Where to Stay

Best Family Resorts in Cabo: My Picks by Your Kids' Ages

By Cabo Wander

When a friend with kids asks me for the best family resort in Cabo, I ask two things back. How old are the kids, and do they need to get in the ocean?

Those two answers pick the hotel. For most families with kids from about 4 to 8, I'd book Hyatt Ziva, for the water park and the short ride from the airport. With a big budget, Grand Velas is the best family resort here. But you can't swim at either one, and you can't swim at any other all-inclusive with slides. The hotels on calm water are a different list: the Hilton on the Corridor, Chileno Bay and One&Only Palmilla at the top end, and the condo resorts on Médano Beach.

So you can have the best kids' facilities on a beach nobody is allowed into, or a calm cove with fewer bells and whistles. No single hotel in Los Cabos gives you both.

I went through about thirty hotels for this one, and only about a dozen sit on water I'd let a child into. I sorted them the way I think a parent should: the ocean first, then the child's age against what the kids' club will really take, then the drive from the airport, then whether there's a kitchen or at least a door between you and a sleeping kid. Water slides come after all of that.

Every price here is my own rough estimate for a family of four, two adults and two kids between 4 and 12, per night with the tax in. They're planning numbers, so treat them as a range to budget around. At the all-inclusives the food is inside that number. At the room-only resorts it's the room, and food goes on top. The low end of each range is late summer and the top is winter, and Christmas week runs higher than anything I give. December is the most expensive month at most of the family hotels, and the month-by-month picture is in the best time to visit Cabo.

This post is only about where to sleep. What to do once you're there is in Cabo with kids, and if you haven't picked an area yet, start with where to stay in Cabo.

The Quick Version

• Babies and toddlers (0 to 3): Hyatt Ziva if you want all-inclusive and a short transfer. Villa del Arco if you want a kitchen, a washer and a calm beach. One&Only Palmilla or Grand Velas if the budget is big.
• Ages 4 to 8: Hyatt Ziva. The Hilton if they need the ocean, and Villa del Palmar if you want a slide, the ocean and a kitchen for less.
• Ages 9 to 12: The Hilton on a middle budget, Chileno Bay on a large one.
• Teenagers: Hard Rock for all-inclusive, Chileno Bay at the top end.
• Grandparents, parents and kids together: Grand Velas. Hacienda Beach Club if the group wants Médano and its own kitchen.

Three Things Families Get Wrong When Booking Cabo

These three account for most of the family trips that go sideways, and no listing is going to warn you about any of them.

Assuming the Hotel Beach Is Swimmable

Most beachfront resorts in Los Cabos sit on water you're not allowed into. That includes every all-inclusive in this post that has a water slide. At those hotels, the first thing your kids will see on the sand is a flag and a rope.

The family hotels where a child can get in are the Hilton, Chileno Bay, Montage, One&Only Palmilla, the Four Seasons at Costa Palmas, and the ones on Médano Beach: Villa del Palmar, Villa del Arco, Villa La Estancia, Pueblo Bonito Rosé and Blanco, Casa Dorada and Hacienda Beach Club.

When I say a child can get in, I mean on a calm day, inside the buoys, with an adult within arm's reach. Even these beaches close when the flag goes up, and that happens mostly from May to October, when swells come in from the south. September is the worst month for it. I've ranked the hotels on this question alone in the best Cabo resorts with swimmable beaches.

From January to June the ocean is in the low 70s, and a small child will last a few minutes in it. An unheated pool in winter feels about the same. Hotels almost never say which pools are heated, so if you're coming in winter with little ones, email and ask about each pool by name.

Booking the Pacific Side for a Beach Vacation

The resorts over the hill from Cabo San Lucas face the open Pacific. That's Hard Rock, Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach, Grand Solmar and the Waldorf Astoria. Nobody swims at any of them, and from late winter into June that coast is windy enough to make the pool chilly too.

There's one good argument for the Pacific side with kids, and it's whales. From mid-December to April you can watch them from a lounger. If that's why you're booking, great. If you pictured sandcastles and wading, it's the wrong coast.

Underestimating the Airport Transfer

The airport is in San José, at the far end of the map from Cabo San Lucas, and the drive is the part of the trip a tired toddler will remember.

• San José's hotel zone and Palmilla: 15 to 30 minutes
• The middle of the Corridor: 25 to 35 minutes
• Médano Beach and Cabo San Lucas: 40 to 50 minutes
• Hard Rock, on the Pacific side: close to an hour
• The Four Seasons at Costa Palmas: an hour or more

On a week-long trip with a ten-year-old, none of that matters much. With a two-year-old who has been traveling since breakfast, I'd let it decide the hotel.

Ask your transfer company about car seats when you book, and don't assume one will be in the car. The rest of the arrival is in my Cabo airport guide.

What a Kids' Club Will and Won't Do

Nearly every kids' club in Cabo starts at age 4. At Chileno Bay, Montage, Esperanza and Grand Solmar it's 5. Dreams is the exception and takes 3-year-olds. Royal Solaris says kids have to be toilet-trained, and I'd assume that's true everywhere. So with a baby or a toddler, the kids' club is irrelevant, and what you're really choosing is a short transfer, a separate bedroom or a kitchen, and shallow water.

Then there's the closing time. Most clubs shut at 5pm, which means the club covers your afternoon by the pool and never your dinner. Grand Velas is the only one I've found that runs until 11pm and includes it in the rate. Everywhere else, an evening out means a babysitter booked through the concierge a day ahead and paid by the hour. Hotels don't publish those rates, so ask for the hourly price and the minimum before you count on it.

And "free" doesn't follow the meal plan. The Hilton sells rooms without meals and runs its club at no charge. Montage, the most expensive family hotel in this post, charges by the day.

If evening childcare is the reason you're picking a hotel, get the club's hours in an email before you pay. They change by season.

The All-Inclusives Built for Kids

These are the hotels with the slides, the kids' clubs and the food already paid for. Not one of them has a beach a child can swim at, so every hotel in this group is a pool vacation. I'm ranking them for kids only here. How they compare on food, drinks and fine print is in the best all-inclusive resorts in Cabo.

1. Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

Hyatt Ziva is first because of its water park. It has five slides, a pair of dump buckets and a splash pool for toddlers, and no other all-inclusive in Los Cabos has anything close to it.

The location is the other reason. It's in San José's hotel zone, 15 to 20 minutes from the airport, so you can be at the front desk while other families are still on the highway. The plaza in San José is a five-minute ride if you want one dinner out.

The kids' club takes ages 4 to 12 and it's included. It closes at 5pm and there's no evening club, so plan on eating as a family. There's a teen room for 13 and up with a pool table and games. The hotel can arrange a nanny, and you'll want to ask the rate ahead of time.

The beach is not swimmable, and black flags are routine. On the day the kids want the ocean, Palmilla's cove is about ten minutes away by taxi. Go before 10am and bring your own shade and snacks, because nothing is sold on that beach.

For the room, check the size of the entry category before you put four people in it. Hyatt's own room list has it at about 580 square feet, and older descriptions say about 350, so go by the figure and the bed layout on your booking page. There's a two-bedroom suite if the budget allows. Price two connecting rooms as well, since that can land close to one room with two kids added.

Plan on about US$750 to $1,100 a night for four. The youngest children stay free and older kids pay a child rate up to their early teens, when they're charged as adults. The age cutoffs matter to the total, so check them on the booking page before you price it.

A 3-year-old here is one birthday short of the kids' club and may already be charged the child rate, so ask how a 3-year-old is priced before you book.

No one is selling memberships, which with kids in tow at check-in is a real kindness.

This is a hotel of close to 600 rooms and it sounds like one, with loud entertainment at the main pool and live music into the evening. Loungers get claimed at dawn. And if you're coming in winter, ask which of the kids' pools are heated, because I couldn't get a straight answer on that.

Bottom line: for ages 4 to 8, and for babies when you want everything handled, this is the one. If you need a quiet pool or a napping toddler needs silence at 8pm, look at Dreams or a kitchen suite.

2. Grand Velas Los Cabos

Grand Velas is the best family resort in Cabo if money isn't the main question, and the reason is the kids' club that stays open until 11pm. It takes ages 4 to 12, every day from 9am, and it's in the rate. That's the only club here that covers a full dinner for two.

Teens get their own club too, for ages 13 to 18, open from mid-afternoon to 11pm.

For babies, there's a baby concierge who'll set you up with a crib, a stroller, a bottle warmer and a baby bath, so you can leave half the gear at home. Babysitters are on site for a charge, and you need to reserve ahead. Kids under 4 stay free.

It's in the middle of the Corridor, about 35 minutes from the airport.

The pools work well for families. There's a kids' pool and splash area right beside the kids' club, open until 9pm, though it has no lifeguard. The two family pools are heated to the mid 80s, which is the only pool temperature any hotel in this post puts in writing.

The rooms are the easy part. The smallest suite is well over a thousand square feet, a lot of them connect, and there's a two-level family suite that sleeps six.

You can't swim at the beach here. The hotel says so itself and points guests to the public beach at Chileno, about a mile away.

Plan on about US$1,650 to $2,650 a night for four, and a good deal more at Christmas. That includes tax and tips. I haven't found a sales desk.

Parents should know that the best restaurant, the tasting-menu one, is adults only, and several of the others have a dress code that applies to dads too. In the peak weeks, pool chairs take some effort.

This is my pick for a multi-generation trip, because nobody has to split a check and the grandparents get a real dinner. It's also great with a baby if the budget is there. Kids who want the ocean every day will be disappointed.

3. Hard Rock Hotel Los Cabos

Hard Rock is the all-inclusive I'd book with teenagers, and it works for 9 to 12s too. Teens need somewhere to go without a parent and food whenever they want it, and this hotel has both.

There's a teen lounge and a music program, a pool with water slides, and room service around the clock. The kids' club takes ages 4 to 12 and it's included. The hotel doesn't publish the club's hours, so ask when you book.

For rooms, the family suite takes two adults and three kids under 12. If you want connecting rooms, know that the hotel only confirms them when you arrive. I'd put the request in writing and have a backup plan.

The location is the trade. It's on the Pacific side, close to an hour from the airport. You can't swim at the beach. It's windy from late winter into June. There's nothing outside the gate, Cabo San Lucas is 20 to 25 minutes away by taxi, and Uber can't pick you up inside the property. I go through what that's like day to day in my guide to the Pacific side of Cabo, and I compare it with the hotel next door in Hard Rock vs Nobu Los Cabos.

Plan on about US$750 to $1,250 a night for four. Ask how a 13-year-old is charged before you compare prices, because at most all-inclusives that's an adult.

The rooms have some wear, and you can wait for a table at the popular restaurants. Ask for an ocean view and say no to a room that faces construction. There's a vacation club attached, so be ready to decline.

It's great for a family with older kids who'll stay on property all week. With a toddler, an hour's drive to a windy coast with no swimming is a lot to ask, and I'd book Hyatt Ziva.

4. Dreams Los Cabos

Dreams is on this list for the 3-year-olds. Its kids' club takes ages 3 to 12, and it's the only one I've found in Cabo that starts that young. If you're choosing between this and number one, I go point by point in Hyatt Ziva vs Dreams Los Cabos.

It's also the fair-priced all-inclusive in the middle of the Corridor, about 25 minutes from the airport. The hotel advertises evening hours at the kids' club. I couldn't confirm what those hours are, so get them in an email if they matter to your trip.

There are two main pools and a children's pool. The beach is not swimmable. The Hilton's cove is close by, about half a mile east.

Plan on about US$600 to $900 a night for four.

The plan has some thin spots. The pool bars close around 5pm, lunch choices are limited, and the French restaurant is for adults only. The vacation club pitch is a hard sell. Ask whether any work is going on near your room before you book, too.

If you have a 3-year-old and want all-inclusive, start here. For ages 4 and up, I'd pay the difference for Ziva's water park.

5. Royal Solaris Los Cabos

Royal Solaris is the cheapest family all-inclusive in Los Cabos, and it has the shortest transfer of any hotel in this post, about 15 minutes from the airport.

It's in San José's hotel zone. There's a small water park with a long slide, and a kids' club for ages 4 to 11 that closes at 4:45pm.

Kids have to be toilet-trained for the club, and the slides have a height minimum of about three and a half feet. So with a child under 4, you'd be paying for a water park and a club your kid can't use, and I'd pick somewhere else.

The beach is not swimmable.

The rooms are about 350 square feet, which is tight for four. Price two rooms before you decide.

Plan on about US$350 to $700 a night for four. Read the rate conditions, because the lowest advertised price is tied to attending a two-hour sales presentation.

The food is where the low rate shows. You're capped at three specialty-restaurant reservations for the stay, the buffet is thin and so are the walls.

With kids from 5 to 10 and a tight budget, it does the job. Take the short ride into San José for dinner a couple of times.

Also in This Group

Grand Fiesta Americana has the biggest family rooms of the mid-priced all-inclusives. Its family suite is around 1,400 square feet with a king and two doubles, and there's a three-bedroom suite as well. It's at the Cabo San Lucas end of the Corridor, 30 to 40 minutes from the airport, with a kids' club for ages 4 to 12. You'll see its beach called swimmable. It's rocky, and I wouldn't book it for kids to swim. Expect dated standard rooms and a sales pitch. Plan on about US$650 to $1,050 a night for four.

Hacienda del Mar is the one for families with Marriott points who need bedrooms. It has one-bedroom suites with kitchens and units with three and four bedrooms, plus a kids' pool with a small slide. The beach has rip tides. Oddly for an all-inclusive, its kids' club, for ages 4 to 11, shows up among the things you pay extra for. Confirm that before you book. Check-in comes with a pitch and pool chairs are gone before dawn. Plan on about US$650 to $1,000 a night for four.

Resorts on Water Kids Can Swim In

This is the list I'd start from if your kids are old enough to snorkel, or young enough that all they want is to sit in six inches of calm water with a bucket. A swimmable cove beats a kids' club for a ten-year-old, and it beats a water park for a one-year-old.

A lot of family lists are out of date on Paradisus. The all-inclusive on the breakwater cove in the middle of the Corridor no longer takes children. It's in my post on the best adults-only resorts in Cabo. The family hotel on that same cove is the Hilton next door.

1. Hilton Los Cabos

The Hilton is the best mid-priced hotel in Cabo for kids who want the ocean. It sits on a cove behind a breakwater, and the kids' club is free.

It's in the middle of the Corridor, about 25 minutes from the airport. The club takes ages 4 to 12 at no charge, which is unusual for a hotel that sells rooms without meals. I couldn't find its hours, so ask.

The cove is the reason to book. It was built by engineers and it's only calm behind the wall, and that's plenty for a kid with a mask. It faces south, so summer and fall swells reach it. Mornings are when it's flattest.

Rooms start at around 540 square feet with two queen beds, and there are bigger suites with a pull-out sofa. None of them has a kitchen.

Plan on about US$500 to $800 a night for the room with tax, and then food. That second part is the catch. Food and drinks on the property are priced high, and you're in the stretch of the Corridor where going out to dinner means a taxi of roughly US$30 to $50 each way. Ask the hotel whether it sells a meal package, whether there's a resort charge on the room, and what the pool setup is for kids. I couldn't pin down any of those three.

I haven't found a sales desk here, but ask that when you book too.

A quick heads-up on the name. Hilton Vacation Club Cabo Azul is a different hotel, in San José, on a beach you can't swim at. I cover it further down. Check the map pin before you pay.

For ages 4 to 12 on a middle budget, when the ocean matters, this is where I'd look first. If you want every meal paid for up front, it's Hyatt Ziva and a taxi to Palmilla.

2. Chileno Bay Resort

Chileno Bay is my top-end pick for ages 9 to 12 and for teenagers. They can snorkel right off the sand, the kayaks and paddleboards don't cost extra, and teens have their own lounge that's open from 9am to 9pm.

That lounge is for ages 12 to 17. The kids' club is for younger ones, from age 5 according to the hotel, from 9am to 5pm. It's free during the day and you need to reserve. I'd confirm it's still free for your dates. For under-5s and for evenings there's childcare by the hour, and the hotel doesn't publish the fee.

The pool is built in three levels, and it suits a family well. The top is a shallow kids' pool, the middle is a family pool with shaded cabanas, and the bottom is for adults.

In the bay there's a roped swim area and the water is usually calm. The sand is coarse. Boats anchor outside the buoys from mid-morning, so swim early. The public side of the bay is in my Chileno Bay guide.

It's 30 to 35 minutes from the airport.

For a family, the villas are the rooms that work. They have full kitchens and go up to four bedrooms. Cribs and rollaway beds are free for kids under 12.

An entry room runs from about US$1,250 a night to well over US$3,000 in winter with tax and service in, and food is on top of that. Four people often don't fit in an entry room here, and two rooms doubles the number.

There are only two restaurants, which gets repetitive over a week. I haven't found a sales desk.

With older kids and a big budget, this is the one. If you're torn between it and its neighbor, I go through both in Montage vs Chileno Bay.

3. One&Only Palmilla

Palmilla has the best beach in Cabo for babies, toddlers and kids under 6. Its coves are the calmest hotel swimming on the whole Corridor.

It's also easy to live in with small kids. The airport is 20 to 30 minutes away, San José is ten, and there's a supermarket and a pharmacy about five minutes from the gate. If you've ever run out of diapers on vacation, you know what that's worth.

The kids' club takes ages 4 to 11, it's free, and it runs from 9am to 7pm, which is two hours later than most. Kids under 4 are welcome with a parent or a sitter. There's a teen club for 12 to 17. The family pool has a gelato cart.

The entry rooms are the smallest at this level, about 500 square feet, so a family needs a suite or two rooms. Some of the rooms are showing their age, and the food is good without being great.

An entry room runs from about US$1,200 a night to US$3,500 and up in winter with tax and service in. I haven't found a sales desk.

With tiny kids and a large budget, I'd book this for the water and the address. With teenagers, Chileno gives them more to do.

4. Montage Los Cabos

Montage is the best all-around luxury hotel for a family. It has big rooms, a bay with fish close to shore, and several pools.

Two things keep it fourth on a list for kids. The first is the beach. Santa María Bay is swimmable with care. The sand is really tiny pebbles and the shore is a little steeper than Chileno's or Palmilla's, so there's less margin on a day with swell than it looks like from a lounger. Pack water shoes for everyone, and stay close to small kids. Tour boats anchor in the bay from mid-morning.

The second is the kids' club. It takes ages 5 to 12, and it's paid, about US$100 a day per child. Confirm the price and the hours when you book. At these room rates, that's a surprising line on the bill.

It's about 35 minutes from the airport. An entry room runs from about US$1,200 a night to well over US$3,000 in winter with tax and service in. I haven't found a sales desk.

For kids from 6 up who'll spend all day in the water, it's a great week. With a toddler I'd pick Palmilla, and if I planned to use the kids' club every day I'd pick Chileno.

Also on Swimmable Water

The Four Seasons at Costa Palmas has the best hotel beach in the region for kids. It's two miles of calm sand on the Sea of Cortez, and the family pool has a sloped entry like a beach. The catch is the drive. It's an hour or more from the airport and up to two hours from Cabo San Lucas, so this is for a family who won't leave the hotel. With a baby, on a trip shorter than five nights, too much of it goes to the road. Ask about the kids' club when you book. The other luxury names are ranked in the best luxury resorts in Cabo.

Condo Resorts With Kitchens on Médano Beach

Médano is the long swimmable beach in Cabo San Lucas, and it's where you'll find a kitchen, a calm ocean and a town all in one place. The airport is 40 to 45 minutes away.

These are all vacation-club properties, so the kitchen comes with a sales pitch at check-in. Say no once, politely, and turn down the welcome gift. What you're declining is in the Cabo timeshare presentation. March is also spring break on this beach. The east end, where the Villa hotels are, gets the least of it, but I wouldn't book Médano in March with small kids.

The rest of the hotels along this sand are in the best hotels on Médano Beach.

1. Villa del Arco and Villa del Palmar

These two sit side by side at the quiet east end of Médano, and between them they're my kitchen pick. The swim area is roped off, there's very little boat traffic, and not many vendors make it this far down the beach.

Villa del Arco is the one I'd book with a baby or a toddler. The one- and two-bedroom suites have a full kitchen and a washer-dryer, and cribs are free. The two-bedroom has three bathrooms and sleeps six. Skip the entry-level studio, which only has a kitchenette. The hotel's restaurant is a pirate ship sitting in the pool. I suspect parents of toddlers will be more excited about the washing machine.

If you're booking it "for the kids' club", know that the club is next door at Villa del Palmar.

Villa del Palmar is the cheaper of the two, and it's the better one for ages 4 to 8. The kids' club, for ages 4 to 12, is on site, and the family pool has a slide shaped like a whale. Every unit has a kitchen, starting with the junior suites, and the two-bedroom has three bathrooms. It's the older hotel. Ask whether the kids' club is free if you don't buy the meal plan, because I've seen it described both ways.

Rooms run about US$400 to $900 a night with tax at Villa del Arco and US$180 to $480 at Villa del Palmar. Those are the entry rooms, and a two-bedroom suite costs a good deal more.

Loungers at the pool and the beach are gone early, check-in can be slow, and the sales presentations run long.

For a family that wants the kids in the ocean and a fridge full of milk and snacks, this is where I'd start.

2. Hacienda Beach Club & Residences

For a big family group that wants Médano, this is my pick. It's in the far west corner of the beach, where the water is at its calmest and shallowest, and the marina is a walk away.

You're renting a residence here. They run from one to four bedrooms with full kitchens and a washer and dryer, and a two-bedroom is over 2,000 square feet. The beachfront villas have four bedrooms and their own pools. Grandparents get their own door, and nobody needs a taxi to get to dinner.

Plan on about US$750 to $1,600 a night with tax for a residence, with food on top.

Listings show a kids' club, a children's pool and babysitting, and I couldn't confirm ages, hours or prices for any of it. So I'd book this for the space and the water and ask about the rest. It's at the marina end of the beach, which is the busy end, so I'd also ask how much of the afternoon music reaches the residences.

Also on Médano

Villa La Estancia is the nicest of the three Villa hotels, right beside the other two. The suites go up to three bedrooms with full kitchens, and guests can use the neighbors' pools and the slide. I don't have a price I trust for it, so compare it against Villa del Arco.

Pueblo Bonito Rosé is in the middle of the beach, on swimmable water, and every suite has a kitchenette with a stove. There's one big pool with shallow areas. It doesn't have a kids' club of its own. Kids from 4 to 11 go to the one at Pueblo Bonito Blanco, the sister hotel on the same beach. The rooms are dated and there's a sales desk. Rooms run about US$300 to $600 a night with tax.

Casa Dorada is the one for teenagers who want to walk to the marina, which is about five minutes away. It has one- and two-bedroom suites with full kitchens and a small kids' pool, for about US$250 to $450 a night with tax in the entry category. It's in the loud stretch of the beach, where the boats and jet skis load and the beach clubs play all afternoon. It's a good fit with teens and the wrong hotel for a kid who naps.

Kitchens Off the Swimmable Beaches

These all have a kitchen or a big suite and a beach you can't swim at. Each one has a specific family it fits.

Hilton Vacation Club Cabo Azul

Cabo Azul is my value pick for a family that wants a kitchen near the airport. It has villas with one to three bedrooms and full kitchens, and it's 15 to 20 minutes from the terminal.

It's in San José's hotel zone, with six pools, a children's pool and a water slide. The beach has the same steep drop-off and undertow as the rest of that strip, so you'd drive about ten minutes to Palmilla to swim.

Rooms run about US$300 to $650 a night with tax, and food is extra.

The kids' club carries a surcharge, and I couldn't find the ages or the fee. It's a vacation-club resort by name, so expect to be offered a presentation.

It's a good fit for a family who likes San José, wants to cook breakfast and is happy to drive to a cove. If the kids need the ocean out front, book a Villa hotel on Médano.

Four More, Briefly

Garza Blanca is the good-looking one, with suites up to four bedrooms and a kids' club for ages 4 to 12. It's about half an hour from the airport. You can't swim at the beach. There's a sales desk, and pressure to tip. Rooms run about US$475 to $1,000 a night with tax, before food or the meal plan.

Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach has the best teen hangout of the mid-priced hotels, with an arcade, a bowling alley and a movie room, plus six pools. For a family with teenagers and a rental car, that's a pretty good week. Everything else is a trade. It's on the Pacific side, swimming is banned, the kids' club is paid, the kitchenette is a microwave and a fridge, and the sales staff are persistent. It's also built up a hillside that you cross by golf cart, so I'd never book it with a stroller. Rooms run about US$380 to $770 a night with tax.

JW Marriott Los Cabos is calm and modern, 20 to 30 minutes from the airport. It has a children's pool and a kids' club for ages 4 to 12 that costs extra. There are no kitchens and you can't swim, though the protected beach at La Playita is about five minutes away by car. I'd book it with Marriott points and older, self-sufficient kids. Rooms run about US$380 to $850 a night with tax.

Grand Solmar Land's End is the one you can walk to the marina from. The one-bedroom suites have full kitchens and there are two shallow pools for kids. The kids' club starts at 5 and costs extra. The beach is Pacific surf, and nobody goes in. Rooms run about US$600 to $900 a night with tax.

Top-End Resorts That Are Good With Kids

Chileno Bay, Palmilla and Montage are covered above, because they're the ones with the swim. These next few are good family hotels at the high end where the pool has to be enough.

The Four Seasons at Cabo del Sol is the best of them. The family pool has a zero-entry shallow end and the kids' club, for ages 4 to 12, is included. It's 30 to 40 minutes from the airport and close to Cabo San Lucas. The hotel calls its beach swimmable. There are rocks and a current, and I wouldn't take a child into it. Santa María Bay is about five minutes away by car. And there are two Four Seasons in Los Cabos, more than an hour apart, so check which one is in your cart.

Park Hyatt Los Cabos is in the same development and gets a lot of families. The kids' club costs extra, the beach isn't swimmable, and there's a golf hole between the hotel and the sand. It's worth a look with Hyatt points.

Solaz has two children's pools, a paid kids' club, a teen club, and suites with two and three bedrooms. It's 25 to 30 minutes from the airport. You'll see its beach described as swimmable, and I'd treat it as a no for kids. It's a fine hotel that isn't anyone's first choice for a family.

Kitchen Suite or All-Inclusive?

This is the question underneath a lot of family bookings, and my math on it is rough, because all of it is my own arithmetic.

A kitchen suite on Médano, with groceries for breakfast and lunch and dinner out, comes to about half to 60% of what a mid-range all-inclusive like Hyatt Ziva costs a family of four. Step up to a suite with a separate bedroom and it's still under Ziva.

The gap closes fast if you buy the resort's own meal plan. At the Villa hotels the plan for four adds roughly US$400 a day, with kids charged about half the adult price, and at that point you're paying close to all-inclusive money at a hotel that wasn't built to be one. Get the plan price in writing before you compare anything.

The all-inclusive buys you a week of never doing math while the kids order. Snacks are on demand, room service comes at 6am when the baby's up, and nobody washes a dish.

With the kitchen suite you get a door between you and a sleeping child, a fridge for milk, sometimes a washing machine, a beach the kids can swim at, and a town a short ride away. What it costs you beyond the bill is a grocery run on day one and a sales pitch to turn down.

At the top end the math flips. Grand Velas for four, with everything in, comes out below one room plus food at Chileno Bay or Montage, and far below two rooms. What you give up is the swim.

Bottom line: with kids under 4, I'd take the kitchen. With kids from 4 to 10 who'll live at the water park, I'd pay for the all-inclusive. There's more on the general question in whether a Cabo all-inclusive is worth it.

The Ones That Take Kids But I Wouldn't Bring Them To

All of these will check your children in. I'd still pick somewhere else, and here's why for each.

• Las Ventanas al Paraíso. There's no kids' club, and kids under 16 aren't allowed in the oceanfront junior suites, so a family is looking at a villa. It's a wonderful hotel for two.
• Esperanza. It does have a kids' club, for ages 5 to 11, and family villas. The rest of the hotel is built for couples, with a lot of stairs and uneven paths, and you can't swim in the cove. With kids, book a villa or skip it.
• Waldorf Astoria Pedregal. There's a family pool, a playground and a paid kids' club. It's also steep, windy for part of the year, on a beach nobody swims at, and the most expensive entry rate in Cabo. I'd only bring older kids who'd enjoy the walk into town.
• Riu Santa Fe. It has a slide park and a kids' club at the lowest price around. It also has party nights with foam and DJs several times a week, music at the pools all day and thin walls. You can't swim in front of it. If your family doesn't mind the soundtrack, fine. With a napping child, no.
• The Cape, Viceroy, Zadún and Nobu. These feel like adult hotels. Viceroy has stairs with no handrails and open water all around the walkways, which rules it out with a toddler for me.
• Cabo Surf Hotel. It shows up near the top of some family lists. The beach out front is a surf break with rocks and urchins. It's great for a kid old enough for a surf lesson and wrong for small ones.

The Verdict

Start with the ocean, then the age, and the list gets short.

If you only have time to look at one, look at Hyatt Ziva. It fits the most families: a short transfer, a real water park, no sales desk, and a price most budgets can reach. Just book it knowing the beach is for walking.

If the kids have to swim in the ocean, look at the Hilton on a middle budget, a Villa hotel on Médano if you want a kitchen, and Chileno Bay or Palmilla if you're spending at the top.

Here's who I'd steer away from what:

• Families with a baby or toddler: skip Hard Rock and Costa Palmas for the drive, Sunset Beach for the hill, and Casa Dorada and Riu Santa Fe for the noise.
• Families with a 3-year-old: think twice about Ziva and look at Dreams, or take a kitchen suite.
• Families whose kids want the ocean: skip every all-inclusive in this post.
• Families with teens: skip anything where the only kids' space is a club that stops at 12.
• Anyone counting on a date night: only Grand Velas covers it inside the rate. Everywhere else, price a sitter first.

Would I book a family resort on a beach the kids can't swim at? For Ziva's water park with a six-year-old, yes, happily. With a ten-year-old who has a snorkel in the suitcase... no, I'd book the cove.

So it's Ziva for ages 4 to 8, Grand Velas if you're splurging or bringing the grandparents, and Hard Rock with teens. None of those has a swimmable beach. If the kids need the ocean, it's the Hilton, the Villa hotels on Médano, or Chileno and Palmilla at the top. Kids' clubs start at 4 and close at 5. Paradisus doesn't take kids anymore. And ask which pools are heated if you're coming in winter.

Quick Answers

What is the best family resort in Cabo? Hyatt Ziva for most families with kids from 4 to 10 who want all-inclusive, and Grand Velas if the budget is large. If the kids need to swim in the ocean, the Hilton, or Chileno Bay and One&Only Palmilla at the top end.

Which Cabo family resorts have a swimmable beach? The Hilton, Chileno Bay, Montage, One&Only Palmilla and the Four Seasons at Costa Palmas, plus the Médano Beach hotels: Villa del Palmar, Villa del Arco, Villa La Estancia, Pueblo Bonito Rosé and Blanco, Casa Dorada and Hacienda Beach Club. Hyatt Ziva, Grand Velas, Hard Rock, Dreams and the Rius are not swimmable.

Which Cabo all-inclusive has a water park? Hyatt Ziva has the biggest, with five slides and a toddler splash pool. Hard Rock has a pool with slides, Royal Solaris has a small one with a height minimum, and Riu Santa Fe has slides inside a party hotel.

Are kids' clubs in Cabo free, and from what age? Most start at age 4 and close at 5pm. They're included at the all-inclusives and free at the Hilton, Chileno Bay and Palmilla. Montage charges about US$100 a day, and several others charge something, so ask.

Is there evening childcare at Cabo resorts? Grand Velas runs its kids' club until 11pm inside the rate. Palmilla's runs to 7pm. Almost everywhere else it's a babysitter by the hour, booked a day ahead, at a rate you'll need to ask for.