged a $5 fee to use my small Canon Camcorder, but not a fee for my DSLR.

 

They were not charging for still cameras, although they acknowledged that many of them had video capabilities and that it was even OK to use their video function.

 

Seems kind of odd, but it's probably typical government regulations being behind the times.

 

I am not sure if that is the same as the other ruin sites or not. But if in doubt, perhaps you could leave your iPhones on the ship for an afternoon?

[DrJohn999]

Thanks, awboater, that's the kind of information I was looking for. Neither of us are particularly interested in videos of the ruins — I just wanted to go in with some fore-knowledge of what to expect.

[Nole0202]

I've heard that the Mexican government charges a small fee ($8?) to take a video camera onto the ruin sites. I don't mind the fee so much, but what constitutes a 'video' camera these days? Between my DS and I we will have four devices capable of recording videos at various quality levels: two iPhones, one point-and-shoot, and one DSLR with video capability. None of these are strictly speaking 'video' cameras.

 

Has anyone gone to Tulum, Coba, Chitzenitza, etc., recently and have you encountered this issue? As I said, I don't mind the fee, but I'm not going to pay 4x fees one for each device!

 

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