We Took The DJI Mavic Air Drone To Mexico. Here’s What We Learned
One of our articles from last year, “Taking Your Drone To Mexico? What To Know Before You Go”, is our most read post…and for good reason. Over 20 million tourists flock to Cancun alone each year from all over the world (but mostly Canada and the US) and an increasing number of those travelers are packing drones.
Last week we traveled to Playa del Carmen, just south of Cancun for a week of R&R and to get some flight time on the new Mavic Air. Since our Mavic Air arrived, conditions where we live (Canada) have been unfavourable for droning. And besides, we all need some time at the beach in weather that is too hot.
In our original Mexico article we gave some helpful, and important, tips to get the most out of traveling with a drone. We shared some basic information on do’s and don’t’s as well as what to expect at airports. Now that we’ve done it ourselves, we’re happy to share more helpful to tips to help you get the most from your drone.
This trip marked the first time we had flown internationally with a drone. As a frequent flier (with Nexus) I’m always curious about the security protocols we encounter at various airports and I’m slightly obsessed with making sure it goes smoothly. If you didn’t know already, DJI drones use Lithium Polymer(LiPo) batteries. All airlines, and the FAA, have classified LiPos as hazardous material and there are serious rules on how they should be stowed for flight.
Related: Taking Your Drone On An Airplane? What To Know Before You Go
LiPo batteries only belong in your carry on. There are rare exceptions, but they likely won’t last.
For this trip we packed our GoPro and various cables, housings, mounts and our Osmo Mobile 2 in a Manfrotto Gear Advanced backpack that was tossed into a larger, checked suitcase.
Our Mavic Air traveled with 3 LiPo batteries, the Mavic Air RC and a SKYREAT Tablet Mount all stored in the standard Mavic Air shoulder bag….which we place inside our standard carry-on along with two ipads and a laptop.
Going through security in Toronto (we flew Interjet to Cancun) we encountered no issues whatsoever during the screening process. We place the laptop, ipads and the packed up Mavic Air(in it’s shoulder bag) in their own tubs to go through x-ray and retrieved them on the other side without incident.
If you’ve traveled to Cancun in the last decade you’ll be familiar with the dreaded “red button” as you exit baggage claim that randomly selects travelers for more detailed inspection. Since 2008, Cancun has seen passenger traffic go from 8 million passengers per year to over 21 million today. With volumes like that, the tourism economy of Quintana Roo really can’t deal with randomness or massive bottlenecks at departures.
This year Cancun airport opened a fourth terminal to help enhance the movement of passengers and streamline operations. We flew in, and out, of terminal 4 on this trip and the entire experience was seamless. We noticed significantly better passenger management and shorter lines during one of the busiest travel weeks to Cancun.
We collected our bags and proceeded without incident through the shiny, new Terminal 4 and boarded our transfer to Playa del Carmen, about 45 minutes away.
Flying Your Drone In Playa
The DJI GO 4 app immediately detected that our country had changed and asked us to acknowledge the new location.
DJI GO 4 also advised an inconsistent firmware condition, but we opted to ignore it due to poor wifi in our condo. Once the drone was connected to the controller, the App also asked us to calibrate the compass, which took aout 10 seconds.
We’ve had a very limited amount of time to fly our Mavic Air since it arrived, with Canadian weather being a prime reason. Our week in Playa was pretty windy, and because we stayed a few blocks from the beach, it wasn’t until you were standing on the sand that you realized how strong the breeze is. So lot’s of high wind warnings from the DJI GO 4 App while flying.
We did manage to capture a decent amount of 4K footage and some stills, but we try to be selective (and careful) in what we filmed. We found the locals to be the most receptive and curious about the Mavic Air, fascinated by a gadget that costs over 18,000 pesos.
Tourists on the other hand had a mixed reaction. I’ve been flying drones for a couple of years now and one quickly becomes familiar with the body language of those around you when they detect a drone. Some are curious and interested, others not so much.
At one point while sitting poolside we actually had a DJI Spark zipping back and forth over the building in the middle of the day. The ex-pats in their loungers were curious but when the drone was gone so was their attention.
I mentioned above that I was “careful” in how I flew. Quintana Roo is a hotbed of cartel activity with more than it’s share of serious crime. Just prior to our arrival one passenger ferry was bombed, and a couple of restaurants on PDC’s 5th Avenue tourist street were shot up. As a result there was a more noticeable local, federal and military police presence both on land and the water. With the Mexican Marinas (Marines) patrolling the shore the last thing we wanted was to attract attention with our drone by flying too close to them or those patrolling near us.
We Expected More
Those of us who are uploading drone vids to Youtube, and perusing the cinematic creations of other drones pilots, know that there are a lot of people capturing drone videos in tourist destinations like PDC. It was a complete surprise to me that in 8 days at the peak of tourist season I did not bump into another drone pilot. And the Spark mentioned above is the only other drone I saw all week.
When we ordered our Mavic Air, DJI was out of stock of the faster Class 3 microSD cards so our intention was to grab one in Playa del Carmen or at the airport.
Unfortunately we could not find any electronics retailers in our area of Mexico that sold a Class 3 microSD card. That included Walmart, Mega, and a few small retailers.
This limited our flights to the 11 minutes or so that it took to fill up the on board storage, but we still had ample storage as you can see from the video below.
DJI was also out of stock of it’s own ND Filter set for the Mavic Air, and B&H Photo’s inventory was comprised of ‘special order’ or ‘waiting for stock’. We ordered the Freewell All-day 8 Pack of ND Filters for the Mavic Air from B&H a month ago, but it still hasn’t shipped.
Flying at the beach is bright, and we would have preferred to use manual camera settings for video capture, but filming in Auto wasn’t actually terrible. Unlike the Spark we didn’t get any flicker in our processed videos.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for us was the poor quality of internet in Mexico. Our condo had Telmex’s Infinitum service which is probably the most common in our area. Up and down speeds were atrociously slow and various devices would drop off the network every few minutes, making any uploads just about impossible. If you’re taking your drone, consider getting a wireless backup drive like the Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro (Amazon, B&H Photo) for both internet routing and backup storage without a laptop or PC (you control it using an App on your smartphone or tablet).
Biggest Surprise
Traveling with the Mavic Air is an absolute dream. In fact, we think the hyper-practical shoulder bag that came with the Mavic Air is perfect. It still amazes us that the Mavic Air, 4 batteries, table mount, RC and Ipad fit in such a tiny bag with room to spare.
I carried the Mavic Air in it’s shoulder bag with me everywhere in Mexico. It’s just that small and convenient, and with 3 batteries I have almost an hour of flight time.
