Airbnb & Vacation Rental Photography in Costa Rica
Photos and drone video that help your listing win the click, and the booking.
Costa Rica now has close to 49,000 active short-term rentals, all competing for the same travelers. When a guest compares listings on Airbnb, Booking.com or Vrbo, the photos are what they judge first.
We photograph villas, vacation homes and boutique hotels so that yours looks like the one worth booking: every room, the amenities guests will actually enjoy, and the views that justify your nightly rate.
Vacation home owners
The higher nightly rate, justified in the gallery. Photos that show what a stay is really like, so guests book with confidence.
Property managers
Photos for your website and every listing you manage, with a volume rate when you book several homes. Win new owners by showing quality across your whole portfolio.
Villa & hotel owners
Photos that convey the experience your property actually offers, from the first image in the search results to the last in the gallery.
Why photos decide bookings
On Airbnb and Booking.com, guests scroll fast and linger over galleries. The listing with the better photos gets the click, and the click is where the booking starts. That is why we shoot generously: every room, but also the pool at golden hour, the outdoor shower, the hammock with a view.
Airbnb's own data shows listings with professional photos are booked 2.5 times more often than those without, earning hosts an average of $1,025 more per month. FlipKey similarly found travelers are 83% more likely to inquire about a listing with over 20 photos. Source: Airbnb / FlipKey
What we shoot for a vacation rental
- Every room and space: bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, living and dining areas, each from its best angle of light.
- The amenities that sell the stay: pool, terrace, outdoor shower, hot tub, firepit, hammock, the view from the bed.
- Experience shots: a space being lived in rather than posed for the camera, because that is what turns a browser into a booking.
- Aerial photos: the property in its setting, with the beach, jungle or mountains around it.
- Sunset and twilight: warm golden-hour exteriors that make the first photo in the gallery hard to scroll past.
Photo sizes and rules by platform
Each platform publishes its own image rules. Here is a side-by-side of the ones that matter most for a Costa Rica rental, so you know what to upload and where.
| Platform | Minimum | For best results |
|---|---|---|
| Airbnb | 1024 × 683 px | Bigger is better. The first 5 photos are shown most prominently, and every room or space should have at least one photo. |
| Booking.com | 300 × 300 px, JPG or PNG, up to 50 MB | At least 1280 × 900 px has the greatest impact with guests. |
| Vrbo | 1024 × 683 px, at least 6 photos | 3840 × 2160 px or larger, in horizontal orientation. No watermarks, text overlays or collages. |
| Expedia | JPG, PNG or BMP, up to 15 MB | 2,880 px or more on the longest edge. Four or more photos per room type, plus bathroom, exterior, entrance and each key amenity. |
| Google Vacation Rentals | 1024 × 683 px, at least 8 photos, one per room | 2048 × 1366 px, landscape, JPG, PNG or WebP up to 10 MB. Include a full view of each bed. |
What it means in practice: we deliver your photos as full-resolution JPG files exported at maximum quality, well above every minimum in the table, so the same set works on every platform. Each one resizes the files to its own formats. Platforms update their rules from time to time, so check the linked guidelines when you upload.
How many photos does a listing need?
The platform minimums are low: 6 photos on Vrbo, 8 on Google. They are a floor, not a goal. Guests compare galleries, and a listing with a photo of every room and every amenity answers questions before the guest has to ask them.
- Lead with your strongest photo: the view, the pool or the standout space. It is the one shown in search results.
- Photograph every room, plus the exterior, the outdoor areas and the surroundings.
- Show the beds clearly, and make sure the bathrooms and kitchen look as good as the terrace.
- Keep every photo honest. A gallery that matches the stay avoids disappointed guests and bad reviews.
- Our packages start at 20 edited photos, which suits a compact unit. For large villas we deliver up to 120, so you have plenty to choose from for different platforms and uses. Estates and multi-villa properties are quoted as a project.
Photography for property managers
Property managers are among the clients who work with us most. We photograph the homes you manage so that your website and your listings on every platform tell the same story, and so that a new owner can see the quality of your whole portfolio.
- One consistent look across all your homes, edited by hand in the same style.
- Files ready for your website and every platform: full-resolution JPGs, so your team can optimize them for the web and for each listing.
- A volume rate and a shooting plan when you book several homes. Many managers started with four to six at once.
- Return visits: refresh a home after a renovation or a new amenity, and add new properties as you sign them.
Packages & pricing
Every property is different, so tell us about yours and we will recommend the right number of photos. These packages are a starting point, and they include camera and drone.
Pricing & timing
Final pricing varies with distance from our photographers' base; travel time and cost are factored in.
High season starts in November, and our calendar fills up with it. If your listing needs new photos before then, ask for a date early.
Want a video to go with the photos? See our video options, from $180.
What our clients say
"The best photographer for homes and hotels, with a very artistic vision that comes through in every photo. I used them for my Airbnb photos, and after publishing them my occupancy increased noticeably. Thanks so much, guys!"
"We've done several photo sessions for luxury rental homes with ConeCat. We're very happy with the results and love their creativity, professionalism, and quality. 100% recommended, we'll definitely call them again."
Where our photos go to work
A few of the vacation rentals and villa collections whose listings and websites run on our photography:
Looking for something else? Real estate photography Architecture photography
Vacation rental photography: frequently asked questions
More than the platform minimums, which are 6 on Vrbo and 8 on Google. A good rule is one photo of every room and space, plus the exterior, the outdoor areas and the surroundings. A compact unit works with 20 photos, and for a large villa we deliver up to 120, so you can pick the best for each platform and for your own website and social media. Our Básico package includes 20 edited photos and Estrella includes 40; larger estates are quoted as a project.
Airbnb highlights the first 5 photos of a gallery, so those are the ones to get right.
All of them accept JPG, and all want landscape photos at high resolution. The minimums are 1024 × 683 px on Airbnb and Vrbo, and the recommendations go higher: 1280 × 900 px or more on Booking.com, 3840 × 2160 px on Vrbo and 2,880 px on the longest edge on Expedia. Upload the highest resolution you have and the platform will resize it. We deliver full-resolution JPG files exported at maximum quality, so you never have to enlarge anything.
Airbnb's own data says so: listings with professional photos are booked 2.5 times more often (see the figures above). Photos do not replace a good property, but they decide whether guests ever get to see it.
No. We highlight what makes each property truly beautiful, without exaggerating. Photos that match the real stay protect you from disappointed guests and low ratings, and platforms expect listings to represent the property accurately.
Both, when the budget allows. Daylight shows interiors and layout clearly, and the golden hour makes pools, terraces and views look their best. That is why our Premium package includes at least two sessions: one by day and one at sunset or at night.
A single-visit shoot usually takes around two hours on site. With two visits, plan on about three hours in the morning and two in the afternoon or at sunset. Add travel time, and expect more for properties with many spaces or that need adjustments between shots.
Delivery currently takes 7 to 10 days after the shoot, depending on our workload and the number of photos, so it can change with the season. In high season, which starts in November, ask for the date when you book. Videos usually follow the same timeline, though an elaborate production with several days of shooting and specialized editing can take longer. These times are a reference, not a commitment.
Clean surfaces and windows, check that every light works (pool and garden lights included), make the beds, clear the kitchen counters and put away personal items. Turn off ceiling fans, since they blur in photos, and trim the lawn and sweep the entrance.
Our packages start at $350 for Básico (20 edited photos, camera and drone included). Estrella starts at $550 with 40 photos, and Premium starts at $600 with at least two sessions, tailored to the project. Final pricing varies with the distance from our base, since travel time and cost are factored in.
Yes, and it is one of the most common ways we work. Booking several homes together brings a volume discount, and we plan the shoots property by property around your timeline. Many property managers started with four to six homes. Tell us about your portfolio and we will put together a package.
Often, yes. Views without bookings usually mean guests open the listing and are not convinced, and photos are the first thing they judge. Check four things: whether the cover photo shows your best feature (the view, the pool or the space guests mention most in reviews), whether the first five photos show the space and the amenities that sell the stay, whether every room has a clear, bright photo, and whether your gallery holds up next to your competitors'.
Photos are not the only factor, since price, reviews and your calendar also count, but they are the quickest thing to fix.
For a quick update, a phone can work. For the gallery that has to win bookings, a professional shoot makes a visible difference: planned light, straight and wide angles, drone views of the property in its setting and careful editing. In a market with nearly 49,000 active rentals, guests compare your photos with photos like these.
Whenever something important changes, such as a renovation, new furniture, a new pool or hot tub, or landscaping that has grown in. Also when your gallery starts to look dated next to nearby listings. Updating before the high season, which starts in November, means the new photos are working when demand picks up.
Owners judge a manager by how the homes they already manage look and perform. A website and listings with consistent, professional photos, plus real reviews, show the quality of your whole portfolio. Many of our property manager clients use one shoot for the website, every booking platform and social media.
Yes, all of those fall under the same purpose: renting the property. Using the photos for a different commercial activity later, such as selling the property, is a separate use, so write to us first. Our full terms are in the Terms & Conditions.
Ready to get your listing booked?
Tell us about the property and we will send you a quote within 24 hours.