Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

After 5 days in San Jose Del Cabo, we cabbed all the way to our new AirBnb, right in the center of Cabos. Be warned : Cabo San Lucas is like a little Hollywood in Mexico – and you will need your wallet, because the prices are really high!

We found this lovely little AirBnB just a few minutes walk away from the main boardwalks along the restaurants and the marina in Cabos. It was simple (similar to a small hotel room, which a kitchenette), we had access to a nice pool and it felt really safe to walk around our areas at any time.

We spent a lot of times in Cabos exploring, walking around, discovering each areas of the boardwalk around the marina, spending some times on the different beaches (we never went to the same beach twice in our entire trip! – in Cabos try Playa Embacadora and Playa Medano), eating (more tacos), and chilling by the pool before going out for dinner. The big parties happen in Cabos, and we really tried to stay up to go out a few times (we did), but we couldn’t really stay up past the midnight time for the real parties to start. We came here to really relax and enjoy the sun, so we enjoyed our good night sleep.

I ended up getting a UTI while in Cabos (nice details, but travelling is about this as well) and I was lucky to find a walk-in clinic just a few blocks away. I barely waited 30min to see a doctor and was able to get an antibiotic prescription and consultation for about 10$ Canadian. Trick is – if you get the antibiotic to be prescribed by the doctor, the cost is extremely lower. They would have charged me about 60 US otherwise, which I would have been willing to pay and deal with my insurance, but this turned out pretty well.

I also dragged Hugo in a local Salsa Bar and Restaurant, but the live band started at 12:30AM (!!!!!!), so obviously we left before the real party started. I guess I’m not your right travel partner anymore if you want to go out every night! I am way too active during the day (haha!).

So other than walking around and laying on the beach, we took one afternoon to visit the famous Arco and the Playa Del Amor. You will have go get a water taxi to go (around 10$ per person) – your captain will also give you a return time and will come back to pick you up. We snorkeled from this area as well, although it wasn’t as impressive as Santa Maria. There was a LOT of tourists on that beach, and the boat traffic is quite impressive. There is a lot of cruiseboats that stop in the bay in front of Cabos, which makes the crowds very interesting and random. Some days and evenings the town is booming and crowded, some nights it was empty. We were there for Christmas, just before the big high season of the holidays.

We also discovered other restaurants and hotels completely on the left side of Playa Medano, where we enjoyed fancy drinks for happy hours and some nice appetizers (livin’ the life, really!). We tried to hike Mt. Solmar (if search online, you can find information for the guide who is leading daily hikes up the mountain on his property – it’s the only legal and safe way to do it), however because of the holidays our schedule didn’t fit with the guide because of the tour (only one!) we booked.

As we were trying to stay on a budget (not really possible in Cabos if you eat out), we decided to book only ONE tour for our entire trip. But we went full out! We were able to find a “deal” to go swim with Whale Sharks in La Paz, as a day trip. It was about 150$ CAD per person (this was the cheapest we could find after bargaining with many vendors) including mini-bus pick-up in Cabos, the drive all the way to La Paz (a few hours), the boat ride, about 1h30 of snorkeling with the whale sharks, a lunch in a local restaurant, a drive back to Cabos (including a short stop at the famous Hotel California). I would definitely recommend this tour even if it was expensive – at some point you have to decide what really makes it worth and what you prefer. We decide to go out less, drink a bit less, and put the cash towards an amazing experience that we are not going to forget.

The area where the whale sharks is is quite shallow – the sharks are actually coming to feed, so they are very calm. They are also very large, but the ones we saw were pretty young and not the biggest they could be. We were matched in a group with a few other couples and a huge family of tourists (not travelers, if you know what I mean). Some of them were afraid of the sharks and unsure about their swimming, so we got a few extra swims as they not all decided to go back in the water. There is a limited amount of boats allowed within the conservation area at a time. We had to wait almost one hour on the water before the conservation officer called our boat and permit numbers on the radio and we could enter the zone.

Once in the zone – this is a pretty surreal experience. The captain is basically spotting whales, and everyone is looking around trying to find them. We get closer with the boat, and we take tours in small groups. When we get closer to the whales, we sit on the side of the boat, put mask and scuba on and wait for the signal from our guide. When he says GO, we basically all jump in the water and start swimming as fast as possible to catch up with the whales and just enjoy our time with them. We are not allowed to touch them (you could get massive fines, and the companies could loose their licenses), so you have to keep your head in the water watching in case the shark turns around on you or in case another one come on you. I’m glad we had our GoPros to record these moments!

When the trip ended, we took the local bus back to the airport. It was a few dollars per person and took a bit over one hour. Just make sure that you go ahead of time so you don’t feel stressed with the commute and your flight – other options were really expensive and we had the time, so we enjoyed the view on our last bus ride!

Overall, we had a really fun and relaxing trip to Cabos. It was a very last minute trip (we basically booked one week before we left) and we didn’t plan much ahead of time. I am sure there was more activities we could have done, but we really enjoyed turning this into a foodies trip, beach time and snorkel. I would recommend going, however watch your budget very carefully. I think La Paz could have been a very cool area to explore, maybe more local and not as expensive! Maybe next time!

Enjoy!