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There are also some fine boutique hotels to be found in downtown San Jose del Cabo, including the El Encanto Inn, Casa Natalia and the Tropicana along with a few night clubs. Room prices at the El Encanto start around sixty-five and range upwards to three hundred a night at Casa Natalia.
A jungle of palms and bougainvillea line Mijares Boulevard in downtown San Jose adding grace to the colonial architecture. Here, one can mingle with un-tethered horses, cows, dogs, chickens and local families gamboling about, all as in a slow motion film on old Mexico. San Jose del Cabo is a little town trying hard not to grow up. There are five-star hotels on the nearby oceanfront as well as a horse rodeo stadium, and palenque (arena) for cockfights. Locals raise fighting cocks at home. Dogs and iguanas can be seen on rooftops, chickens do cross the road and horses from the ranches along the estuary come to town to munch on local gardens.
Drive slowly through town and on the highways at night. The front end of our car has been totaled thrice. By a cow, a goat and an unlicensed, uninsured, Mexicana driving a borrowed car. Up until last year, drivers license testing was unheard of here. Now there is a written test, but with half the people barely literate, little has changed.
The famous Estero de San Jose (estuary) runs along the east side of downtown San Jose del Cabo emptying into the ocean, forming a perfect break for surfers. The estuary is home to over three hundred species of wildlife and its freshwater lagoon, supplied by upstream natural acquafiers, has been known as a watering hole for migrating wildlife, Indians and pirates for centuries.
Activities around the estuary include bird watching, horseback riding, ATV excursions, mountain bike and motorbike rentals, surfing, surf fishing and swimming. Leatherback turtles lay their eggs on the beaches and the little ones can sometimes be found crawling their way back to the sea when hatched. Pangas can be rented for sportfishing in the tiny fishing village of La Playita located a mile away from town across the estuary. La Playita is twenty miles closer to the famous Gorda Banks fishing spot for big game fish than Cabo San Lucas. Larger boats can be rented departing the hotel Palmilla also located in San Jose del Cabo. But for luxury sportfishing charter boats or other game fishing locations, Cabo San Lucas may be the best point of departure.
West San Jose del Cabo features the famous Costa Azul beach with its world-renowned surf breaks. Many retired Gringos reside in the hills in this area including some surf legends from the early days of California surfing. Check out La Jolla de Los Cabos and Cabo Surf Hotel on the web, both located on the beach. For a surfer, it doesn’t get any better.
Other sportfishing destinations include the East Cape an hour north of San Jose del Cabo and includes the (formerly) secret sportfishing grounds of the rich and famous and include the villages of Los Barrilles, La Ribera, and Buena Vista. The East Cape area is also terrific for wind and kite surfing enthusiasts. Closer to San Jose on the East Cape is Cabo Pulmo, a fantasy destination for SCUBA divers as it has one of the largest coral reefs in Mexico to explore.
On the waterfront in the Hotel Zone of San Jose del Cabo, can be found first class hotels including the Presidente Inter-Continental Los Cabos, the Royal Solaris Los Cabos Resort and the newest the Crown Plaza Los Cabos Beach Resort with its landmark lighthouse tower. The older Fiesta Inn on the water is for the budget minded and at Las Mananitas one can rent a condo, the size of a villa for very reasonable prices. Take time to visit the lighthouse tower at the Crown Plaza Los Cabos Beach Resort, have a drink and enjoy the sunset over the beautiful Sierra de la Laguna mountains.
These above hotels and resorts (except Las Mananitas) are All-Inclusive resorts as in the cost of the room includes meals, drinks and entertainment at the hotel. Indeed, some tourists confuse their taxi ride to and from the airport and three-day stay at the hotel, with meals and all, as a trip to Mexico. These tourists often never, visit the town of San Jose del Cabo a mile away from their all-inclusive resort and are discouraged by the outrageous fares quoted by the cab drivers for the eighteen mile drive for a visit to Cabo San Lucas. Hint: the local bus to Cabo San Lucas takes fifteen minutes longer than the cab and costs about $1.50. Take a cab to San Jose for three dollars, see the town, then the bus to Cabo San Lucas. Or rent a car, jeep, motorcycle, horse or donkey. The taxi guys need a lesson.
Cabo San Lucas is the primary vacation destination for tourists visiting the Los Cabos area for the first time. Here you will find a beautiful Marina loaded with sportfishing charter boats, luxury private yachts and the ubiquitous pangas, those 20 foot long, open, nearly indestructible, fishing boats favored by local Mexican fishermen.
Surrounding the Cabo San Lucas Marina on the boardwalk is a plethora of clubs, bars, restaurants and a newly completed Puerto Paraiso Entertainment Plaza with more shops, restaurants, multi-cinema (try the VIP theatre with leather recliners) and a Boliche (bowling alley). The mall interior with its marble tiled floors, granite columns, waterfalls, balconies, terraces overlooking the marina, and fine architectural details, sets a new standard for shopping ambience.
World-class golf is found at many golf courses, most of which are built along the tourist corridor oceanfront. Signature courses range the gamut from Jack Nicklaus to Robert Trent Jones and others with green fees ranging from under $40.00, at the city run courses, to over two hundred fifty dollars at the fancier courses. Discounts are often available to guests staying at nearby hotels and resorts such as Westin Regina Resort Los Cabos, Melia Los Cabos All Suites Resort, Las Ventanas al Paraiso, Melia Cabo Real Beach & Golf Resort and Sheraton Hacienda del Mar.
Nice hotel rooms can be found at the vintage Mar de Cortez in Cabo San Lucas, for around $50.00, a few blocks off the harbor waterfront. Other economical hotels in the area include Bungalows Breakfast Inn, Cabo Inn Hotel, Casa Rafael’s, and Siesta Suites. First class hotels and resorts along the beaches include the Solmar Suites Hotel, Hotel Finnistera, Melia San Lucas, Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos, Pueblo Bonito Rosé, Club Cascadas de Baja, Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Hotel Hacienda Beach. For a marina harbor side room try the Plaza Las Glorias. On the upper end, Las Ventanas al Paraiso, noted as being the most exclusive hotel in Latin America is found on the cliffs overlooking the Sea of Cortez, east of downtown Cabo San Lucas several miles, at Cabo del Sol. Prices start at $400.00 per night and range upwards to $3,500.00US dollars. That’s for a room for a night. Not a down payment to purchase.
Many Hollywood, and Dot-Com rich-and-famous, own mansions in the hills overlooking Cabo San Lucas. They frequent and entertain at the many clubs in Cabo. In fact, rock muscian Sammy Hagar often plays at his club Cabo Wabo&Mac226; when in town. El Squid Roe, The Giggling Marlin Bar & Grill, Las Varitas and Kaboo are a few of the more popular places to hang, dance and drink. There are at least ten Gentlemen’s Clubs (read strip joints) where a beer may cost six bucks and a lap dance twenty, and your wife if she finds out. There is a classy sports-book club where you can place bets on sporting events around the world at Caliente Casino Real on Marina Boulevard.
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n the harbor one can choose from SCUBA diving and snorkeling expeditions, glass bottom boats tours, harbor excursions on large catamarans, and a cruise on the pirate ship used in the movie Time Bandits. All with giant speakers booming rock n roll music. Hint: avoid mixed drinks on the party boats. Stick with national beers and sodas. They could run the boat engines on the alcohol served in some of these inexpensive all-you-can-drink booze cruises. For a great time in the evening consider a harbor, Land’s End and bay cruise complete with dinner, floorshow and dancing on the Caborey Dinner Cruiser, a 110 foot catamaran.
In Cabo San Lucas there are wave runners, small sailboats and kayaks to rent. For the truly brave (or insane) you can get towed behind a fast boat hanging from a parachute. Back on land many have fun riding ATVs on desert trails at Cabo Real, riding horses in the desert, paint balling, rock climbing, mountain biking, and renting off road racing cars and blasting around a large course a few miles out of town in the desert.
A day trip fifty miles up the scenic desert and coastal highway from Cabo San Lucas to the sleepy artist colony of Todos Santos is worth renting a car for. This day trip is only about one hour travel time by car. Or take the Aguila motorcoach bus for six bucks from San Jose or Cabo San Lucas. There, in this ancient sugar mill town of 4,000 on the Pacific coast, you find a dozen or so galleries and studios of Mexican and Gringo expatriate artists. Some say this place is fast becoming another Santa Fe or Laguna Beach, but that’s another fifty or so years away as time moves in Mexico.
The only real hotel in town is the Hotel California. The hotel the Eagles Band made famous. They never slept there. But that fact doesn’t deter the thousands of folks who make yearly pilgrimages there, wanting to believe they did. They buy t-shirts, coffee mugs, dine, stay there, and tell their friends all about it back home. Go figure. Recently remodeled, it is worth a stop for a drink, dinner or an overnight stay. The room prices are moderate. There are a few Mexican owned budget motels in town as well as a new boutique hotel on the beach with a gourmet restaurant owned by a Swiss Chef called Las Posas. Check our web site for Todos Santos Hotels.
Built around a lush river valley oasis on the coast, the town is located in a micro climate, always ten to fifteen degrees cooler than La Paz or San Jose del Cabo. And the colonial town is full of charm. The little children, the shopkeepers and the cops are always smiling because life here is relatively stress free. Many of the men work in the nearby chile fields or fish from pangas for a living. Some build casas for gringos who imagine they have rediscovered life as it was one hundred years ago.
On Saturdays there are sports events in the nearby stadium including soccer, baseball and an occasional motorcross. On Sundays the men folk gather under mango trees or around the back of someone’s pickup, to discuss important things and drink all day while the women and children go to church. Life is simple here. I like it. I live, write, and paint in Todos Santos. Drop by for a visit at my Galeria La Coronela, east of the Cathedral one block, on Legaspi Street.
Travel to Cabo San Lucas and the Los Cabos area is easy with several options available. Details on how to get here for your next vacation can be found on our Los Cabos Travel web page or our airlines page. Basically, you can fly via Alaska, American, Delta, Mexicana and other commercial airlines, or you can drive, sail, kayak or donkey ride down the peninsula. As has been done recently. Just fly. Fares range from $225 to $600 USD, round trip from the United States depending on season and distance. Best to check the web for specials, especially Alaska Airlines from time to time. The Los Cabos area is closer than ever.
About the author: Travel writer / artist, former Westin chef, David Mandich lives, writes, paints
and dines often in Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos Mexico
E-mail: yachtdorado@yahoo.com
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