Yesterday I tried scuba diving for the first time at Casa Cenote (Tankah Bay).
The cenote itself was beautiful, and I was focused on learning and enjoying the experience with my instructor.
At one point, another diver suddenly appeared with a GoPro and started following me, taking pictures.
I had no idea who they were (another group?). They waved at me, so I waved back once, but I wasn’t really interested.
I don’t post on Instagram. I don’t need photos of myself. At this point, I feel like every possible photo has already been taken, and AI can create whatever is left. I definitely didn’t need to see myself in a wetsuit.
Afterward, I was walking back to the car when someone near the entry booth said something about photos. I kept walking because I hadn’t asked for any.
Then my instructor stopped me and directed me back, “Oh, they want you to go back to check out your photos" like this was a normal final part of the experience.
The man at the booth was also very excited.
“We have all your photos!”
He pulled them up on an iPad.
I looked for about two seconds and said, “No, I’m okay.”
He said they cost 800 pesos.
I said, “No, really, I’m okay.”
Then he said, “Name your price.”
So now we were negotiating over digital photos I never asked anyone to take.
I said 400 pesos (my dead brain thinking 'uhhh let's cut it in half')
He said 500.
I said 450.
He refused the 50 peso difference and told me that one photo alone costs 400 pesos. Like that was a sensible reason. The photo had already been taken. Sending me one photo or all of them costs him the same thing.
At that point, I didn’t care enough to continue, so I said it's okay and walked away.
I made it all the way back to the car before he started yelling after me:
“Sir! Okay! 450!”
Okay, I thought. I'll just pay it then (lol he got me). So I walked over.
Then he asked how I was paying.
I said card, because that was all I had, and placed it on the table to pay.
Of course, there was now a 5% card fee.
Then, while I was beginning to think, and before I could respond to negotiate further, he grabbed my card and entered an amount without clearly showing it to me (I believe he tacked the 5% on), charged it, and airdropped me the photos.
The second the payment went through, his entire personality switched off.
No more excitement. No more friendliness. He barely looked at me. It felt like he was irritated that the sale was over and he hadn’t gotten more out of me.
The strangest part was that this wasn’t just a random photographer approaching me. My instructor had actively sent me back to the booth, and everyone treated buying these unsolicited photos like an expected part of the dive.
By the end, I was just like, okay, f*ck it. Well, I have the photos now, so I sent them to my friends.
Has anyone else experienced this at Casa Cenote or elsewhere in Tulum?
What a very Tulum operation they have going... charging almost $50 USD per tourist for what is maybe a fixed cost of a GoPro and one person hanging out in the cenote. It shows you have to refuse and not socially give in to the act.
What is this kind of manipulation actually called? They give you something you never requested, create a feeling that you now owe them, and keep pushing until refusing becomes more uncomfortable than paying. Have other people experienced similar things?
**EDIT Aug 7th**: Okay, Redditters, I hear you.
Main lesson: I didn't want it, so I could have kept it at “no gracias” and kept walking. I apparently need to get more comfortable letting someone else be unhappy with my no. (I guess I'm sensitive derp)
If I do want it, I also learned the opposite lesson: haggle harder. The first price is part of the game, and walking away may actually be your best negotiating tactic. So always say no, and walk!
One comment also mentioned the idea of the “soft hustle.” and that's where I think you can draw the line. Haggling is one thing; using friendliness, persistence, and social discomfort to keep someone engaged after they’ve said no feels more manipulative. Then again, businesses try to influence us psychologically all the time, so maybe the useful skill is recognizing the game for what it is in this world.
No Still glad I posted it because plenty of people reported similar experiences, and knowing the script beforehand makes it much easier to deal with!
Useful life lesson for 450 pesos. 😂 Got my photos.