Mexico: Cabo San Lucas
I am BEYOND EXCITED to have something to write about! A real vacation, trip, travel, whatever… not a local roadtrip! (Although I still owe a post about our massive PCH roadtrip back in October 2021, yikes.) But my jaunt down to Cabo San Lucas during the holidays was a big milestone: for the first time since 2019, I left the country. BYE USA! (For 4 days.)
let’s go to cabo!
GETTING THERE:
I really love Mexico and have explored many Mexican destinations - but never Cabo! Which is weird, given it’s such a major tourist destination, especially for people from west coast USA. Now that we live in San Diego, Cabo has never been more accessible. It’s a quick 1 hour 40 minute flight from SAN to SJD, Alaska has one nonstop a day. Couldn’t be an easier in-and-out experience at both airports.
Many of my Californian friends have advised me that you can also walk across the border and fly out of the Tijuana airport for about half the price of a USA airline. There’s a skybridge you can walk across from the border to TIJ and everything. I’ve never done this, but I would - except I’m so ridiculously loyal to Alaska Airlines and their Mileage Plan MVP program.
As far as what you’re gonna need… your passport/global entry card, of course. Credit and debit card. Everywhere we went in Cabo takes both USD and pesos, so you don’t need to do a big trip to the exchange. I paid for everything with my credit card (just check to make sure you don’t have some wild foreign transaction fees - my Alaska Airlines CC has none). Most places will ask if you want to pay in pesos or USD when you run your card, pesos is going to be a better value.
LODGING:
LODGING IN CABO
My friend Grace put this trip together fairly short notice and the three of us who met up there didn’t want to spend an exorbitant amount of money - just convenient accommodations (with a good pool of course), walkability, access to the beach, ability to max relax.
This is how we ended up booking at Fiesta Marina, and I’d say all of our expectations were just… moderate. The price was right and it was centrally located and the pool/bar area looked good, so we figured it would be fine. Imagine our surprise, we were totally impressed with how lovely this resort is. The room itself was serviceable but the open-air lobby is beautiful and the pool is huge with tons of well-spaced out seating and a festive, well-stocked swim-up bar - and I can tell you from personal experience, cheap and strong mojitos and margaritas. The pool deck also offers secure, direct access to the marina beyond and its many views, cafes, and bars.
If you’re looking for lodging options that are a bit more premium, I highly suggest The Cape (never been, was supposed to go in 2020 and obv that didn’t work out - but from working with Thompson Hotels and knowing many friends who have visited, I can guarantee it’s gorgeous) and have also seen/heard wonderful things about One&Only Palmilla.
PARTS OF CABO:
different areas of cabo san lucas…
There are three main parts of Cabo: the marina, the town, and the beach. The marina is ground zero for tourist action, backing up to many of the big resorts and department stores. No shortage of vacationers, families, people trying to sell you everything from boat rides to snacks to tours etc etc etc. It’s crowded and bustling during the day but most of the restaurants and businesses close down fairly early. The marina itself is pretty but this is not my favorite area due to many of the elements I just mentioned. You’ll probably find yourself here at some point regardless, just like we did! And there are still some good spots there.
The main beach area in Cabo is Medano Beach, which also exceeded expectation! I’ve always heard that the beaches in Cabo are rocky or not as “nice” as some other regions, but Medano was so pretty and the sand is white and soft. The sunsets are also stunning! Lots of the famous tourist party bars are here… Mango Deck, The Office, Sand Bar, etc. and you can enjoy lots of DJ beats, drinking, dancing, overpriced but fun food. There are the requisite beach sellers peddling their wares but it just comes with the territory. I like Medano Beach, there I said it!
Finally, the downtown area! On the fringes near the marina you’ll find some Senor Frogs crowds and bars (including a literal Senor Frogs) but when you head in deeper into town, there are all sorts of great restaurants, bars, cafes, and parks. Places in town tend to be a bit cheaper; you’re not paying beachfront prices for food as good if not better as the resort-y areas.
LET’S EAT! (AND DRINK):
dining & drinking
Cabo has no shortage of restaurants, cafes, and bars. The marina and beach areas are going to be a little more touristy, then when you go into town you’ll find the more local spots. We did a mix of both. As mentioned, Fiesta Marina is directly adjacent to the marina so we could access that area immediately. It was also a 5ish minute walk to Medano Beach or into town. Cabo is small and very walkable - we didn’t need to drive or rideshare anywhere except the airport or Todos Santos (which I’ll cover below).
Now to the food & booze!
La Chatita
By the time we drove down from the airport, checked in, got settled, etc. it was already late and energy levels were low. Grace and I wandered down to the marina and determined our dinner by three considerations: the vibe from the sidewalk, checking online reviews, and what was still open. Seems like many of the marina restaurants and bars don’t stay open past 9-10pm. La Chatita had one of the liveliest atmospheres so we decided to roll the dice. The service was great, margaritas average but large (I’ll take it!) and for being in the tourist district the food was a deeeelightful surprise! Believe it or not this was my first time trying molcajete and it was so good. The ceviche and even the side of housemade tortillas were noteworthy - this meal totally surpassed expectation and I’d def go back. We had two drinks apiece and shared an entree + ceviche and after tax/tip we paid about $40 USD each.
The Cabo Coffee Co.
One of my favorite ways to explore a new city is to visit the local coffeeshops. We found this one online and it seemed to be a favorite of the locals, featuring organic beans from Oaxaca. We liked it so much the first morning, we went back every single day after. I keep it simple: cold brew with a splash of almond milk, and their cold brew was fantastic - like Santana, it’s smoooth. We also tried some of their grab and go pastries and little breakfast burritos - don’t sleep on the $1 bean and cheese rollup, is all I’m saying.
Mako
A pretty little vegan patio café tucked right by Fiesta Marina, Mako also whipped up one of the best cocktails I sipped on our entire vacation - a coconut cream mojito. We shared a gigantic salad and some pretty killer vegan nachos, but the star of the show was the squash blossom tacos. They blew us away. This dinner was a huge bang for the buck. The ambiance was a little quiet but the food makes up for it. We may have dropped in on a particularly chill night too, who knows.
El Pescador
As the name would imply, this family-run little spot in town is all about the seafood. Their chips come with this amazing tuna dip I coudln’t stop eating.. don’t question it, just enjoy. The incredibly nice man running the restaurant the night we came in offered to make us piña coladas that turned out to be roughly the size of our heads, and mostly rum. Perfect. For the amount of seafood this place was beyond affordable and we loved the casual friendly vibes.
Tropical Kitchen
The name says it all! Lots of fresh, tropical breakfast & lunch offerings, gorgeous acai bowls, salads, and more. Plenty of options for our vegan friends. Super cute “island shack” type vibes.
Tacos Gardenias
Just down the street from our resort, this is a locals street taco spot. We tried a grilled whitefish taco, smoked tuna taco, and shrimp taco. All delicious. They bring out tons of different hot sauces and garnishes for you to doctor up your own plate. I also treated myself to a Pacifico which was served ice cold in a frosty mug. This place is perfect for a quick and cheap meal with a very casual fun vibe, I would have happily returned if we had more time.
The Hungry Shark… a beach restaurant & seafood spread so heavenly it gets its own gigantic image.
The Hungry Shark
We stopped here for a beach lunch one day, they offer my ideal combination of sushi and Mexican seafood. Therefore we shared some fish tacos, ceviche, and a sushi roll (plus some palomas and mojitos - very fairly priced cocktails for bring in the tourist zone on Medano Beach!). The food was all serviceable/good, but the view obviously was the real star here. We chose to sit right on the beach but they also have a little rooftop where you could relax and enjoy the view as well.
Milky Beach
I generally don’t like things described as “milky” (exception: when I get to karaoke the Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps”…iconic) and I’m not sure what makes this particular beach bar so milky… but it’s a great place to watch the sunset over the beach and enjoy some delicious tropical cocktails. Very instagrammy with white-washed wood and pops of turquoise.
Corazon Beach Club
A cushy spot to see and be seen, sip a tropical beverage, try a creative sushi roll, and bask in the gorgeous Medano Beach sunset. While this is a “club” there was no cover or hoops to jump through to enter and enjoy, even though we weren’t staying at this property. Recommend!
The Sand Bar
What’s better than a beach bar? A beach bar that also offers rooftop massages! There are little massage spots littered all over the beach, but Sand Bar seems to be the most popular/well-known. Since it’s so cheap I went in without a lot of expectation but my treatment was fantastic and I was glad I sprung for the 90 minutes ($60 USD). This isn’t a luxury privacy experience by any stretch so go in knowing you’re gonna be on a rooftop bed getting semi-naked and rubbed down with lots of other tourists in a fairly close proximity. Didn’t bother me!
Tabasco Beach
A great lil beach bar without a discernable internet presence, here is their Facebook if that helps. We literally stumbled upon this spot when taking a nice long beach walk post-cocktails and pre-dinner. Very casual, very affordable, right on the beach, no crowd, just what we needed in that moment.
OUTSIDE OF CABO:
ADVENTURING In todos santos
Hiking in Todos Santos
Since we rented a car, it was an easy hour-ish drive around the peninsula to get to Todos Santos, another small coastal town on Baja California. On a longer trip I would have liked to take more time to explore the town, but on our one-day trip we were all about the hiking in Puerto Todos los Santos. We also got to peep the beautiful Hotel San Cristobal, which is right next door to the Sugar Port trailhead. Everything about this area was so peaceful and had such a good energy. Our hike was about 4.5 miles in & out, not crowded at all but also not so remote that we never saw other humans. (I get freaked out when there’s literally nobody else around anywhere because I constantly assume I’m about to be murdered, so this was a good balance for me.) The views of the perfect turquoise ocean coves were exquisite, some people on AllTrails say they went swimming but I don’t know where I’d scramble down to try that.
If you have a car/ride at your disposal and you’re craving some nature and a great workout, I definitely recommend Puerto Todos los Santos!
Final Thoughts…
TIL NEXT TIME…
For my first trip to Cabo, we packed a lot into four days and I loved all of it! I feel like I’ve said “exceeded expectations” multiple times in this post, but that’s an accurate way to sum up this trip. I’ve heard a lot about how Cabo is a party town (not a downside as far as I’m concerned) and that it’s overrun with tourists, but I found a mix of plenty of everything - urban to remote nature, beaches to town, crowded bars to quiet restaurants. Plus a gorgeous beach and warm local hospitality. Can’t wait to go back, especially now that we live so close!