Bird's Eye Views of Southern Mexico and Yucatan

"El dia de los Muertos" or "Day of the Dead" is an important holiday in Mexican culture; it combines elements of Christian and native rituals.  Top Contributor Face Du Mond traveled to Southern Mexico one October spending time around Quintana Roo, Yucatán and Campeche states.  Using his drone and ground cameras, he created an unforgettable view of Mexico during the period leading up to the holiday (which occurs in early November), capped off by a candlelit Día de Los Muertos celebration.

The Mayan people, indigenous to the land stretching across parts of Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula portion of Mexico, were known for their sophisticated perspectives on science, engineering, and the arts.  Contributor and drone pilot Dronebros spent two years traveling the Mayan lands and created this video.  His work earned nominations for the AirVuz Drone Video of the Week and Drone Video of the Month, and was the Winner for the 2nd Annual Drone Video Awards' People & Lifestyle category. 

Award-winning content creator and pilot Postandfly used a DJI Mavic 3 drone to create this magnificent aerial tour of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.  Some of the highlights include the beach town of El Cuyo on the Yucatán's northern coastline (at the :15 mark); the colonial city of Valladolid (:27); the city of Izamal, on the Northern Yucatec Plains (:56); the Río Lagartos Lagoon, on the northern coastline (1: 22); Mérida, the largest city on the peninsula (1:45); the shipping village of San Felipe, just west Río Lagartos; and more.  

Top AirVuz content creator and drone pilot Majestic does it again with this stunning aerial portrait of Cancún, Mexico.  The resort city lies on the eastern (Caribbean Sea) side of the Yucatán Peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo.  Cancún was virtually unknown until the 1970's, when the Mexican government launched an investment program to create a new planned resort city.  The program was wildly successful, and within a couple of decades the city was the country's top beach destination.  

In this drone video by Framework Films, you'll get some excellent aerial views of two of the great Mayan ruins sites in Southern Mexico: the pyramid of Chichen Itza in the state of Yucatán, and the ruins of Tulum in Quintana Roo.   The former is considered one of the great ruins of the Late Classic Period of the Mayan Civilization, which ran from about 550AD - 950AD.  The Tulum site, which overlooks the Caribbean Sea, is from the Late Postclassic Period, which ran from about 1200 to the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.    

Award-winning contributor Postandfly created this stunning aerial tour of the Mexican state of Chiapas, which won the Drone Video of the Week in July, 2019.  Home to a highly diverse landscape, Chiapas lies in the heart of the old Mayan Empire which covered much of what is now southern Mexico.  Featured locations include San Cristobal de las Casas, the Agua Azul waterfalls, the coffee plantations and the jungle near Tapachula, the Montebello Lakes, the port of Tapachula, Sumidero Canyon, and El Chiflon waterfall. 

Top contributor Postandfly created this stunning drone video of the city of Oaxaca, capital of the state of the same name in Southern Mexico.  The state is considered one of Mexico's great cultural treasures because of its indigenous population, in which at least 16 pre-Columbian tribes have survived and with greater continuity than in other parts of the country.  Located in a mountain valley, Oaxaca was the subject of four of the eight essays in DH Lawrence's travel book Mornings in Mexico (1927).

Contributor Mexique Drone put together this marvelous video featuring some of the top sights in the Yucatan region of southern Mexico.  Featured locations include the Playa del Carmen and the Xcaret Park on the stretch of Caribbean Sea coastline known as the Mayan Riviera; the archaeological site of Ek' Balam in the Temozón Municipality in the area known as the Northern Mayan Lowlands; the Mayan city of Coba; the cenote (sinkhole) of Zacil Ha; and the great Mayan ruins site of Tulum, as well as the nearby Kaan Luum.

Isla Mujeres is a long but extremely narrow island which sits off the Caribbean Sea coast of Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula, in the state of Quintana Roo.  The beaches of the island resemble something between nearby Cancun and the Dominican Republic.  Top contributor and pilot Majestic used a DJI Phantom 4 drone to create an unforgettable aerial tour of Isle Mujeres.  In this video you will find views of magically blue water, beach activities, and the party atmosphere of an island paradise.

Top contributor iDrone Aerials created this epic aerial view of the great ruins of Chichen Itza, on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.  Chichen Itza is believed by archaeologists to have been one of the largest cities in the Mayan civilization.  It is located in the state of Yucatán, one of the three states on the peninsula along with Quintana Roo and Campeche.  It was built beginning in the 7th century.  A UNESCO World Heritage site, the site was recently named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World by the Travel Channel.  

Former Drone Video of the Week Finalist montesinosdroneworld brings us this stunning aerial video of Mexico's Sumidero Canyon, one of the country's great natural treasures.  The giant gorge is located within Sumidero Canyon National Park in the southern state of Chiapas, near the base of the Yucatan Peninsula.   Formed by the Grijalva River, which flows through Chipas en route to its mouth on the Bay of Campeche (part of the Gulf of Mexico), Sumidero Canyon's walls are as high as 3.3k ft. (about 1k m).    

Top contributor Barnard Steele created this magnificent sunrise drone video of some of Mexico's most well-known ruins.  The Tulum site is located on the so-called Mayan Riviera, a stretch of beaches and ancient ruins south of Cancun in the Yucatan Peninsula state of Quintana Roo.  Situated on some tall cliffs overlooking the Caribbean Sea, Bjuilt between the 13th-15th centuries, Tulum is one of the best-preserved sites of the Mayan Civilization which ruled over large stretches of the region in Pre-Columbian times.  

Top first person view (FPV) pilot NonexistentJay created this outstanding video as a promotional piece for the Azulik Resort, a high-end property in Tulum, Mexico.  Set in the heart of the Mayan Riviera, the resort celebrates the native culture through food, apparel shops, and art.  The video is a great example of how talented FPV pilots are using their quads to showcase vacation destinations.  This video was picked as a Finalist for the Drone Video of the Week contest and also made the FPV Pilots to Watch list in late December of 2021.  

When the stretch of Mexican coastline south of Cancun originally began to develop, it was called the Playa del Carmen to Tulum corridor, in reference to the towns at either end.  Beginning in the late 1990's, the area was given a new name: the Mayan Riviera, in reference to the area's native people.  In this drone video by the dronexperience, you'll get a bird's eye view of the Grand Sirenis Matlali Hills Resort, one of the premiere properties on the Riviera.  You'll also see the Isla Mujeres, which lies just off the coast of Cancun.

AirVuz contributor and Instagram phenom LucasPinhel has earned a worldwide social media following from his travel Vlogs that artfully combine drone footage and people.  In this video you can join him to fly the skies of two Mexican vacation destinations, Cancun and Tulum. Both lie on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea.  These drone shots will let you join him and his friends as they make the most of their trip living in swimsuits in the sunshine and celebrating life along the beautiful coastline!

The eastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico is home to some of the world's most unusual geology.  Due to a combination of factors, the area is literally covered with phenomena like sea caves and lagoons, the likes of which in many cases can't be found anywhere else on earth.  In this drone video by jelipegomez, you'll get an aerial view of this amazing landscape around the town of Bacalar.  It lies on a lagoon of the same name which runs parallel to the shoreline to its east.  

Cozumel is the most well known of the Mexican islands in the Caribbean Sea.  It sits a short ferry ride off the Mayan Riviera area of the mainland, south of Cancun, in the state of Quintana Roo.  Cozumel's tourism business was fairly modest until the Cancun area began to develop in the 1970's.  Now, Cozumel is home to a world-class scuba diving scene and it's an active cruise ship port of call.  In this video, you'll get a bird's eye view of this beautiful mangrove-covered island, compliments of contributor Isabelle Vaca.

Contributor Conexión Destinos created this beautiful drone video from the Mayan Riviera in the Caribbean Mexico.  Like Cancun itself, the area south of the great Mexican beach city was virtually uninhabited for centuries.  With the growth of Cancun and Cozumel, the stretch of Caribbean coastline became ripe for redevelopment.  Once known as the Cancun-Tulum Corridor in reference to its new endpoints, it has become known by its new name in deference to the native peoples who once lived here.  

Tulum, Mexico was an ancient (Pre-Columbian) Mayan walled city prior to the conquest of Mexico by Spain.  Lying in what is now the Mexican State of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula, the ruins of the city stand on a bluff above some of the finest beach territory on the Caribbean Sea.  Drone pilot and travel vlogger JustinPoore used a drone to create this amazing view of this ancient city on the Mayan Riviera, whose beach was recently ranked #5 in a Lonely Planet survey of the world's top beaches.    

Award-winning content creator and pilot Poastandfly created this stunning drone video of one of the most pristine beaches on Mexico's western (Pacific Ocean) coastline.  Zipolite Beach is situated in the southern state of Oaxaca. It's about two km (just over a mile) long and only about 40 meters (around 130 ft. wide.  It's one of the more remote beach areas on the country's western coast.  Named as one of Mexico's top beaches by Coastal Living, it's known in part for being the only legal nude beach in Mexico.

The Mexican state of Yucatan occupies the western part of the Yucatan Peninsula, which it shares with its neighboring state Quintana Roo.  Far from the beaches and resorts of Cancun and the Mayan Riviera, this is a rainforest country and it offers an extraordinary amount of biodiversity.  It's become one of the top eco-tourism destinations in Mexico.  Contributor Iñigui was in  Sisál, Yucatán when he happened upon a flock of flamingos.  The drone video he took from this encounter is truly memorable.  

Award-winning content creator and drone pilot Postandfly created this stunning aerial video of a well known lake on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.  It's called Bacalar Lagoon, and the "lagoon" monitor is correct - it's technically not a lake, as it's connected to the Caribbean Sea through the porous limestone that runs through the area.  Lagoon or lake, it's a very long body of water - 42 square km or 16 square mi.  It's near a town of the same name, in the southeastern corner of Mexican Yucatan.  

Whenever you get mountainous areas which receive lots of rainfall, you will almost always find epic waterfalls.  That's what makes the Mexican state of Chiapas such as paradise for waterfall-lovers - it's a hilly interior province in the southern part of the country which is mostly rainforest.  Not surprising then that as the area opens up for tourism its waterfalls are started to become much better known.  Exhibit A: this beautiful drone video of El Chiflon waterfall by award-winning contributor Postandfly.  

While Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula is most closely associated with the Caribbean Sea, its northern portion actually lies on a different body of water: the Gulf of Mexico.  Like much of the Gulf, the semi-protected waters provide for some epic kitesurfing spots.  That's where this amazing drone video from jelipegomez was filmed, near the town of Telchac.  He did a beautiful job filming an obviously highly skilled windsurfer and at the same time capturing an incredible landscape and seascape.  

Contributor Postandfly created this spectacular drone video of one of the world's most unusual rock formations.  The Hierve el Agua (the "water boils") is a a set of formations that look very much like streams of cascading water.  Amazingly so, especially when viewed from an aerial perspective.  The pheonenon is caused by streams of spring water that are over-saturated with the mineral calcium carbonate.  They are located in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, in the southern region of the country.  

Check out this excellent drone video of the Mexican city of Mérida and its surroundings on the Yucatán Peninsula, compliments of AirVuz contributor montesinosdroneworld.  The video opens with a magnificent shot of the Cathedral of Mérida, the first cathedral to be finished on the mainland of the Western Hemisphere.  From there you'll head to the Puerto Progreso, a port city which lies about a half hour drive north of the city of Mérida.  Finally, you'll head east to the towns of Rio Lagartos and Las Coloradas.  

Hyatt_films used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone and a Fujifilm XT3 camera to create this magnificent travel video from Mexico's greatest playground: the area around Cancun in the state of Quintana Roo.  The highlighted spots are the Playa del Carmel, a beach south of Cancun which anchors the Maya Riviera; the fantastically long and narrow Isla Mujeres, just northeast of Cancun; and Cancun's hotel district, a huge strip of resorts on land which was virtually uninhabited as late as the 1970's.  

Award-winning contributor and drone pilot Postandfly gives us this beautiful aerial video of a beach spot in his native state of Oaxaca on Mexico's Pacific coastline.  Zicatela Beach is considered one of the best surfing beaches in the Western Hemisphere.  It's just a short distance from Puerto Escondido, a beach town which is widely considered to be more authentically Oaxacan than Huatulco, the state's other big beach spot which was developed on a large scale basis in a manner similar to Cancun.

Cozumel is the largest island on either side of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.  It lies on the eastern (Caribbean) side, about 115 km (around 70 mi.) by car and ferry from the resort town of Cancun.  In recent years, Cozumel has become one of the top cruise ship ports of call in the Caribbean.  In this drone video by Travel Droner, you'll get a bird's eye view of the cruise ship trade in Cozumel.  In particular, you'll see the Symphony of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean Oasis class vessel which is the world's largest cruise ship as of 2019.

Award-winning contributor and pilot Postandfly shot this amazing drone video of La Ventanilla, a small community in the state of Oaxaca on Mexico's southern Pacific coast.  The village and surrounding beach area have become a major center for eco-tourism.  In the video, you'll see why.  Most of it was shot in a mangrove swamp, only a short distance from the ocean but literally a world apart.  The star is a 4 meter (13 foot) one-eyed crocodile, who apparently takes no offense from the hovering drone.  

Mexico's Playa del Carmen is part of the Mayan Riviera, a stretch of Caribbean beach front interspersed with Mayan ruins that runs south of Cancun in the state of Quintana Roo.  A small fishing village as recently as a few decades ago, Playa del Carmen has emerged as a major tourist destination, as well as the main departure point for excursions to the nearby island of Cozumel.  Check out Playa del Carmen from above in this video by Luvs2Wander, which was shot with a mix of drone and ground camera footage.

Kitesurfing is notoriously difficult to film by drone: kitesurfers can routine hit speeds of well in excess of 50 km/hour (about 30 mi./hr), winds can shift, and of course safety is of paramount concern.  At the same time, it's one of those extreme sports which is virtually impossible to properly film without a drone.  In this piece by AirVuz contributor jelipegomez, you'll get an aerial view of some kitesurfing action in Chuburna, Mexico; it's located on the northern Gulf of Mexico shore of the state of Yucatán.

Check out this amazing drone video of one of the top resorts in the Mexican beach town of Cancun, compliments of contributor and pilot Travel Droner.  The resort is situated near the south end of the main hotel zone, near Punta Zinuc.  It makes for a much more secluded feel compared to what is on offer with the larger resorts to the north.  When you watch the video of this stunning property, you will see why the influential magazine Travel + Leisure named Nizuc one of the world's top 100 hotels in 2018.  

The southern part of the Mexican island of Cozumel is an eco-heaven of sorts; its tidal lagoons are home to a variety of exotic fauna and flora ranging from rare species of birds and dwarflike racoons to American crocodiles.  Much of the southern part of the island is covered by parks, and Cozumel is starting to develop serious eco-tourism through these treasures.   In this beautiful drone video by contributor and pilot TravelDroner, you'll be able to get an aerial view of the Cozumel Punta Sur Eco Park.

Apart from the resort city of Cancun and the smaller towns of the Mayan Riviera, Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula has a very sparsely populated coastline.  In this drone video by AirVuz contributor and pilot jelipegomez, you'll get an aerial view of one of the few settlements of any size between Cancun and the city of Campeche (near the western base of the peninsula): the town of El Palmar.  Part of the municipality of Celestún, El Palmer is a short distance to the west of the interior city of Mérida.  

The area around Cancun, Mexico may be the world's shining example of what planned development of tourist zones can accomplish.  Situated on the Caribbean coast of Yucatan, investors initially shunned the area until the Mexican government financed the first nine hotels there in the 1970's.  The rest, as they say, is history; the Cancun/Cozumel/Mayan Riviera area is now one of the top travel destinations in the hemisphere.  Check out Cancun and surroundings from above in this video by rkmaerial. 

Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula is home to some of both the newest and oldest settlements in the country.  For example, the city of Cancun was essentially born in the 1970's as part of a massive government effort to build tourism in what had been one of Mexico's poorest regions.  Just down the coast from Cancun though lie the ruins of Tulum, an ancient walled city built by the Pre-Columbian Mayan Empire.   You can see these amazing centuries-old ruins from abive in this drone video by Conexión Destinos.

Holbox is one of the least-known islands of Mexico.  It lies off the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, near the spot where the Gulf of Mexico meets the Caribbeam Sea.  Separated from the mainland by a roughly 10 km wide shallow lagoon, the island is about 42 km long (about 25 mi.) but only 1.5 km wide (less than a mile).  While other islands like Cozumel and Isla Mujeres have developed substantial tourist industry, Isla Holbox is largely still dominated by fishing.  Check it out from above in this drone video by jelipgomez.  

In this piece, AirVuz contributor Travel Droner gives us a one-shot pullaway from one of the world's most sought-after beach destinations: Cancún, Mexico.  Flying almost 2 km (around a mile) out, you will gain a newfound appreciation for the "dronie" as an art form as well as for the visual appeal of this famed resort city on the Yucatán Peninsula.  Now one of the top beach destinations in the Western Hemisphere, Cancún was the beneficiary of a huge investment program by the central government in the 1970's.

Get a virtual tour of the heart of Southern Mexico in this fantastic travel video by AirVuz contributor Ksenia Ice.  The video was produced with a mixture of drone footage (both stabilized aerial videography and first person view (FPV)) footage plus ground and underwater cameras.  It features locations in four states: Chiapas, Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo.  The first is the southernmost of Mexico's 31 states (excluding Mexico City), while the last three make up the Yucatan Peninsula.   

The Cristo de Chiapas is one of the modern landmarks of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.  Seen here in this excellent drone video by AirVuz contributor MavicPilot80, the 203 ft. tall (62 m) monumental cross is located on a hill southwest of the state capital of Tuxtla Gutiérrez.  Designed by Mexican architect Jaime Latapí López, it was completed in 2011.   The tallest cross in Mexico, its interior shape depicts a profile of Jesus Chris.  The Cristo de Chiapas was blessed by Pope Francis during his 2015 visit to Mexico.  

For a first upload to AirVuz, new contributor spindolajorge brings us this excellent drone video from the fabled beach town of Huatulco, Mexico.  This resort area runs for over 15 mi. (about 26 km) along Mexico's Pacific Ocean coastline in the southern state of Oaxaca.  It's backed by the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains.  The video includes some great footage of the Juatulco Lighthouse, which lies between the Playa Entrega and Playa El Violin beaches.   The video was filmed with a DJI Mavic Mini 2 drone.

AirVuz contributor and pilot jelipegomez brings us this excellent drone video of the port of Progreso, Mexico.  Progreso is the main seaport of the Yucatán Peninsula.  It's located about a half hour drive north of Mérida, the principal city of the Yucatán region.  While the port now handles cruise ships, its roots are as a freight harbor for landlocked Mérida, which has a population of nearly a million and is one of Mexico's 15 largest cities.  The port also houses a substantial fishing fleet.  

Take an aerial tour of southeastern Mexico in this excellent video by new AirVuz contributor Quetzaldrone.  The video features footage from the following locations: the Roberto Barros Waterfall, Arco del Tiempo stone arch, and the Chiapas Bridge, all in the state of Chiapas; La Pólvora Park in Villahermosa, the Playa Azul beach in Centla, and the mountain Cerro de la Pava in Huimanguillo, Tabasco; the El Chichón volcano, in Chiapas; and El Madrigal hill in Tacotalpa, the municipality of Huimanguillo, and the city of Villahermoso, Tabasco.

Respect of nature is a repeating theme around the area of San Agustinillo, in the state of Oaxaca on the southern Pacific coast of Mexico. The growth of eco-tourism around the beach has revealed it's earthly beauty, while protecting it as well. And just as the crashing blue waves create moments of awe, the strength of the undertow from the open sea must not be underestimated.  In this video by drone pilot Nomade Travel, we can sense both the allure and intensity of this incredible shoreline. 

The beach city of Cancún in southern Mexico represents the country's most successful effort to use the power and purse of the central and state governments to develop tourism.  The city was more or less created out of thin air in the 1970's as a string of hotel and resort properties along a deserted stretch of beach in the state of Quiintana Roo.  Today, it's one of the country's leading destinations and a perennial spring break favorite.  Check it out from above in this awesome drone video by Travel Lifestyle.

While Mexico has a long eastern coastline on the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, its most popular eastern beach areas lie along a relatively short stretch of the northeastern side of the Yucatan Peninsula.  The development of the area began with Cancun in the 1970's, and in subsequent decades the development spread south.  In this drone video by The Solo Traveler ORD, you'll get an aerial view of both Cancun and Playa del Carmen, the most popular beach area on the area south of Cancun which is often referred to as the Mayan Riviera.  

Bacalar Lagoon is one of the natural treasures of Mexico.  The long, narrow lake stretches for about 25 mi (around 42 km) in the state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatán Peninsula, near the border with Belize.  Running roughly parallel to the Caribbean Sea coastline, the lagoon is famous for its clear blue waters, a function of the continuous inflows from a massive system of underground streams.  You can check it out from above in this fantastic drone video by brand-new AirVuz contributor Wilburais.  

For a second upload to AirVuz, new contributor Wilburais brings us this excellent drone video from Mexico's Isla Mujeres.  The long, narrow island is located about 8 mi. (around 13 km) off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula near the resort city of Cancún.  It's name (the "Island of Women") derives from its association with the goddess childbirth in pre-Columbian times.  While the island's tourism industry has developed largely in tandem with that of Cancún, it has maintained a distinctive and comparatively relaxed character. 

Take in these marvelous aerial views of the great Mexican beach city of Cancun, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot CHARLYdrone.  Filmed with a DJI Mavic Air drone, the video was primarily shot over the Beach Palace Hotel.  The luxury, 285 room all-inclusive property is located about a third of the way down the Hotel Zone, the "seven" shaped stretch of coastline which lies to the southeast of the city and which is home to the country's largest concentration of beach hotels and resorts.  

Brand-new contributor Uncle Forty used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to create this excellent drone video of the legendary resort city of Cancun, Mexico.  Cancun was more or less built from scratch on the initiative of the Mexican central government in the 1970's, which turned a sparsely occupied stretch of land at the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula into Mexico's top beach destination.  The video was shot along the main Hotel Zone, which lies on a narrow stretch of land near the area where the Gulf of Mexico transitions to the Caribbean Sea. 

Sumidero Canyon is located in southern Mexico in the state of Chiapas, near the base of the Yucatan Peninsula.  The canyon's walls are as high as 1,000 meters (about 3.3k ft.).  Traditionally considered very remote, in recent years Chiapas has seen significantly higher levels of tourist visitation.  Award-winning contributor and pilot Postandfly flew his DJI Inspire 1 drone over the canyon to create this mesmerizing aerial view of some of the most spectacular natural scenery in all of Mexico.

Despite being less than 50 years old, Cancun is the most popular beach destination in Mexico.  The heart of the city is the Hotel Zone on Punta Cancun, which lies on one of the world's longest coral reefs.  In this excellent drone video by mgonzalezcancun, you'll be treated to some epic views of the city during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.  Most of the footage was shot around the iconic red-and-white-striped lighthouse which lies on a promontory at the northeastern corner of the Hotel Zone.  

Take an aerial tour of one of Mexico's most beautiful states, compliements of contributor Postandfly.  Chiapas is the southernmost of the 31 states which make up the country of Mexico.  It has a long coastline with Guatemala, longer in fact than its borders with neighboring Mexican states.  It's a land of lush rainforests and spectacular waterfalls, with a culture that has retained some of its pre-Columbian elements.  For these reasons, it's considered one of the top eco-tourist destinations in Mexico.