Los Cabos, Mexico

We recently visited Los Cabos. Although it was a short 3 day trip It felt great to get away from cold and rain to warm sunny weather. Los Cabos is like another beach destination filled with beaches and water activities but still has its own unique charm. Its known as the place where the desert meets the sea !

Where to stay –

Los Cabos is made up of two towns Cabo San Lucas and San Hose del Cabo. There is a “Tourist Corridor” that lies between the two towns which stretches along the coastal highway and is filled with resorts and hotels. Most resorts are spread over a huge property and have options of all inclusive or stay only.

We stayed at the Sheraton La Hacienda Resort – stay only. After research we realized all inclusive did not make sense for us. Our resort was beautiful and will highly recommend it to anyone. Recommend staying close to Cabo San Lucas since most points of interest are that side.

Transportation –

We rented a car from Los Cabos Airport. Note – US insurance does not work in Mexico . Mexico government has a rule that you need to buy 3rd Party liability insurance from Mexico. Car rentals are very cheap around 4 $ per day plus insurance of around 15-20 $ per day. Car rentals might try to sell other types of insurance too saying its required in Mexico but its not, so beware. Car might not be required if you plan to stay in resort only and most water/outdoor activities will have a resort pick up .

NOTE –

As soon as you land in Cabo. People at the airport and car rental will try to entice you to come for a time share presentation. Even at Sheraton where we stayed they approached us for the time share presentation. Since it was within our resort we agreed to go for it – they offered us a lot of incentives like free breakfast, lunch, discount for activities , discount for spa etc. If you bargain they give more 🙂

In the end the presentation took 3-4 hours of our time , more than the 1.5 hour we were initially told. Given the incentives we did not mind the lost hours. In the end you need to weigh the time lost vs the incentives.

Weather –

Anytime is a good time ! Its always warm in Los Cabos , summer could be slightly more warmer and cheaper. Winter is the peak season.

Is it Family Friendly –

Yes and no depends where you are going in Los Cabos. Most resorts are family friendly and have their own private beaches and they also offer special daily activities for kids. There are a lot of other kid friendly activities too – snorkeling, zip lining, camel rides, horse back rides. I don’t think the downtown area was kid friendly. The beaches were semi kid friendly. We did see a lot of families in our flight.

Things to do –

Lover’s Beach – You need to take a water taxi to reach here. It is very secluded and the sand is super soft. No restaurants around here so getting a picnic basket is recommended.

Medano Beach – Most popular beach filled with people and restaurants .

El Arco – Its a natural stone arch over ocean. You can see it when you take the water taxi to Lover’s beach or you can do Sunset cruise. We did the latter.

 

Marina Cabo San Lucas – Walk along the boardwalk filled with restaurants, coffee shops and gift shops and look at the expensive yachts.

Cabo Pulmo Marina Reserve – Best for snorkeling, supposed to be have beautiful coral reefs. We missed it due to time constraints. Its a two hour drive from the Tourist Corridor.

Sunset Cruise – There are a lot of options to choose from we chose the Tropical Jazz and Wine sunset cruise and loved it. They take you all the way to the arch and a little ahead and the sunset is spectacular. They served fruits, appetizer, smoothies which were great. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g152515-d1625654-Reviews-Tropicat_Jazz_Wine_Sunset_Tour-Cabo_San_Lucas_Los_Cabos_Baja_California.html

 

Other activities – rides on water-propelled jet packs, snorkeling, diving, dune-buggy rides, camel rides, zip-lining, surfing, jet-ski riding, kayaking, sailing, horseback riding, ATV riding, hang gliding, mountain biking, camping, tennis and rappelling.

Cabo Wabo – Its a night club where live music is played after 10.30. Very interesting and loud place.

Places to Eat –
The Office – its a restaurant right on the beach and a must do. The energy of the place is so great ! A good place to have either linch or dinner. They have live music too. At lunch you can watch surfers while having food. Reservations are recommended if you are more than 2.

You can find a bunch of local taqueria’s mostly in the downtown area close to Cabo Wabo. Recommended place – Tacos Guss, their tacos were mouth watering and the mexican coca cola was different. 

Senor Sweets – Its a desert place inside the mall in the downtown area. However, you can have dinner here too. They had paninis and crepes which were a welcome change after eating mexican food for long time. Their ice cream was really yummy.

Overall –

Cabo is a fun getaway close to California. I think three to four days are enough to experience Cabo’s astounding view, enjoy water activities , experience the food and people and still have time to just lay on the beach !