A Week of Mexican Memories

Cabo San Lucus, San Jose Del Cabo, and the Corridor, are referred to as Los Cabos. This area is located across the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.

Los Cabos is recognized for its sunshine and semiarid climate. Most activities revolve around the outdoors.

Cabo San Lucus is known for its beaches, snorkeling, scuba diving, golf on its variety of championship courses, and outstanding deep-sea fishing. We did not participate in golf or fishing; we understand that they are quite costly, and we found too much else to do.

The large marina is bustling with activity throughout the day, with water taxis available to a variety of beaches. Cruise ships are in port daily, and an assortment of shopping is available. The downtown area, which stretches back from the marina for many blocks, offers numerous restaurants, and many lively bars for the younger set. Quieter bars are also available for the older set.

Glass bottom boat tours to El Arco, ATV tours to a variety of locations, including the outstanding Old Lighthouse tour on massive sand dunes, and horseback riding can be arranged, as well as, jet skiing, parasailing, and boating.

Quick Tips:

A rental car for a day or two will enable you to do some exploring outside of Cabo San Lucus. The 20-mile stretch of corridor is worth exploring for its beaches and various resorts, along the way to San Jose del Cabo. An enjoyable afternoon and evening can be spent in San Jose, a much quieter, charming town.

Driving around the Baja allows for the viewing of striking landscapes of mountains, desert with huge cactus, and blue waters of the Pacific, and emerald green waters of the Sea of Cortez.

A visit to Todos Santos, an arty, colorful town, about 45 minutes up the coast from Cabo San Lucus is well worth the visit. The original Hotel California, made famous by the Eagles is located here, along with shops, art galleries, and restaurants.

If you are feeling adventuresome, you may drive to the quiet villages of El Triunfo, San Antonio, San Bartolo, Los Barriles, Buenavista, and Santiago. La Paz, the capital and busy port of the state of Baja California Sur, is located approximately 150 miles from Cabo. We did not make it this far, this trip. During our travels, we found all the roads to be in good condition.

Best Way To Get Around:

Cabo San Lucus is located 28 miles west of the Los Cabos International Airport. Taxis and vans are available at the airport. A group van charges about per person and up to hotels in Cabo San Lucus.

A word of warning: Be careful of the timeshare tour promoters who will offer you a discounted ride or a ride for free, unless you are willing to spend the time going on a timeshare tour. They do not make this clear, and can be somewhat aggressive.

Where your accommodations are located in Cabo San Lucus, will determine your mode of transportation for getting into town. If you are staying in accommodations along the marina, you are in the heart of all activity. If located on Solmar Beach, walking, or short cab rides are the way to go. If located along the Corridor, taxis can get very expensive, depending upon how far out you are. There is bus service along the corridor, but you must walk up to the main road from your resort, which could be a mile walk, and flag down the bus – it is not convenient, and the hours are limited.

Best Things Nearby:
Playa Grande Resort is located within walking distance to the marina and downtown area, including restaurants, shopping, and activities.

Best Things About the Resort:
Playa Grande's location is excellent. It is within walking distance to all activities, whereas timeshares located along the Corridor are somewhat removed from the downtown area. From Playa Grande, we took a leisurely walk each evening to a different restaurant.

Resort Experience:
Playa Grande Resort is a new resort with building still ongoing. At present time, there are approximately 280 units. The units are in several large terra cotta appearing buildings which have six floors. The resort has spacious, beautifully tiled outdoor corridors, large stairways, and elevator service. Playa Grande is located on Solmar Beach. The property is nicely situated, and it appears that most rooms have a view of the water of some sort.

Solmar Beach is an exceptionally beautiful beach, quite wide, and extremely quiet. There are no vendors on the beach, much to my disappoitment, and very few people! Solmar Beach is a nonswimming beach; in fact, the resort has no loungers or chairs on the beach, and all swimming activity takes place in the lovely pool area.

The attractive pool area consists of several large swimming pools on a few levels and a very large Jacuzzi. Snack and drink service is available in the pool area. The pool area can get quite busy with all lounge chairs taken by mid-afternoon. We spent most of our time on Solmar Beach or on Medano Beach.

Our one bedroom unit was very spacious, with full kitchen, two baths, and a large outdoor balcony sitting area. It was nicely appointed and decorated. It had beautiful tile and stone work throughout. The daily housekeeping service, for no extra fee, was absolutely outstanding - the best we had ever experienced! Pull down service was also provided each night.

The resort has a restaurant, car rental, and activities desk. The resort is in the process of building an expanded lobby, a convenience store, gym, and children's area. The staff was very pleasant. The location was great. The resort was kept in beautiful condition, and very clean. We enjoyed our stay very much.

We did participate in a timeshare tour, and received some discounts off of activities, which were true discounts as we checked the prices on our own. Our timeshare salesperson was a true gentleman, as was the person who checked on which gifts we had selected for our time. When we were turned over to the final person, a supervisor of some sort, it became immediately apparent that he lacked the class of the gentlemen we previously dealt with.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

The Amazon Restaurant is located on the main marina. It has a wonderful view, overlooking all the boats, yachts, and walkways on the lower level. We found the restaurant to be very casual and extremely comfortable, with plenty of room between tables and space to stretch out. The lighting was also appealing, adding to the pleasing atmosphere.

The substantial food selection consisted mainly of Mexican dishes and seafood. The portions were very large, and the food was excellent. Everyone in our party of five was very pleased with their meal. In fact, we had the best Mexican fajitas here. Only chicken fajitas were on the menu, but when asked, they were very happy to prepare beef fajitas for us. Also, their onion soup was probably the best I ever had.

Service was excellent. All waiters were most attentive, and very friendly. The manager visited with us for awhile, offering suggestions on things to see and do in the area.

Free drinks were given to the ladies as they said it was ladies' night.

A very enjoyable restaurant. We were very pleased with our choice.

Our glass bottom boat trip proved to be exceptional, and a not to be missed activity while in Cabo San Lucus. We dealt with the Dos Mares company whose boats leave from either the main marina or Medano Beach every hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

We took this boat trip from Medano Beach. The glass bottom boats, of which there are many cruising the waters, are on the small side, holding about 12 people. The passengers sit around both sides of a glass bottom insert, which is in the middle of the boat. It takes just a matter of minutes to reach the rocks nearing Land’s End, from Medano Beach. Looking through the glass bottom, the blue water was very clear, so visibility was excellent. We saw a variety of many brightly colored schools of fish during our trip.

Viewing the underwater sea life soon took a back seat however, to the spectacular rock formations along the Sea of Cortez. We soon approached the "Pacific Window", which our guide (who was the captain of our boat) pointed out to us. Through a small opening through the rocks, we could view the Pacific Ocean on the other side. We then passed Lover’s Beach, Playa del Amour, a very busy swimming, snorkeling beach, sheltered from the waves, on our way out to the famous Cabo Land’s End arch. As we continued on, with our guide sharing his knowledge of the area, we passed the sea lion colonies perched on the rocks. Their barks and antics were quite amusing.

After much anticipation, just yards away from the boat, we finally got our first look at El Arco, the famous arch, which graces the cover of numerous travel brochures. We certainly admired this much-photographed site and snapped many pictures of our own of this famous landmark. It really is quite impressive.

We continued on past Land’s End, the final formation of rocks on the Baja, and the meeting of the seas, and rounded the point onto the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Here we could view Solmar Beach from the water, and the crashing of the gulf and ocean waves against the rock formations and the shore.

We motored back to Lover’s Beach, where we left the boat for an hour’s stay. We climbed off the boat (this might be a bit difficult for the elderly) and waded to shore. We walked across the expanse of sand to the Pacific side, for some photo opportunities of the waves crashing and roaring against the rocks, incredibly close to Land’s End. This was a nonswimming beach area, being adjacent to Solmar Beach.

Following our stay on Lover’s Beach, our boat picked us up. We waded back into the water and climbed aboard. We journeyed back to Medano Beach in a matter of minutes. We all agreed that this boat trip was spectacular.

Solmar Beach is an incredibly beautiful, wide, quiet, peaceful beach on the Pacific Ocean in Cabo San Lucus surrounded by rock outcroppings. There are only four properties located on Solmar Beach. These properties are the Hotel Finisterra, Playa Grande Resort, Terra Sol Beach Resort (year round condominiums), and Solmar Beach Club Resort and Suites, located closest to Land's End. One can walk from property to property, with Playa Grande Resort and Solmar Suites having arrangements to share facilities. Very few people are found on the beach. Most peple lounge by the pools of their respective resort. There are also no vendors on this beach.

Solmar Beach is a nonswimming beach, due to dangerous riptides. There are no lifeguards on the beach, but signs are posted, warning of the dangerous riptides and undertows. The signs also warn against walking along in the surf. After watching the ocean here, one realizes why these warnings are posted. The water is extremely turbulent. The wave action can sound like thunder.

Solmar Beach is beautiful for walking. There are often local guides at the end of the beach who can be hired for a small fee to escort one over the rocks to the other side of the point. Lover's Beach, a swimming beach, is located on the other side of this stretch of rocks, along the Sea of Cortez. One will hear differing stories about the climb over the rocks. During our timeshare tour, we were told a 90-year old could easily do the climb, while folks we met, who do mountain climbing, said it was a streunous 10 minute climb, with proper footwear a must. I never did try the walk-climb as I was not prepared with the proper footwear during my barefoot walks along the beach!

While enjoying the beach, one can be entertained with the sights and sounds of sea lions swimming by, along with the occasional sight of a whale breaching. Cruise ships also must pass directly by this beach. Solmar Beach is a truly beautiful beach, truly different from all other beaches one encounters in travel experiences.

There are several tour companies that offer a variety of ATV tours in the area. We selected Baja’s, located just behind the Plaza Las Glorias Hotel, as it was convenient, and our 13-year-old son noticed that they had good vehicles. It is also one of the bigger tour companies for ATVs. The tour we decided upon was the Old Lighthouse tour. This was a 3-hour tour with departure times at 9am, 12:30pm, and 4pm. We selected the 4pm tour.

Our friends joined us, so there were five in our group. We rode on two doubles and a single. I must warn you that sitting on the back of a double is not nearly as comfortable as sitting in the driver’s seat. If I were to do this again, I would choose a single for comfort.

We were quite excited as we got outfitted with helmets, goggles, and bandanas, all which would eventually be needed, and we left town in a caravan of ATVs. There were two groups of us, with 9 vehicles per group, each led by a guide.

We traveled about 20 minutes in our caravan down town streets and neighborhoods, on our way out to the Pacific. We enjoyed driving through the residential streets, as we had an opportunity to see behind the scenes and lifestyles of the tourist life in Cabo. Here was the real Mexico, with dirt roads, laundry hanging, children gathering, dogs and chickens in the streets, and roosters crowing. As we approached our destination, we traveled up a wide dirt road, on quite an incline, to the top of a hill and a gated entrance. A small fee to use the park ahead was collected and we proceeded through to the top of a rise.

There before, and below us, was the Pacific Ocean, sparkling in the sunshine, and the most massive sand dunes I had ever seen, stretching out all before us, as far as the eye could see. What a view!!! For me, this extraordinary, impressive scenery was the highlight of this tour. One has to see this sight to believe it!

Here, we were pretty much given free reign to drive over the massive dunes, and to drive a selection of 5 trails that were well marked. We could take a water break, when needed, in a central place.

After a good deal of fun, we gathered to see the sun setting over the Pacific--quite a beautiful, colorful sunset it was, with whales breeching in the foreground.

We once again joined our tour group, and traveled in our caravan back to town, as darkness fell, and a chill in the air came up. Arriving back at Baja’s parking lot, we still felt the exhilaration of this trip, and agreed that it was a tour not to be missed.

Cost: $50 single, $70 double

Do not forget your camera!

Medano Beach is located on the east side of the downtown area and the marina, in Cabo San Lucus. Medano Beach is known as the main swimming beach, situated on a curved bay with very calm water. It is extremely popular, colorful, and filled with a flurry of activity. Many resort properties and RCI affiliated properties are located on this beach.

One can take a water taxi from the marina to this beach for about $3 a person. The boat ride takes just a few minutes. Water taxis are available at all times throughout the day. Walk to the marina and ask anyone where to get a water taxi. We took a cab from our property on Solmar Beach for $7, as we wished to save time.

When one arrives at Medano Beach, you can situate yourself in front of a palapa restaurant, of which there are many. Find one that looks appealing to you. You are welcome to use the restaurant's loungers, chairs, and restrooms, as long as you order cold drinks, snacks, - that is, give them a little business. Chair-side service is available.

Medano Beach is filled with vendors selling silver jewelry, beaded jewelry, ceramics, beach cover-ups, baskets, t-shirts, glassware, wood carvings, lace tablecloths, puppets, and temporary tattoos. Of course one bargains, and more often than not, negotiated prices for wares from the vendors are better than most market prices.

I happen to really enjoy the vendors. They add to the cultural charm of the experience for me. I enjoy speaking with the vendors using my limited Spanish, (many speak excellent English) and I learn about their culture and parts of Mexico that they may have relocated from. If you go to the same beach for several days, the vendors can become your friends, sharing a wealth of information about the area. I always find them pleasant. If you are not interested in looking at their wares, and buying, a simple "No Gracias", is sufficient, and they are on their way.

Jet skis and parasailing are available at Medano Beach. The local young men who were in charge of the jet skis were all quite courteous. We try to strike up the best bargain for the rental of jet skis as well. If a few people are renting at the same time, or if you are planning to rent more than one time during the day, do some bargaining for price or extended time. They may consult with their boss, but usually a better deal is struck than their beginning price/time. They usually quote about $45 for 30 minutes to start.

Renting jet skis from this beach is especially nice because you may go out as far as Cabo's famous arch and Land's End for a good view. The arch is straight out from Medano Beach. You also get a good view of the sea lions on their perches. Take a camera with you if you have a waterproof one!

Medano Beach is also a good beach for a long walk. Walking enables one to get a close up look at many resort properties. You may be like me in this respect; I study the RCI Directory when we have a search in, and I feel like I get to know the properties pictured. I find it extremely interesting to see the properties pictured in real time!

Following a day on Medano Beach, if you are staying elsewhere, you may take a water taxi back to the marina right from the shore. This is arranged just by telling a local that you would like a water taxi. They bring the boat to you!

After traveling with family and friends to various locations on the west coast of Mexico - Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa, Zihatanejo - for the past six years, we decided to travel to Cabo San Lucas this year as we enjoy and get excited about exploring areas new to us in Mexico. As my family timeshares and our friends do not, we limit our destination choices to areas where timeshare properties are available. We had avoided going to Cabo San Lucas in the past due to comments shared with us by fellow travelers.

The comments shared were usually:
"Cabo has only fishing and golf – there is nothing else there."
"Cabo is very expensive and overpriced, only the US dollar is used."
"Only transplanted Californians are there – no Mexican culture left."

After spending a most enjoyable, exciting week in Cabo San Lucas, I can say that we are extremely pleased that we did not let comments of others determine our vacation destination. For those of you who enjoy travels and vacations to Mexican destinations, Cabo San Lucas has a lot to offer.

Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo, and the 20 mile stretch of corridor, lined with hotels, huge resorts with restaurants open to the public, timeshares, isolated beaches, and golf courses that connects the two, is referred to as Los Cabos. This area is located across the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. The landscape we found fascinating and unusual coming from New England. The mountains, rock formations, desert, cactus, and oceans were striking.

Cabo San Lucas, with a population of approximately 40,000, a quickly growing, more developed town, is the livelier of the two Cabos. Cabo San Lucas has a very large, busy marina, with every size and model boat and yacht moored there. Cabo is a port of call for many cruise lines, so a cruise ship was in port daily. Hotels, timeshares, restaurants, nightspots, shopping, vendors, activity booths, and specialty shops surround the marina, adding to the activity day and night. It is a very interesting place to be, along with the pelicans!

The downtown area stretches around and back from the marina. The downtown area offers more shopping, restaurants, bars, nightspots, supermarkets, an indoor mall, etc. The town has one traffic light! We found it very enjoyable to walk the downtown streets and marina area, both day and night.

The town gets very lively, with much for the younger set to do late. The Giggling Marlin, El Squid Roe, and the Cabo Wabo were extremely busy for the younger college age crowd. There are a few scattered bars in town for older folks. We enjoyed the Whale Watcher Bar at the Finisterra, but wished we had found some live entertainment with which to enjoy a nightcap after a late dinner.

We found our share of mariachi players during our dinners out. They surely add to the charm. They charge $3 - 5 per song. They usually make their price clear as they approach your table, before they serenade you.

We were in Cabo during mid February. We found the evenings quite cool. Sweaters, light jackets for evening use, were a must for comfort.

We were not interested in deep-sea fishing or golf during our stay. We felt these activities were quite costly and time consuming. We found many other activities and interests to experience however (see additional entries). Days on Solmar Beach and Medano Beach were extremely pleasurable. Car tours, glass bottom boat rides, jet skis, snorkeling, scuba diving, ATV tours, shopping, dinners in town, were all available and enjoyed.

We rented a car for two days during our stay. The first day we drove the southern circular loop on the lower Baja. After visiting Todos Santos, we explored the small non-touristy towns and villages of El Triunfo, San Antonio, and San Bartolo, visiting their main squares and churches. We enjoyed a bit of the East Cape area and its beaches.

The next day, we did spend an afternoon and evening in San Jose del Cabo. We toured the area by car, exploring the hotel zone, surrounding beaches, the estuary, and downtown. The main street was lovely, filled with shops and restaurants. The palm trees that lined the street were illuminated with white lights. Quite by accident, we saw the high school beauty queen contest taking place that evening on the main street and town square.

We had dinner at Restaurante Los Gordiitos, in San Jose del Cabo. We were the only people there after being called in by the headwaiter. The restaurant, on the second floor, overlooked the main plaza and main street. Food was good and service was excellent. We managed to catch a very talented Mexican folksinger playing at the Tropicana, just down the street, before our drive back to Cabo San Lucas.

It was a busy week, just the way we like it, enjoying being a tourist, with opportunities to learn more about the Mexican culture. Cabo San Lucas proved to be a great choice for us. We would like to return in the future.