Cabo in August 2005

Cabo Villas is right in the heart of all the action on Medano Beach. It is a stone’s throw to The Office, a hangout for all the young people who want to party. The food at these beach spots is average, and most have a happy hour that starts when they open and ends when they close. There is also a person who works for The Office who comes around a gives you shots of tequila to get people bombed. It can get pretty wild at times, with young people dancing on top of tables and sometimes taking off some of their clothes.

Back to Cabo Villas. The resort is building a major addition with lots of construction going on. It can get noisy at times. The rooms are very nice, and the staff is very friendly. This is a small resort. We then stayed at Playa Grande, and the room was absolutely fantastic, with panoramic views of the ocean. The lobby is breathtaking, and they have spared no expense. Drawback: you can not swim in the ocean water - way too rough.

Quick Tips:

Favorite night spots: The Giggling Marlon, Mambo Cafe. These places do not have a cover, you just have to order one drink. Enrique’s is a nice local place for lobster and steak at very reasonable prices. The best boat ride was on the Cabo Rey; good food, drinks, and entertainment, and you get to see the Arch and the other sights. Take a water taxi over to Lovers' Beach. Rent a jeep and head to Pulma - it’s a beautiful, rustic beach where the locals will take you out to the reef for some great snorkeling. Bring your snorkeling equipment. You can also snorkel by the reef close to the beach, but you may not see as many fish. I enjoyed it and saw quite a few fish.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walk down to the main road, where you can catch a local minibus for six pesos into town or walk along the marina, where there are several restaurants that have good food. A little further walk and you are in town. There is a big supermarket in town where you can stock up on beer, wine, and food for those times when you don't feel like paying a beer or want to just hang around at the resort.

Best Things Nearby:
The beach and lots of restaurants on the beach.

Best Things About the Resort:
It is located in the middle of everything. Lots of restaurants, water sports, walking distance to the town.

Resort Experience:
This resort is building a new section. There is construction noise during the day. The rooms are very nice, although our room overlooked the pool, which always had a lot of children making noise, and it faced the restaurant, where guests could look into your room. There was also noise coming from the restaurant. We still enjoyed the room, which was pretty quiet if you closed the balcony doors. The rooms are nicely furnished, and the staff is very friendly. The food at the restaurant is fairly inexpensive. You can take a taxi into town, or even less expensive, for 6 pesos take the local minibus, which stops right outside the entrance to the resort.

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

Best Things Nearby:
The beach and everything Cabo San Lucas has to offer. This resort is situated on the only swimmable beach in Cabo, Medano Beach. The beaches on the Pacific side and some in San Jose Del Cabo are very rough (rip tides and monstrous waves).

Best Things About the Resort:
The rooms all overlook The Sea of Cortez. The rooms are very pretty. They have a huge pool, and the service is very good.

Resort Experience:
This resort has a boutique Spanish flavor. The sister resort, Pueblo Bonito Rose, which is very close, is also a beautiful resort. It's more fancy than Pueblo Bonito Blanco, but we prefer to stay at the Blanco.

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

Best Things Nearby:
La Dulce restaurant. This is a wonderful Italian restaurant. The prices are reasonable and the service was good. My only complaint was the waiter did not thank us for the tip, and we left him 20 percent. Try the flan for dessert! The seafood was delicious. I had the jumbo shrimp.

Best Things About the Resort:
This is a beautiful resort. The lobby is magnificent. The food at the restaurant was good, but nothing to write home about. The staff is pleasant.

Resort Experience:
This is a quiet, relaxing place to stay. The room we had was very impressive, nicely furnished and overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I was able to use my laptop and the wireless connection. The pool was very nice.

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

Best Things Nearby:
This resort is outside of the main area of Cabo, but it is a beautiful resort and worth the commute. There is a shuttle bus that takes you down to Pueblo Bonito Rose that leaves on the hour until 10pm. The bus from Pueblo Bonito Rose leaves on the half hour.

Best Things About the Resort:
The rooms are huge. We had a balcony that was about 20 feet long by 8 feet wide. The units are nicely furnished, and they spared no expense, meaning top-of-the-line everything in the rooms. We had two bathrooms, and the bed was extremely comfortable. The beach is beautiful to walk on and watch the waves crash against the shore. You cannot go in the water, but somehow, it really doesn't matter. You can always take the shuttle to the Rose for an afternoon of swimming and then return to the grandeur of the Pueblo Bonito Sunset. The spa at the Sunset leaves something to be desired; my wife recommends the spa at the Pueblo Bonito Rose.

Resort Experience:
This place is like staying in a museum. There are many exquisite pieces of art throughout the resort, so that you feel like you are in one of the cathedrals in Europe. The owner collects pieces of art that he has acquired from all over the world. Whether you are religious or not, you cannot help feeling a spiritual closeness to God at this resort. They even have a lovely, quaint chapel to pray. I don't go to church, but I found myself in the chapel several times, thanking God for being kind to me and praying for peace in these troubling times. This resort is more than a resort - it is a spiritual retreat for the mind, body, and soul. The restaurants are exquisite, romantic with superb service! I am going back as soon as I can!

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

This is dining on a luxury yacht. The food and drinks were excellent. They also have very good entertainment, and you can dance to the music of a live combo.

Giggling Marlon: Great hangout with a really great comedian. Sexually oriented. Lots of laughs!

Mambo Cafe: This place has a live band, and they are quite good. Lots of dancing to that Latin beat. Nicely decorated, and the service is good. You only have to buy one drink, but of course, you will end up buying more, especially after you dance a while.

My son and I rented two wave runners and had a great time zooming around. We rode out to the Arch, Lovers Beach, and around the Sea of Cortez. Be careful to look out for other wave runners. Some people mix drinking and wave runners, and the combination can be literally explosive. While we were there, a person on a wave runner hit another wave runner and two people were injured (broken wrist and ankle). It could have been a lot worse. Naturally, that ruined the vacation for this young lady and her entire family. They were leaving on the next plane to take her back to the States to have these injuries addressed.

Another activity that is a lot of fun are the ATVs - all-terrain vehicles. This can be a dangerous activity, especially if you are not used to using ATVs. The ATV my wife was on flipped over on top, cutting into the back of her leg. She also sustained multiple bruises. She also ended up hitting my son's ATV when it flipped over, and he received several bad cuts and bruises as well. They both had to go to the hospital. My wife had to have about 12 stitches. It was a disaster!