ATTENTION UW PHOTOGRAPHERS:

[Karen Schofield]

ATTENTION UW PHOTOGRAPHERS:
I just received notice that any diver planning to do underwater photography with a DSLR will need to submit this permission form 10 days prior to photo diving in any protected area in Mexico according to CONANP.
If you are a professional photographer, you will need special permission to photograph these areas for professional use. I’m guessing that translates to a special $$$ monetary fee?

Unfortunately I am already pre-paid, booked and I am soon to board The Valentina liveaboard for diving in the Sea of Cortez in November 2019. I booked through Liveaboard.com months ago. They just sent me this letter from the Mexican authorities that requires the diver to fill out detailed information on all underwater camera camera equipment prior to a trip into Baja California. This is very bizarre.

Of note, I read one diver's recent account where customs & immigration officers in Cabo San Lucas were charging divers a 60% fee to bring in camera gear. This just started in October of 2019 as far as I can tell.

I will write an extended review after my vacation if the Mexican authorities extort money from me at the border for bringing in underwater photo gear. This will deter many divers in the future if this is the new practice.

 

[Karen Schofield]

Per the latest Undercurrent issue for October 2019:
If you travel to Baja California with lots of camera gear, you better have a pocketful of cash. Mexican Customs and Immigration officials are slamming divers with a tax on their photo gear when they pass through Los Cabos Airport Customs, and most likely elsewhere.
The article states that there is a 60% percent tax on all camera gear and drones.

 

[Manatee Diver]

So mirror-less cameras don't require permission for professional purposes...

 

[Karen Schofield]

According to the folks at Liveaboard.com, compact cameras do not count. Maybe the Mexican authorities are not aware that there are some professional photographers using the mirrorless cameras.

 

[fmerkel]

How are authorities going to tell? IMO, they 'might' know dynamite from red licorice, but doubt they can tell a mirror-less from a DSLR. Reading that snip from Undercurrent it seems like they'll tax about anything they can get away with. I doubt arguing will do anything but raise the tax. Mexico you know.....

Have a buddy that simply walked away from a vacation at La Paz rather than knuckle under and pay the extortion. Screw 'em very much.

I suspect an uproar from the dive and live aboard companies when customers find other sites more accommodating.

 

[Bubblesong]

I wonder if people on cruise ships, non-diver vacationers are getting taxed as well?

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm not a photographer. I don't get this at all. What's their reasoning, if anyone knows. Thanks.

@Dan, I'm thinking you'll be interested/affected by this.

 

[The Chairman]

This really, really sucks. I'm glad I use GoPros.

 

[Joneill]

Per the latest Undercurrent issue for October 2019:
If you travel to Baja California with lots of camera gear, you better have a pocketful of cash. Mexican Customs and Immigration officials are slamming divers with a tax on their photo gear when they pass through Los Cabos Airport Customs, and most likely elsewhere.
The article states that there is a 60% percent tax on all camera gear and drones.

Seems like a really misguided money grab. With respect to the tax, what is it based on? 60% of what? 60% of the value of the camera?

 

[OceanEyes]

Well, this is a rather unpleasant development. It seems to be a rather random cash grab at best, or shortsighted shake down at worst.

What is this 60% fee meant to reflect? A percentage of the retail value of all photography gear? A percentage of the current value of that gear? A percentage of the cost of the intended diving expedition? The nebulous terminology is in itself indicative of a hasty, random bit of legislation which at first glance leads me to think that anyone entering the country with anything that could be construed to be “professional” equipment could be subjected to onerous financial demands for what could be construed as abject bribery.

The term “professional” was used to describe a random photographer or type of equipment. Who is to make the determination as to whether someone with a DSLR is a professional?

I have been a full time commercial photographer for over thirty years and have frequently traveled with camera gear worth tens of thousands of dollars. (I also travel with my dive gear, which on occasion includes a rebreather and the ancillary gear involved to make an already complex exercise in logistics even more unwieldy and costly.) Should a sole customs inspector determine my fate upon entering that nation, I could be expected to hand over between six to twenty-thousand dollars in cash before being granted entry.

I’ve visited, dived, and photographed in that part of the world many times over the past several decades, and have had spectacular adventures, fabulous dives, stellar photo opportunities, incredible interactions with marine life, and made many friends there. If this policy remains in force, I’ll either have to charge my vastly increased expenses to my clients, or, more likely, take my business elsewhere.