Thinking about a trip to Cabo? There’s plenty of travel blogs out there to tell you the best resorts and restaurants, so let’s talk about some things you may not know as a first-timer in Cabo.
There’s two Cabos – choose wisely!
Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo – two different cities with very similar names, but 30 minutes apart. When you think of Cabo, you’re most likely picturing Cabo San Lucas. Cabo San Lucas is more touristy of the two, but it’s where you’ll find the iconic El Arco, swimming beaches, and much of the nightlife. San Jose del Cabo is known to be the quieter, more historic city, yet still has plenty of beautiful beach resorts.
So, which city should you stay in? As a first-timer, I was glad I stayed in Cabo San Lucas. It was easy to get to activities, beaches, and tons of restaurant options. Popular tours (like a boat ride out to El Arco) depart from the marina in Cabo San Lucas. If you stay in San Jose del Cabo, you’ll have to factor in an hour roundtrip to get to these activities plus the cost of transportation.
For your first time to Cabo, I’d plan to stay in Cabo San Lucas for at least part of your trip. If activities aren’t your thing and you want to relax at a resort in a quieter area, you could split your time with San Jose del Cabo.
Plan ahead to save money on airport transportation
You’ll arrive into Los Cabos Airport (SJD), which Google Maps estimates as a 30-minute drive from Cabo San Lucas. There will be plenty of taxis around to take you to your hotel, but don’t spend more money than you have to – booking a shuttle beforehand is probably the easiest and cheapest airport transportation.
Bonus: Improve your flying experience with my air travel tips I’ve learned as an airline employee.
We booked a shared shuttle with Transcabo. They’ll send you an email with specific instructions on how to find them once you arrive at the airport. This is important, because right before you reach the exit you’ll enter the “shark tank”— basically a gauntlet of timeshare sharks who will do their best to get your attention (they may even try to trick you into thinking they’re an airport employee or shuttle driver). Just ignore this group and walk past them until you’re outside — the actual shuttle and taxi drivers are across the street under their own awning.
The biggest transportation mistake I made? Booking a one-way shuttle from the airport instead of round-trip. I figured we could book the return trip later, but we learned the hard way that it’s actually illegal for shuttle companies to book one-ways back to the airport. We wanted to avoid taking an overpriced taxi, so we opted for an Uber. Uber can’t pick up from the airport, but they’re able to take you there (and for much cheaper than a taxi). However, due to local regulations some Ubers won’t pick you up from your resort and some may not want to take you to the airport for their own safety (there’s an ongoing Uber-taxi dispute). I luckily had no problem getting an Uber and we were just instructed to walk across the street from our resort to be picked up. I felt safe in an Uber, but your best bet is to just book the round-trip shuttle beforehand.
Pick a hotel close to your favorite activities
In Cabo San Lucas, you’ll have resort options right on the beach, but also some that are just a quick walk away. As a traveler with a budget, I based my search off cost and location. I considered staying near Land’s End (home of El Arco and Lover’s Beach), but ultimately opted to stay at Bahia Hotel near Medano Beach.
The Bahia was about a 4-minute walk to the beach and a 10-minute walk to the marina (where all the tours depart). It was super easy to get to all of our activities as well as tons of restaurants – including many of the popular beachfront spots. We only took an Uber once within the city. Ubers are incredibly cheap, but being able to walk everywhere still saved us a considerable amount of money throughout the trip.
Remember to pay attention to the location when booking a hotel. We found some beautiful, affordable resorts that we were tempted to book until we realized they were in the San Jose del Cabo area rather than Cabo San Lucas. Cabo San Lucas prices may be slightly higher, but the convenience of the location was well worth it.
A couple of other hotel considerations:
Beach chair availability: Our hotel had a beachfront restaurant and club (private beach chairs) on Medano Beach, but when we went early in the morning to try to claim a chair, we were told they had already been reserved and if we wanted one we should have booked weeks in advance (and we weren’t even visiting at a busy time of year). Never having been to Cabo, we had no idea we needed to plan ahead for this.
Wi-Fi: Our hotel had free Wi-Fi but only in the small lobby area (this wasn’t super clear when booking). Not a huge deal, but if you think you’ll be needing reliable Wi-Fi for any reason, make sure you read closely before booking.
Speaking of beaches – many aren’t swimmable
Many of the beaches in Cabo aren’t swimmable because of massive waves and undertow. Medano Beach is the main swimming beach in Cabo, so if you’d like to be able to go near the water, you may want to stay at a resort in this area.
Although our hotel beach club wasn’t able to accommodate us, there were plenty of other beach clubs right next door. The lounge chairs are free, you’re just expected to buy some food or drinks. We decided to check out Cachet Beach Club for breakfast one morning, and it was easily my favorite beach experience of the whole trip. The service, food, and drinks were fantastic, and we got super comfy lounge chairs and an umbrella to stay in as long as we wanted. I was actually super bummed that we couldn’t stay for more than a couple hours since we had a boat tour to get to – I could have stayed all day. Just be sure to get there early to claim your spot!
Another beach consideration: Medano Beach allows vendors, and I’m truly not exaggerating when I say we were approached at least every 2 minutes while laying out on the beach. They’re selling everything from dresses to jewelry, artwork to hair braiding. I’m not going to lie – this got super frustrating. Getting a chair at the beach club created a bit of a buffer, but they can still walk up to your chairs or try to get your attention from a distance.
If you want a more quiet area, you may want to consider staying in a resort near Land’s End. We snuck through a resort onto the beach there (a story for another time, but only people staying at those resorts are allowed on the beach). However, these beaches are NOT swimmable and you couldn’t even go near the water. We were actually the only people out there on the beach – most guests were hanging out at the resort pool.
Booking tours and activities
The activities we chose mostly revolved around the water (seriously get out on the water, you won’t regret it), but there’s plenty of options on land as well. If you walk along the Cabo San Lucas Marina, you’ll once again be approached by tons of vendors asking you to join their tours. If you want to negotiate prices, this isn’t a bad way to find your activities. I personally prefer to book online where I can see the price, tour description, pictures and reviews. Prices were pretty reasonable, and I’m not much of a negotiator. I had a good experience booking through Cabo San Lucas Tours. Be aware that the tickets aren’t sent to you instantly due to processing time, however they have a great online chat feature and you can just shoot them a message if you need it expedited.
The absolute BEST day of our entire vacation was the La Princesa Catamaran and Snorkeling tour. For only $53/person, we got to spend nearly 4 hours on a catamaran that not only took us out to a snorkeling area with more fish than I’ve ever seen in my life, but also took us out past Land’s End and El Arco. I didn’t even personally snorkel because the water was so cold, but it was so clear I could lay on the net and see down to the thousands of fish below. They also served us chips and guac (among other snacks) and unlimited drinks while we cruised along listening to a perfect early 2000s playlist. Pure bliss.
We had also booked a glass bottom boat tour to Land’s End that was a total flop. As part of the tour, you could get dropped off at Lover’s Beach (the scenic beach right next to El Arco) and be picked up later. However, we weren’t aware that Lover’s Beach is sometimes closed due to waves, so all we got was a boat ride and couldn’t actually stop at the beach. The glass bottom boat was also pretty disappointing (the glass bottom is just a little section in the middle) and you also have to wear those bright orange life jackets the whole time (safety first, but you didn’t need these on the sailboat). Learn from my mistakes: find out the beach conditions before booking a tour to go see it.
Pro-tip: Don’t forget to tip your tour guides!
Everything else to be prepared for
Sunscreen – It’s super expensive in Cabo (I think my friend paid $20 for a spray can after hers ran out) and you should expect to use A LOT of it. Since I only brought a carry-on, I used these carry-on containers from Amazon to fill with sunscreen (and aloe) ahead of time. I also bring my favorite non-greasy face sunscreen on every trip.
Money – Don’t worry about switching your cash to pesos— everyone will accept dollars, although you should always travel with some cash on you. I brought a couple hundred in cash in case anything was cash only, but I was able to use a credit card pretty much everywhere.
Water – Double check with your resort if the water is safe to drink. Just to be safe, we only drank bottled water. You’ll most likely be able to buy some from your hotel, but we got a much better deal at a local convenience store next door.
Cost – Mexico is known for being a fairly affordable vacation spot, so I was pretty surprised when food and drinks were comparable to the prices I’d find here in Chicago. I spent anywhere from $12-$20 on a meal, and drinks were usually around $10. We mostly went to local spots around the marina or near our hotel.
Phone service – My service provider offers free coverage in Mexico (to a limit), but double check with yours to see if you’ll need to add coverage (usually a certain cost per day on the days you use data).
Notify your credit card companies – You should always do this while traveling, but you can always use a reminder!
Mexico entry form – You’ll be asked to complete a form when you arrive in Mexico and you have to hold onto it until you return to the airport. There’s a pretty decent fine if you lose this!
Time of year – Cabo San Lucas is an extremely popular spring break destination. Unless college spring breakers are your vibe, I’d avoid planning a trip during spring break season.
Shop my Cabo essentials
Do you have any other Cabo tips? Let me know in the comments section below.
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