Land's End is Just the Beginning

Los Cabos is famous for deep-sea fishing. Snorkeling is best about halfway between the two Cabos, where gentle waves reach the beach. Scuba diving is available from Cabo San Lucas, but you have to travel up the coast of the Sea of Cortez to find the better dive spots. Single and double ATVs can be rented for use on the sand dunes out at the Old Lighthouse (Faro Viejo), which was recently used in the filming of Troy, starring Brad Pitt.

Parasailing off of and back onto a platform attached to the rear of the boat, is easiest and most enjoyable here with a spectacular view of Los Arches at Land’s End.

Spend a day on a tour to La Paz and Todos Santos, two very different towns, and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. Rent horses and ride along the beach or up into the backcountry. The sunset cruise on a real pirate ship is a romantic adventure. For the party crowd, Cabo San Lucas has El Squid, The Giggling Marlin, the Hard Rock Café, and Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo.

Spend some time in San Jose del Cabo, too, for a chance to see what old Mexico is like. Visit this quiet little town with its old square, Catholic Church, good restaurants, arts and craft stores, et cetera. Don’t miss Cacti Mundo, where you will see plants from Mexico and all over the world, including some which would be extinct if not for this collection.

Quick Tips:

Bring your passport with you for boarding your flights, exchanging money, and checking into the resort. Leave it in a safe at the resort and carry a photocopy of it and your driver’s license on your person. Most resorts use purified water for making ice in restaurants and bars. Purchase bottled water for drinking and brushing teeth.

Best Way To Get Around:

If you stay at one of the resorts along the corridor between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, you can take the local bus in either direction. The bus runs all day until 9:30 or 10pm. Many of the resorts are near enough to the roadway for you to walk to the bus stops. Some, however, are too far to walk when the Mexican sun is at its’ hottest. Very few resorts have their own shuttles available. Taxis are usually quite plentiful, but agree on a price before you get in the vehicle. Rental cars are available, but if you’re involved in an accident, it is your fault: end of story. Once in either town, almost everything is within walking distance. Remember, you’re on vacation; enjoy the sights and sounds around you.

Best Things Nearby:
Located on the beach between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, the resort is well located for taking advantage of all the area has to offer, such as fishing, diving, snorkeling, ATVing, nightclubs, parasailing, wind surfing and golfing.

Best Things About the Resort:
The villas are very spacious and luxurious. The three pools, including an infinity pool, are beautiful. The restaurants serve great tasting food, although they are expensive even by U.S. standards.

Resort Experience:
Hacienda del Mar is a luxury resort by anyone's standards. A rental car is not a necessity if you're willing to walk uphill for about 20 minutes in the heat of the day to catch a bus to either San Jose del Cabo or Cabo San Lucas. Your other choices would be to take the resort's shuttle (somewhat expensive) or a taxi (very expensive). The units are referred to as villas. They are very spacious and well furnished. All units have air-conditioning, televisions in each bedroom and in the living room, telephones, and fully equipped kitchens. The two-bedroom villas have three bathrooms and a separate Jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom. The property is landscaped like a tropical garden. The three pools, including an infinity pool, are very well maintained, as is the beach. This is a great place to stay on vacation.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Very Good

Best Things Nearby:
You can enjoy sport fishing for marlin, sailfish, and dorado, or you can play any of several challenging golf courses. The two nearby towns offer a wide variety of entertainment choices.

Best Things About the Resort:
This resort is part of Melia Los Cabos and is conveniently located on the beach and on the highway between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas. The rooms are large and well furnished.

Resort Experience:
This is a beautiful resort staffed by very friendly, helpful people who do everything they can to make sure their guests enjoy their vacations to the limit. The grounds and pools are beautifully maintained. The live entertainment each evening is family oriented and very enjoyable. The sunsets are very romantic. With its own spa, pools, beach, great accommodations, and beautiful grounds to enjoy, this is a resort perfect for a relaxing getaway.

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

We arrived at the parking lot of Plaza Las Glorias on a Saturday morning and received new bandanas and well-worn helmets. After some brief, but useful, directions on the proper handling of the four-wheel-drive All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), we took off single file following our fearless leader through the busy streets of downtown Cabo San Lucas, then through the quieter residential areas, and finally out of town to the sand dunes at the Old Lighthouse, Faro Viejo.

At the entrance to the park, we paid the four-dollar use fee and stopped to admire the junk artistry on display before heading out onto the dunes. There we found acres of sweeping dunes to climb over and specially constructed obstacle courses to test our skills at ATV handling. While there, we learned a lot about the endurance of both man and machine. We also discovered how to get stuck and how to get free.

We were there during June 2003, and witnessed part of the set building for the movie "Troy," starring Brad Pitt and Peter O'Toole. In the distance, we could see the private compound that was built to accommodate the film crew. Both the compound and the movie sets were to be removed after the filming returning the area to its natural state.

After a couple of hours, we rode single-file back to town and turned in our ATVs and helmets, but kept our souvenir bandanas.

If you had asked me what I was hoping to do while in Mexico, I can honestly say that photographing cacti would not even have made the long list. But, believe it or not, I had a great time doing just that.

While trying to be fair and generous one morning, I foolishly said to my wife, "You choose something for us to do." She said she had read an article in a local entertainment guide about a place called Cacti Mundo and would like us to see it together. We left the resort, walked up to the road that connects the two towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, and caught the bus to San Jose del Cabo. We got off in town and walked to the center of town, where we found Boulevard Antonio Mijares, and proceeded south until we came to Cacti Mundo on our right. Did I mention that it was over 100°F in the shade and there wasn't any shade? Fortunately, the office/snack bar/gift shop was open and air-conditioned. We paid for the admission and drank some cool bottled water before going back outside to admire the displays of cacti and other succulents.

The whole area was set up like a wagon wheel, with the spokes being the paved walkways and the areas between the spokes being concrete planters. Each of the planters was filled with various cacti arranged in artistic designs. There were literally thousands of species of every size, shape, and color imaginable. Cacti Mundo houses many endangered species that were rescued from their original habitats all around the world. For the past 10 years, Cacti Mundo’s nurseries have been able to successfully reproduce and conserve the most important cacti collection in Mexico. I took about 200 digital pictures before my wife was able to talk me into leaving.

My suggestion to you, kind reader, is to pick a cooler day, if possible, but don't miss seeing this incredible living art show. It is well worth it.