Los Cabos, Mexico
Located at the southernmost tip of Baja California – a scraggly desert peninsula straddling the crystal blue Sea of Cortés and the wild Pacific – are the towns of San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, collectively known as Los Cabos (“the capes”). Cabo San Lucas is the party town, San José del Cabo is quaint and quiet, and the strip of coast in between (“The Corridor”) is fertile soil for some of the most extravagantly luxurious resorts in Mexico and some of the world's best golf courses.
Like many Mexican beach destinations, the best time to visit Los Cabos is from Christmas to Easter. Whale watching season is December to March and great fishing is year-round. Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo are 21 miles apart and the easiest way to explore the area is with a rental car.
-- By Dave Roos
San José del Cabo is earning a reputation as a San Miguel de Allende at the beach – a quickly gentrifying provincial town
with a handsome plaza, a budding art and fine dining scene, and a preference for smaller boutique hotels and bed-and-breakfasts.
Casa Natalia is the best of the boutique crowd in San José, with 14 uniquely decorated rooms and two spa suites, each with private terraces looking onto a palm-shaded central pool with a waterfall and swim-up bar. For a comfortable, funky alternative, try Hotel Posada Señor Mañana, where guests can cook in the large communal kitchen.
Driving west from San José along the Corridor, you’ll find one luxury resort after another (with several more in construction). This 20-mile stretch of coastline is a magnet for vacationing celebrities, honeymooners and real-estate prospectors with a few million in pocket change.
The aptly named One & Only Palmillas is the cream of the luxury crop. One of the original resorts in the Corridor, the Palmillas got a high-tech renovation in 2003, adding rain showers, Bose sound systems, flat-screen TVs and wireless Internet access to all rooms. But the modern conveniences don’t distract from the classic architecture and unrivalled cliff-side setting. Relax in the yoga garden, get a spa treatment in a private villa, dine at Charlie Trotter’s restaurant, or tee off at the hotel’s Jack Nicklaus-designed championship golf course.
For over-the-top amenities (sunglass cleaning!) and the prices that go with it, you can’t beat Las Ventanas al Paraíso, also on the Corridor. The cheapest room starts at $500 a night in the low season and the three-bedroom Presidential Suite goes for a little under $6,000 in the high season, but it comes with its own fully staffed kitchen and a 24-hour personal butler. The resort’s European-style spa is one of the best in the country.
For luxury the whole family can enjoy, the Westin Resort & Spa is the best choice on the Corridor for travelers with children. The hotel’s kid’s club offers full day activities for kids from 4 to 12 and don’t miss the nine-hole seaside putting green. The Casa del Mar offers the best resort value on the Corridor with the amenities and service you expect from a high-end hotel.
In Cabo San Lucas, Solmar is the town’s original resort hotel with its own private sport fishing fleet – one of the best in the region – and a secluded hillside location. The 270 rooms in the huge Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort & SPA all have Jacuzzis. Golfers flock here for the Sheraton’s location in a private development sandwiched between two world-class courses.
For an unforgettable small hotel experience, the best choices in Cabo San Lucas are The Bungalows and Los Milagros. Both have lovingly appointed rooms with gorgeous details and Mexican crafts in lush garden settings. For small, inexpensive rooms with lots of personality (and a great location), try the funky and friendly Cabo Inn.
-- By Dave Roos
In San José del Cabo, the king of the fine dining scene is still Mi Cocina in the Casa Natalia boutique hotel. Chef Loic Tenaux – who runs the hotel with his wife – turns out inventive French cuisine with delectable Mexican twists. In his capable hands, something as simple as fried Camembert cheese on homemade toast with grapes is divine.
As the name suggests, the versatile chile is the key ingredient to some of the best dishes at El Chilar, a casual but gourmet Mexican restaurant in San José with an ever-changing menu and more than 140 different bottles of wine. For a different kind of spice, try Baan Thai’s excellent curries, Asian noodle dishes and fresh seafood. For a reliable meal in the company of fellow tourists, scan the endless menu at the Tropicana Bar and Grill.
Like everything at Las Ventanas al Paraíso in the Corridor district, the hotel’s fine dining restaurant – simply called The Restaurant – is the epitome of first-rate service and good taste. Lobster, lamb and aged cuts of beef are the stars of a menu that subtly blends French, Asian and Mexican influences. Another must-eat destination in the Corridor is Pitahayas, an upscale Asian-Mexican restaurant in a casual beachside palapa setting. Don’t miss the barbecued duck.
For a romantic dinner in Cabo San Lucas, make reservations at the intimate Casa Rafael. For a gourmet take on Mexico’s best regional dishes – like chiles en nogada and cochinita pibíl – the locals rave about Mi Casa. Another favorite is Nik San for exquisitely prepared sushi with delightful Mexican accents. If you can’t make it through vacation without a pastrami on rye, get in line at Señor Greenberg’s Mexicatessen. For strong early morning coffee and a quick breakfast, go to Café Canela on the Cabo Marina boardwalk.
-- By Dave Roos
Golfing, fishing and whale watching are the three most popular activities in the Los Cabos region. The beaches here, while
breathtakingly beautiful, are generally less than ideal for swimming, with big surf and a powerful undertow. The exception
is Médano, the main beach in Cabo San Lucas, where the swimming is excellent and there are tons of places renting snorkeling
equipment, jet skis, kayaks and windsurfing boards.
Golf in Los Cabos is nothing short of world class. Jack Nicklaus has designed a total of three courses here, and so have other heavyweights like Robert Trent Jones, Jr. People come from far and wide to try their luck on courses known for their technical difficulty and majestic seaside beauty. Such quality comes with a price, of course. Expect greens fees of more than $200 per person per round.
Among the best courses is the 27-hole Palmilla Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus signature design with a choice of two back nines. Another Nicklaus classic is the 18-hole Ocean course at Cabo del Sol. Its notorious difficulty, plus seven ocean-hugging holes, helped earn it the nickname, “the Pebble Beach of Baja.” The Cabo Real, another challenging and singularly beautiful course, plays right down to the shore of the Sea of Cortés.
Before Los Cabos was a golf mecca and celebrity playground, it was an undeveloped sport fishing paradise. The waters off the coast of Los Cabos are famous for sailfish, yellowtail tuna, as well as 100-pound black, blue and striped marlin. The marina in Cabo San Lucas is the best place to charter a sport fishing boat. Two to four people should expect to pay between $300 and $500 for a five or six hour trip.
Humans aren’t the only visitors who flock to Los Cabos in the winter. From December through March, thousands of gray whales
arrive from Alaska to calve in the warm coastal waters and lagoons. The sight is so inspiring – and so accessible from the
shoreline – that many hotels and resorts have set up special terraces just for whale spotting. Some rooms at the ritzier resorts
even come with high-end telescopes.
To see the majestic animals up close, you can hop on a catamaran and cruise the waters right off of Lands End in Cabo San Lucas. Or for an even more intimate encounter, catch a quick flight to nearby Magdalena Bay, where mother whales give birth in protected, shallow waters.
-- By Dave Roos
In terms of after-hours entertainment, think of San José del Cabo as your cool uncle and Cabo San Lucas as your frat boy cousin.
If you hit the town in San José, you’ll find live jazz at Havanas, a buzzing dance party at Tropicana’s Bar and Grill and
even the occasional transvestite show at the spirited Iguana Bar and Grill.
But the serious party people are drawn to Cabo San Lucas like water to a T-shirt. Cabo Wabo Cantina, owned by former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar, is a hard-rockin’ hangout for the young and inebriated. And at El Squid Roe – from the good people who brought you Señor Frog’s and Carlos ‘n’ Charlie’s – the crowd doesn’t need much of an excuse to start dancing on the tables.
That’s not to say that Cabo is exclusively for the “party ’til you puke” set. For a hipper, lounge vibe, sample the tapas and chill to the DJ at Nikki Beach. Or enjoy the delicious food and hot jazz at the Sancho Panza Wine Bar and Bistro. Not to be confused with El Bistro, another great jazz bar.
-- By Dave Roos
In San José del Cabo, an excellent choice is Copal, where you can browse fine jewelry as well as high-quality Mexican furniture
and regional crafts. At SAX, the in-house jewelry designers will make rings, pendants and earrings to your specifications,
using exotic stones and coral.
Cigar aficionados will love the wide selection and attentive service at Los Amigos Smokeshop and Cigar Bar, where you can sip a single-malt Scotch while stocking up on fine Cuban and Veracruz cigars and cigarettes. If you’re in Cabo San Lucas, check out the walk-in humidor at J&J Habanos.
The best bet for crafts in Cabo is El Callejón, selling fine examples of hand-painted ceramics, furniture, natural dye rugs and lamps. Another great Cabo craft shop is Faces of Mexico, specializing in colorful masks from Oaxaca and Guerrero. Or you can save yourself time at the airport by wandering the aisles of Ultrafemme, Mexico’s largest duty-free shop.
-- By Dave Roos
Located in the northern state of Baja California Sur, Los Cabos is surrounded by desert and water (both the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez). You can expect some rain from August through November, but sunshine is what defines this area, which boasts 350 days of it a year. May through September is the hottest time of the year. While the weather is mostly pleasant during the whole year, it cools down at night in the winter and spring. If you go to Los Cabos for whale watching, be sure to go in the winter months. For fishing, the summer is best.
Best time to go: October through April (high 85º, low 65º)
Average annual temperature: 78º
Hottest months: July, August, September
Coolest months: November, December, January
--By Judy Jenner
