Why Go To Cabo San Lucas
Have you been to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico? If not, you may be wondering why go to Cabo San Lucas. I spent a week there this past September and want to tell you why!
It was my first time in this part of Mexico. I’ve been on the Mexican eastern coast to the areas of Cancun and Cozumel, but never to the west coast. It was a totally new experience!
Cabo San Lucas is known as a popular resort city on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. It has beautiful beaches, water-based activities, and many restaurants and bars. Playa El Médano is Cabo’s main beach next to the town.
The big attraction of this area is El Arco, a natural archway in the seacliffs. The arch is part of a distinctive rock formation at the southern tip of Cabo San Lucas.
My best friend and I stayed at a lovely resort right on the beach near the town of Cabo San Lucas (a 30-minute walk). We found the Villa La Estancia Beach Resort & Spa Los Cabos by searching for beach resorts on the internet. La Estancia resort is in the middle of two other sister resorts where you can go to their restaurants and bars. The two other resorts are called Villa del Arco and Villa del Palmar. We chose this area because of the gorgeous views and the close proximity to town.
The weather in mid-September was ideal with milder temperatures (70-80F). There are also fewer tourists at this time of year. Our resort was at 35% capacity. This meant we didn’t have to stand in line for restaurants or compete for pool chairs. The only downside was that this is also the maintenance period for some resorts. They were working on outdoor areas and some of the units which created too much noise for my taste.
We had a room on the 6th floor overlooking the pool and the sea. It was a two-bed simple room but spacious enough for us two. The quality of the furnishings and cleanliness of the room was top-notch. The service was exceptional and the friendly staff responded very quickly to every request we had.
My big surprise upon arrival was the elaborately decorated bed and balloons for my 60th birthday. There was a personal message saying “Happy 60th Birthday Janet”. I must have put the celebration occasion on one of their forms and voila, they made sure I had a nice celebration!
So, maybe you’d like to know what to do in Cabo San Lucas! We wanted to relax primarily as this was our first girlfriend trip in three years, due to Covid restrictions. Other than chatting by the pool, going to the gym for a good workout, and sampling the cuisine at the different resort restaurants, we wanted to check out the town and do some boat trips.
Our resort complex was ‘membership-based’ where people could own the units and either stay there for some weeks of the year or rent them out. I found it to be very similar to a “timeshare program”. Of course, they are always looking to sell to first-time guests and invited us to a ‘free breakfast’ to hear their sales pitch. We hesitated (as who could possibly enjoy this kind of thing?) but decided to attend to benefit from the discounts and freebie offerings. They said the presentation would take 1.5 hours, but we ended up spending almost 4 hours for the whole shebang.
I have to say it was interesting to see the tour of the different resorts and get the delicious breakfast at no cost, but neither of us was interested to purchase anything. We kindly say “no, thank you” many times to different sales personnel before they let us get our freebies and leave.
One of the freebies we received was a Sunset Cruise. We also got a significant discount on a Snorkel Cruise. Those two excursions were enough for us during the one-week stay. We booked them at the tour office based on the weather forecast. For two of the days we were there, it was cloudy, rainy, and windy due to a hurricane south of Mexico. Fortunately, it wasn’t severe weather. We made the best of it and went to the spa on one of the days.
The name of the cruise tour was Cabo Escape. It was a nice boat with two toilets and an upper and lower deck. The captain was nice and took pictures of people driving the boat. The crew was a lot of fun playing loud music on the top deck, having dancing contests, and pouring alcoholic shots from a bottle. Both trips included unlimited alcoholic drinks and buffet food. They served fajitas each time. The food was average and the alcoholic drinks seemed to be watered down. I guess you get what you pay for.
Other than the boat trips, we walked to town one day and visited the vibrant harbor area. There are many shops and a big indoor mall right by the harbor. I had heard that women especially must be careful going into town at night. As with all tourist places, you never know what could happen. We didn’t stay in town very late and had no issues with feeling safe. The taxis are relatively cheap, so we always took transportation instead of walking back to the hotel in the dark.
We went to two different restaurants in town which were recommended. The first was a very small local restaurant called Tacos Gardenias. The authentic Mexican food was delicious and the prices were very cheap!
The other restaurant was called Cabo Wabo founded by Sammy Hagar from the music group Van Halen, in 1990. This place was a bit pricier as it’s more of a typical tourist spot, but we thoroughly enjoyed the funky ambiance, drinks, and food here.
One of the special moments we shared during our week’s stay was a sunrise watch from the beach. We set our alarms and walked down to the beach outside our resort with our coffee-filled thermoses. The view was amazing and we were so glad we pushed ourselves to get out there. We also saw jumping stingrays which was a delight!
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about this scenic beach destination. I was glad we chose this location for a vacation and a chance to experience a new place. We had a wonderful girls’ trip in this part of Mexico and now know WHY GO TO CABO SAN LUCAS!
If you are looking for assistance to plan your next trip, I am here for YOU! I love to plan travel itineraries for myself and others. For more details on how I provide this service, please check out my Itinerary Planning page and drop me a quick email at jan@janadventures.com to get started!
14 Comments
Patricia
Cabo San Lucas looks stunning, I would love to visit when I have the chance.
Jan
I hope you can, Patricia!
simplyjolayne
Your sunset pics and view at sunset from your hotel room are amazing pictures. They make me want to visit just so I can take some awesome photos too.
Jan
Thanks for your comments! I love taking photos of sunrises and sunsets!
Brittany
Cabo San Lucas sounds like an awesome destination! I would love to see the famous El Arco and relax in a beautiful resort. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Jan
Hope you can get there to see this beauty!
Tia
That resort looks so relaxing. As long as you just keep saying no it’s worth it to get the free stuff from those sale pitches. I’ve sat through plenty 😄
Jan
You’re right! It’s no fun to say ‘no’ but they realize the majority of people are going to say that!
Lisa Manderino
We have had that happen in Mexico too…..come listen to our presentation….4 hours later…. So crazy! I want to visit Cabo!
Jan
I know, crazy, huh? It was worth saving some money though! 🙂
Marina
It looks just wonderful there 😍 I’d love to visit one day!
Jan
Hope you can visit soon, Marina!
Gallivanting Laura
Cabo has been on my list for a while but I didn’t know about the beautiful rock formations. I like the sound of the resort except for the sales pitch, but glad you were able yo make the most of the freebies!
Jan
Yes,the rocks and nearby mountains were a surprise for me! Definitely worth visiting this part of Mexico!