A Sleepy Town South of the Border

We fell in love with Cabo so much that we decided to purchase a timeshare here. It was like being in paradise - the weather was wonderful, the water beautiful, the atmosphere amazing. You''ll find plenty to do, or not to do, in this lovely little town.

Best things to do - may we suggest an ATV tour, snorkeling in the Sea of Cortez, a trip to Lands End and Lovers Beach, a visit to the Cabo Wabo Cantina, and a walk into town to purchase souvenirs. Fun and excitement are in abundance here, come and enjoy!

However, I will say that promoting Cabo is a bit of a double edge sword. It''s still in the early stages of development, which makes it extremely nice. The more that''s written about it, the more people will visit, which will soon turn it into the hottest Mexican resort town and bring many more people. Once you visit, you''ll want to keep this secret to yourself - "You go there once, you''ll be there twice!"

Quick Tips:

As with any Mexican trip, turn your US dollars in for Pesos. However, the exchange rate in Cabo isn''t as favorable as we found in Cancun and Mazatlan. You might not find the cheapest store prices here either. While storeowners do bargain their prices with you, you tend not to get the best deals here as in some other Mexican cities. But this one minor issue is nothing compared to the many favorable reasons to visit Cabo.

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around depends on where your resort is located. If you are in San Jose Del Cabo, a taxi will be required to reach the town of Cabo San Lucas as it is a 20 -30 minute ride. If staying in Cabo, town is a few minutes walking distance away. In addition, ATVs are a fun way to explore the area.

The Presidente in an all-inclusive resort down the road from Cabo San Lucas. For those wanting to budget a certain amount on a trip, spending the price upfront is the way to go. An all-inclusive resort affords you the opportunity to try drinks and meals you might not otherwise try. It''s great for kids too. They can go up to any bar or restaurant and order whatever they''d like. You can even take an ice cream break at the self-serve machine near the pool. Everything''s paid for here.

Most of the rooms at this resort have an ocean view, but not all. Upon arrival, we found out we did not have a view of the ocean. We tipped the front desk clerk and were moved to a "room with a view", however, were disappointed to find out our view was just a window. It did not come with a balcony. Not having a balcony took away from the atmosphere. The room was adequate, however, with two double beds and small living room area.

The resort sits directly on the ocean, but the currents are so strong and potentially deadly, it is not recommended guests play in the ocean here. The resort also sits on a freshwater lagoon, but it appears just for looks. There are three pools, with one of them an adult only pool, and one includes a swim-up bar. If you have a weak stomach, you might not want to watch how the bartenders get clean glasses for the many people that retreat to the swim up bar. We saw them rinse out the glasses, sit them in stackable containers, and take a sprayer to them. It doesn''t appear they make it to a dishwasher on a busy day.

There are a few activities that go on daily at the pool - water volleyball and bingo. Literature about the resort will tell you there''s an exercise facility, but it is just a small room with limited equipment. There are tennis courts on site that are lit for night play. One fun feature the resort offers is a theme night happening once to twice a week. We attended the Mexican Party on the beach that was great. There''s no additional cost for this party because it is included in your stay. The staff went all out with the decorations. They installed a walk across bridge to the beach decorated with bamboo along with tiki torches lighting up the entire beach area. They played games such as limbo and had a dance contest giving away various prizes. It was an evening of fun for young and old alike.

There are a variety of restaurants on site where food is available at all times of the day or night. It''s possible to get hamburgers or pizza at the grill or have a nice sit down dinner in the evening. You will never go hungry at this resort.

All in all, this was a great value and a nice place to stay.

Best Things Nearby:
Land''s End can be viewed from the resort, lying just across the Sea of Cortez. Town is a short five or ten minute walk away where you can visit the Cabo Wabo Catina or the Hard Rock Cafe. If you enjoy golf there is a Jack Nicklaus course nearby and the resort boasts one of the few "safe swim" beaches in the area.

Best Things About the Resort:
In a word, elegance. This resort is so amazingly beautiful, it''s hard for mere words to describe. It is built with an Ancient Roman theme exuding an air of royalty. A separate two story building houses a world-class spa, not just a room with a treadmill and weights as in most traditional hotels and resorts, but a true spa. The spa sits on the property in its own building equipped with more exercise equipment than you can imagine and a spa area designed for the stars (which we were told do frequent this property - does the name Janet Jackson right a bell?). The spa offers massages with all the works, for a price of course, but well worth it.

The upkeep throughout the resort is immaculate and the views out of this world.

Resort Experience:
We stayed in what they call a junior suite, which is a bit larger than your typical hotel room. There are two double beds with a small half wall that divides a small living room area. There is a partial kitchen with one bathroom. Every room has a balcony with a view of the pool area and the ocean. The Rose sits beside the Pueblo Bonito White, which is the older resort, so guests can enjoy the pool and other amenities at this adjacent resort.

The pool at the Rose has a diving well designed for scuba lessons, but the kids find it fun to dive feet first up and down in! The Pueblo Bonito sits on El Medano Beach and has one of the few safe swim beaches in the area. The water in Cabo has extremely strong currents, so many of the beaches are unsafe to swim at. Even in this safe beach area, the currents are strong and threw us around a bit.

There are restaurants on site and poolside waiters to take your orders. It is a little pricey, but that is to be expected at a resort of this caliber. We love this town and resort so much, we decided to purchase at this timeshare. We can''t wait to get back and enjoy all this wonderful location has to offer!

• Unit Type: Studio
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

The Cabo Wabo Catina is owned by the Red Rocker himself, Sammy Hagar. The club is located directly in town and is open serving both lunch and dinner in the upstairs restaurant area every day of the week. The nightclub is located downstairs boasting not only Sammy Hagar memorabilia, but also Van Halen is showcased since Sammy was a part of that band for a few years.

It is said that Sammy frequents his establishment and can show up at the club at any time and perform. We, however, weren't that lucky to catch a glimpse of him. Our Sammy Hagar sighting was merely on the television screens scattered throughout the restaurant constantly playing his music videos.

Sammy loves Cabo so much that he wrote a song about it "Cabo Wabo" which can be found on the Van Halen CD "OU812" (a quick excerpt "Lands End, you have to see it, ain't no picture ever say it right, no. Walkin' the streets doin' that ole cabo wabo, place comes to life every night").

Whether you visit the restaurant during the day or the club until the wee hours of the morning, make the Cabo Wabo a destination on your itinerary before you leave Cabo San Lucas.

Have you ever wanted to have the wind in your hair as you speed down the beach and up and down sand dunes? It's a blast! But be prepared for more than wind blowing through your hair and onto your body!

Baja's offer both single rider ($45 US) and double rider ($60 US) ATVs. Our adventure started with the doubles since the kids weren't old enough to drive on the streets. The nice thing about the doubles is they are automatics, so easier to drive while the singles were manual speed. When you arrive for your tour, you are given a helmet, a pair of sweaty goggles, and a bandana. We threw the goggles around our neck along with our banadana and mistakenly thought our sunglasses would be sufficient. Let me explain to you that there are more dirt roads in Cabo than there are paved roads. To get to the lighthouse, you are on a paved road for only a matter of minutes, then you turn off onto one of many dirt roads and the sunglasses no longer work. After much dirt and sand being thrown up into our eyes and face, we decided it was time to put on the goggles, regardless of how gross they appeared to be! We also moved the bandana up around our mouth and nose, looking like Mexican banditos, in an effort to breath a little easier amongst all the dust. We definitely looked the part by now!

All the ATVs were driving along in a row on our way to the lighthouse. Once there, the tour guide broke out some water to quench our thirst. We didn't stay here long, not much to see. There's a small shack where the keeper of the lighthouse lives. There is a fence around the entire area, so there's not much to walk around and see. We were then off to the sand dunes. When we arrived, I was amazed at how large these sand dunes were. I was one of many that tried to make it up one and got stuck and had to flag down the tour guide, in embarassment, to come push me out! Once at the dunes, the kids were allowed to drive the ATVs. I'm glad they told me they had the throttle in all the way, going as fast as they could, AFTER their ride was over. I wouldn't have wanted to have known that before hand. We spent quite a bit of time here, and again the tour guide had plenty of bottled water to digest since it was pretty hot and dusty. After spending a while at the beach, it was back to where we started. We all really enjoyed driving and riding on the ATVs. By the time we arrived back at the hotel, we were filthy and covered in dust from our head to our toes - but it was worth it!

Just down the beach from the Pueblo Bonito is a hut where various kinds of tours are offered. We signed up for the Lands End boat tour, which included a stop at Lovers Beach for snorkeling.

The boat pulled up in front of the hut and loaded us up. We were off to see Lands End, the tip of the Baja Peninsula sporting the arch we had seen many times from the beach. Before stopping to go snorkeling, they take the boat along the entire peninsula so you get an up close view of the arch, caves, and seals that beach themselves on top of rocks protruding from the water during the change in tides. As we round the corner at the tip of Lands End, you leave the Sea of Cortez and move into the Pacific Ocean where the water gets even more rough.

After viewing the sites, the boat brings you back around to the Sea of Cortez side and stops in front of Lovers Beach where the snorkeling takes place. To get to the beach, you have to jump off the boat into waste deep water trying to keep your personal items above your head so as not to get them wet. This is a difficult task because the waves are fairly strong, beating against you and the boat.

After making it to shore, everyone stakes out a piece of beach property shaded from the sun to lay their towels and bags. Make sure to have water shoes with you. Not sure what it is about the sand here, but it is extremely hot to walk on. Our shoes were packed in our towel bag and we tried to walk across the beach to see the Pacific Ocean side in our bare feet, ran out of shaded sand, and had to quickly run back because our feet were burning!

After you get situated, the tour guide gives everyone their snorkeling equipment which includes a mask, snorkel, and fins and tells you they will be back in so many hours, have fun, and they take off.

Lovers Beach is considered a safe swim beach, but I beg to differ! Some of us had to give up the idea of snorkeling as the waves came in and one would hit you on the top of your body, while the current pulled out tugging at the lower part of your body, sending us into a spin under water. After getting pulled under and flipped around not knowing which was was up, I decided it was time to take off the snorkeling gear and play around in the water near the shore. For the stronger swimmers, they were able to get past the dangerous area and get out into calmer, deeper waters and take underwater pictures of passing fish.

All in all, it was a good time and a great site to see. While the snorkeling was a bit difficult, the boat ride and time at the beach was enjoyable.