Areas

Cabo San Lucas Guide: A Great Base, If You Go In With a Plan

By Cabo Wander

Is Cabo San Lucas, the town itself, as much of a tourist trap as people say? My answer is that it's the best base in Los Cabos and a pretty poor place to wander around, and both of those are true on the same day.

I keep staying here anyway, because it's the one place on this whole coast where a beach you can swim at, the boats, a really good cheap lunch and the bars are all a short, flat walk from each other. Nowhere else gives you that without a ride. What you pay for it is that the same few blocks are the most sold-to stretch of sidewalk in Baja California Sur, and on a cruise ship day they're packed.

The good news is that the good parts and the annoying parts are separated by blocks. Two or three streets back from the marina, lunch costs a third as much and nobody is trying to sell you anything. One end of Médano Beach has an MC on a microphone and the other end is quiet. So this town rewards a plan, and mine is simple: do the water early, eat a few blocks inland, read every check, and use the marina boardwalk to get somewhere.

It suits first-timers, groups, anyone doing a couple of boat trips, anyone who fishes, and anyone who wants a late night. If you're picturing plazas, galleries and long quiet dinners, that's the other town, and I put the two side by side in Cabo San Lucas vs San José del Cabo.

What It's Actually Like, Day and Night

Mornings are when I like this town most. Before about 9:30 the water in the bay is flat, the boardwalk is nearly empty, the fishing boats are heading out and nobody has started selling yet. If you only ever see the marina at noon, you'll think I've lost my mind recommending it, so please see it at 8.

From mid-morning it changes. If there's a ship in the bay, the first tenders unload around ten and the boardwalk fills up with people and with everybody who makes a living off them. This is when I'm either in the water at Médano or sitting down to lunch somewhere inland.

Then there's a nice stretch in the middle of the afternoon that I never see on anyone's list. The fishing boats come back with their flags up, the catch gets cleaned, and the pelicans line up for the scraps while a sea lion or two follows a boat in to see what falls off the back. It's free, and I think it's more fun than a lot of things here that cost money.

By around five the cruise crowd has mostly gone and the marina turns back into a pleasant place. There are people out strolling, music coming from the restaurants and the sunset boats loading up. Dinner is on foot. After eleven the boardwalk itself goes quiet, and the noise moves a couple of blocks inland to the bar strip, which keeps going until two or three in the morning.

I'd describe the whole thing as a resort town with a small Mexican town attached to the back of it. The small town is real and I like it. I'd give it an hour and a lunch, and I wouldn't plan a whole afternoon around it.

How the Town Fits Together

It's a small place, and once you have four pieces in your head you won't need a map.

The Marina

The marina is a U-shaped harbor full of boats, with a paved boardwalk running around the inside of the U. Nearly every boat trip you'll take starts here. Hotels around it are the most walkable in Los Cabos, and they have no beach.

Médano Beach

Médano is the reason to be in town. It starts just behind the marina and runs east for about two miles, with calm water, a gentle slope in, and the Arch in your view the whole time.

It's really two beaches. The end by the marina is beach clubs, speakers, jet skis and a steady stream of vendors. From that cluster it's a fifteen or twenty minute walk east to the stretch where the resorts rope off their sand, the boats thin out and the selling mostly stops. The far east end is a long way from town, and it's dark at night, so if you stay out there you'll be taking a ride home after dinner.

My tip is the same one I give everybody: get in before 10am, when it's flat and the vendors haven't started. Picking your stretch of sand is in my Médano Beach guide, and if you want a lounger and a drink brought to you, I rank the options in the best beach clubs in Cabo.

Downtown

Downtown is the grid of streets on the inland side of the marina. The main street, Boulevard Lázaro Cárdenas, runs along the top of the harbor past the big mall, and it's the bus route, the bar strip and the busiest road in town all at once. Behind it you'll find ordinary shops, taco places, pharmacies and the cheapest hotel rooms in Los Cabos.

A few blocks in there's a shady little square, Plaza Amelia Wilkes, with a gazebo, and a small, plain white church around the corner that started out as a mission in 1730. The church takes five minutes. I'm fond of this part of town, and it's modest. Nobody should cross Los Cabos to see it. If you're already at the marina, though, you should absolutely walk inland for lunch.

Pedregal

Pedregal is the steep hill between town and the Pacific. It's a gated neighborhood of private villas, and for a visitor it's something you look up at. There's no public lookout to walk to, so I wouldn't head up there on foot hoping for a view.

The exception is the Waldorf Astoria, which sits on the Pacific side of the hill and is reached by its own tunnel through the rock. The town end of that tunnel is about a ten-minute walk from the marina, which still surprises me. The beach over there is for looking at only. If you're renting a villa on the hill, it's roughly a twenty-minute walk down to the marina and a real climb back up, on roads that are narrow and not well lit, so plan on a cab at night.

You'll hear about two more places. The Land's End hotels sit past the south side of the marina on the Pacific, about ten minutes on foot from the boardwalk, and their beach isn't safe to swim at either. And El Tezal is a residential area across the highway to the east. It has a restaurant I love, and you need a ride to get there.

Which of these to sleep in, and which hotels, is all in where to stay in Cabo.

Getting Around

You don't need a car here. The marina, downtown, the bar strip and the marina end of Médano are all a short walk from each other on flat ground.

Here's what isn't a walk:

• The far east end of Médano. It's a long trudge through soft sand, and it's dark after sunset.
• El Tezal. It's uphill and across the highway.
• The Pedregal villas. Down is fine. Up is a hike.
• Anything on the Corridor or the Pacific side.

The other thing that changes the map is the heat. A ten-minute walk in January is lovely. From about July to October the same walk leaves you soaked, and I take an Uber for anything much longer than that.

I also wouldn't choose to walk along Lázaro Cárdenas for the pleasure of it. The sidewalks are narrow and uneven in places and the traffic is heavy. Use the boardwalk or the smaller streets when you can.

After Dark

I've walked the boardwalk and the blocks around the bars late at night and never felt uneasy. There are a lot of people around, the storefronts are bright, and the restaurants and yacht docks have their own security along the water. You won't see many police, for what it's worth. What makes it comfortable is the crowd.

Where I take a ride after dark is anywhere that's empty. That means the sand at the east end of Médano, the roads up into Pedregal, and the residential blocks more than three or four streets inland. The road out to the Land's End hotels gets very quiet late too. The bigger safety picture is in is Cabo safe.

Taxis, Uber, the Bus and the Water Taxi

• Taxi: there are no meters. A ride inside town runs about US$10 to $30 depending on how far you're going and who's quoting, so agree on the price before you get in. Quotes run higher late at night outside the clubs.
• Uber: it works well here, including late at night, and it usually costs less than half the taxi fare. Short hops in town have run me around 100 pesos. Walk a little way from your hotel entrance or the taxi line before you request it, and the pickup goes more smoothly.
• Bus: the purple and orange coaches to the Corridor beaches and San José stop near the Puerto Paraíso mall. Ask anyone for the Ruta del Desierto stop. It was about 45 pesos the last time I rode it, paid to the driver in cash, and one comes by every ten minutes or so until around 10pm.
• Water taxi: about US$5 to $7 a head once you've bargained (you'll be asked more) across the harbor between the marina and Médano.

Everything else about fares is in getting around Cabo.

The Marina Boardwalk, and How to Walk It

Think of the boardwalk as the hallway of this town. It gets you to your boat, to dinner and to the beach, and at 8am or 6pm it's a nice walk in its own right. In the middle of a ship day it's a slow shuffle with a sales pitch every few steps, and I stay off it.

The Shape of It

It's about a mile long, and at an easy pace I'd give it half an hour. The thing to know is that it's a horseshoe. You can't cross the harbor mouth on foot, so the two ends are close together across the water and a long way apart by sidewalk.

• The south side is the Land's End side. This is where the cruise tenders come in, and a lot of the Arch, whale and snorkel boats leave from the dock by the port authority building. Keep going past it and you're on the road to the Land's End hotels, a little swimming beach and the Mt Solmar hike.
• The head of the U is restaurants, arcades of shops and craft stalls, with downtown starting right behind it.
• The north side is the Puerto Paraíso mall and its luxury wing, with another dock that tour boats use, and then hotels and condos out toward the marina end of Médano.

When you book a boat, ask which side of the marina it leaves from. The two docks are on opposite arms, and the wrong one is a brisk, sweaty walk from the right one.

The horseshoe is also why cruise passengers get caught out. Médano looks like it's right there from the tender pier. On foot it's a good half hour around the whole marina in the sun. By water taxi it's a few minutes. You'll be asked US$10 to $15 a head, I aim for about US$5 to $7, and that's what I'd do.

When to Walk It

• Before 7:30am: fishing crews, bait boats and joggers. Nobody is selling anything.
• 7:30 to 9:30am: tour check-ins, the first water taxis and breakfast. This is the best time of day down here.
• Mid-morning to mid-afternoon on a ship day: crowded, hot, not much shade, and every seller is working. Water taxi quotes are at their highest too.
• Around midday to mid-afternoon: the fishing fleet comes back, and the pelicans and sea lions show up for it.
• 5pm to 10pm: dinner, music and the sunset boats. It's the second-best time.

There are pay bathrooms at the marina, so keep a little change on you.

Who's Going to Talk to You

You'll be approached a LOT, and I'd rather you knew who's who before you get there.

The boat sellers. They carry laminated cards of photos and they'll offer you the Arch, a sunset cruise, fishing, and whales in winter. They're legitimate, and the first price is high. For the Arch, the opening quote is often US$40 to $60 and the fair price is about US$20, and I give you the exact words I use in my guide to El Arco and Lover's Beach.

The man with the binder. He has photos of a fishing boat and a price well under what the charter offices charge, if you'll leave a cash deposit of US$100 or $200 today. Please don't. Either nobody is on the dock in the morning or the boat isn't the one in the binder. How to book a real charter is in sport fishing in Cabo.

The "Tourist Information" people. Polo shirts, lanyards, and they're thickest near the mall entrance. They open with a friendly question like "are you guys here for fishing tomorrow?" or "where are you folks visiting from?" They sell timeshares. The half-price cruise they offer is a voucher you collect at a resort after a sales presentation, and that trade is laid out in my post on the Cabo timeshare presentation.

The restaurant hosts. They stand out front with a photo menu and a two-for-one margarita offer.

The walking vendors. Hats, sunglasses, blankets, carvings, hair braiding. The licensed ones dress all in white and wear an ID badge, which is handy to know.

Honestly, none of this is scary. Everyone is polite, and they do stop when you say no. It's just constant. I once ate lunch at a table on the boardwalk and somebody stopped at it about every thirty seconds.

What works is "no, gracias", said once, with a smile, without slowing down. The part people miss is the question. If you answer where you're from, you've started a conversation, so I just say no thanks to the question too. Don't take the map. Sunglasses help.

Late one night somebody offered me something that was definitely not a bracelet, and the same two words took care of that as well.

Where to Eat and Drink

The best thing I can tell you about eating here is to cross the street. This town has two sets of prices, and they're only a few blocks apart. I've paid about US$55 for two at a local seafood place, and about three times that for two at a tourist restaurant a short walk away.

Here are the ones I'd send you to. All of them, with a lot more detail, are in the best restaurants in Cabo, and there's a longer list just for this town in where to eat in Cabo San Lucas.

• Mariscos Las Tres Islas. This is my lunch. It's a big, loud seafood hall a few blocks inland from the marina, and the plainly cooked fish and shrimp are really good. Get the garlic shrimp or a whole fish. I spend about US$25 to $35 a head with a drink. A band works the tables, and a song means a tip.
• Tacos Gardenias. It's on the walk between the marina and Médano, which makes it the easy stop on a beach day. The battered fish and shrimp tacos are still good. It isn't the bargain it used to be, so tell them you're paying in pesos when you order.
• Los Tres Gallos. Traditional Mexican food in a pretty brick courtyard, a 10 to 15 minute walk inland from the marina. Get the pork shank carnitas or the pozole. It's a nice, easy dinner on foot. At US$50 to $80 a head I think it's a lot for what it is, and the mariachi comes with it.
• Nicksan. Japanese food with Mexican ingredients, a few steps off the boardwalk. The fish is very fresh and the tuna tostada is the thing to order. It's also US$90 to $150 a head, indoors, with no view. It's my pick if you want one really good dinner without getting in a car.
• Metate. The best cooking for the money in town, on a stone patio in El Tezal. Order the bone marrow. Dinner is about US$50 to $75 a head, and it's a short ride, around US$10 by taxi and less by Uber.
• El Farallón. The splurge, on the cliff at the Waldorf Astoria. The fish is good and simply cooked, and about half of what you pay is for the setting. I'd go once, for an occasion, and I get into the details in is El Farallón worth it.

For a cheap taco lunch, my list is in the best tacos in Cabo.

As for the restaurants right on the boardwalk, the food at most of them is fine. It's just US$90 to $150 a head for a dinner you won't remember, and something much better is a short walk behind you.

For a drink with a view, I go to the Baja Brewing rooftop, on top of one of the hotels at the marina end of Médano. You look out over the whole bay to Land's End, there's live music toward the weekend, and it's open until midnight. It's my pick for an evening drink that isn't a club. In January and February, bring a layer, because it's cool up there after dark.

Nightlife

The nightlife here is real, and it's also smaller than its reputation. It comes down to a few big rooms on two streets a couple of blocks apart, plus one loud end of one beach. If that's what you came for, you'll have a great time, and it's the only place in Los Cabos to find it.

Mango Deck is the daytime version, right on the sand at Médano. An MC runs drinking contests from around noon, there's no cover, and it winds down at ten or eleven at night. It's loud and silly and a lot of fun with a group. I wouldn't sit down there with a book.

Cabo Wabo is where I'd start the evening. It's Sammy Hagar's place, it's a restaurant during the day, and there's a live band on a big stage every night. The bands are good, and it's the one I'd pick if a dance club isn't your thing.

El Squid Roe is the famous one, three floors of it. It's pretty tame until 11pm and doesn't really get going until after midnight, so if you walk in at nine and wonder what the fuss is about, you're early. After ten it's adults only. There are more clubs on the same street, with DJs and bottle service. The bars I like better, and how to get home afterward, are in my guide to Cabo nightlife.

The clubs run until two or three in the morning. Some of them charge a cover on busy nights, and I've had it go both ways, so ask at the door before you go in.

Drinks on the strip are priced for visitors. Beers are US$5 to $8 and cocktails US$10 to $20, and for a night of buying by the drink I'd budget US$60 to $120 a head.

What gets people here is the check at the end of the night. Rounds nobody ordered, a bottle that costs a lot more than it was quoted at, mixers billed one by one, and a total in dollars when the menu was in pesos are all things that happen at the busiest places in town. I still go. I just do it like this:

• Pay as you go. Round by round, and don't open a tab.
• Ask the price first. Especially for a bottle, and especially for a shot offered by someone walking around with a tray.
• Keep your card. The terminal comes to you.
• Pay in pesos, and say no when the terminal offers to charge you in dollars.
• Read the check before you tip. If service is already printed on it, you're done.
• At a beach club, buy the bucket. A single beer can cost about half what five do.

Some clubs sell an open bar pass for two or three hours, somewhere around US$85 to $115. I can't vouch for how well it's poured. If you're planning a big night, though, it does give you the number up front.

Getting home is easy. Uber works late, and taxis wait outside the clubs. Agree on the fare through the window before you get in.

If you want sleep, don't book a room near the strip, because the bands play until the bars close. And in mid-March the marina end of Médano belongs to spring break from about noon to five. The east end and the early mornings stay normal.

What to Do in Town

Most of what's worth doing here happens on the water, and all of it starts at the marina. I've got the full ranking in things to do in Cabo, so here I'll stick to what belongs to the town itself.

Hike Mt Solmar. This is the best view in town and it's free. The hill is private land, so the only way up is with the guide, a local dog trainer who takes a group from his training camp on the south side of the marina at 8am, and earlier in the hot months. It never runs on a Saturday. Be there fifteen minutes early, because the gate is only open for a few minutes and then it's locked. A few of his dogs come along. It's under two hours, and the last stretch is steep, loose rock where I needed my hands, so wear real shoes. It's one man's schedule, so confirm it's running the week you're there, and leave a tip in the box.

Swim at Playa Empacadora. About ten minutes on foot past the cruise tender pier there's a small, calm beach where nobody tried to sell me anything. It's the best free thing in town after the hike, and it's in my ranking of the best swimmable beaches in Cabo.

Watch the fishing boats come in. Any afternoon, on the boardwalk. Look, and please don't feed or touch the sea lions.

Catch a tournament weigh-in. In the second half of October the big marlin tournaments bring their fish to the scales on the marina in the afternoons. It's the best free show of the year down there.

Get on a boat. The water taxi to the Arch is a walk-up at about US$20. In winter, a small-boat morning from the marina is the best thing you can do here, and it's all in my post on whale watching in Cabo. For the evening, the boats are compared in my Cabo sunset cruise post.

See the square. Walk it on your way to lunch, look into the church, and you've done downtown.

What I'd skip is the mall as an outing, and the "city tour" sold to cruise passengers, which is a string of shopping stops.

Shopping, Pharmacies and Stocking Up

Shopping isn't why I come.

The Puerto Paraíso mall is an ordinary mall with ordinary brands. Its best feature is the air conditioning, which in September is reason enough to walk through it. The luxury wing attached to it has the big designer names at prices no lower than at home.

The craft stalls near the marina are fun to browse for ceramics, blown glass and beadwork. Bargaining is expected, starting at about half of the first price is normal, and it's cash. Buy a piece because you like it.

I'd leave two things alone, and I say this kindly, because the people selling them are just making a living.

• "Cuban" cigars. The ones sold by walking vendors and tourist shops here are almost all fakes. You also can't legally bring real ones back into the US.
• Pills from a tourist pharmacy. You'll see pharmacies on nearly every block with signs listing what they sell. Loose pills bought at tourist-zone pharmacies here have turned out to contain fentanyl or methamphetamine. If you need something ordinary and sealed in its branded box, go to one of the big national chains. I wouldn't buy anything loose, or anything that would need a prescription at home, from anyone.

If you're in a condo or a room without meals and want water, beer and breakfast things, ask your hotel where the nearest supermarket is. There are convenience stores all over town for the small stuff, and the big stores are a ride out along the highway.

Cruise Ship Days

Ships don't dock here. They anchor out in the bay and run their passengers in on small boats to a pier on the south side of the marina. On a big day there can be three of them.

They're usually in from early morning and gone by mid-afternoon, and the marina is at its busiest from mid-morning until they leave. That "usually" matters. Some ships arrive later and stay into the evening, so don't count on an empty boardwalk at five every time.

On a ship day, the south and west sides of the boardwalk fill up, there are a lot more sellers out, water taxi quotes go up, and the marina end of Médano gets the day-pass crowd.

The east end of Médano, Playa Empacadora, dinner downtown, and anything at all before 9am are the same as any other day.

To find out, look up the port's ship calendar online the night before, which lists every ship with its arrival and departure time. Or just look at the bay over breakfast. Fall and winter are the busy months.

The Catch

You will be approached, often, from the boardwalk to your lounger, and the best-known places to drink are the ones where I read my check most carefully. That's the downside of this town, and it's why some people leave saying never again.

There are a few smaller ones. Downtown is a little worn, and it isn't pretty the way San José's center is. The rooms near the marina and the strip are loud until the bars close and then loud again when the fishing boats start up at six. And in the hot months, "walkable" needs an asterisk.

None of that is a reason to stay away, but you should know what you're walking into. The three mistakes I'd steer you around are walking the boardwalk at noon on a ship day, eating where the host waves you in, and opening a tab.

The Verdict

Cabo San Lucas is the most practical base in Los Cabos, and I'd send most first-timers here without thinking twice. Swim, boat, eat and go out, all on foot. No other town or resort here can say that.

Here's who I'd put where:

• First trip: the middle of Médano, or a block back from it.
• Groups and anyone here for the nightlife: the marina or the marina end of Médano.
• Fishing: a marina hotel, since the boats leave at six or seven.
• Families with little kids: the middle of Médano, in the quieter resort stretch east of the clubs.
• Couples who want quiet but walkable: the Land's End side, knowing the beach there is for walking only.
• On a budget: downtown, with no beach and a walk to the sand.

And who I'd send somewhere else:

• Light sleepers: not near the marina, the strip or the marina end of Médano.
• You came for a pretty town, galleries and long dinners: stay in the other town, and start with my San José del Cabo guide.
• You really hate being sold to: honestly, pick a Corridor cove or San José. If you come anyway, stay in the resort stretch east of the clubs and keep off the boardwalk in the middle of the day.
• It's mid-March and you're not on spring break: the Corridor or San José.
• You never plan to leave the resort: then you don't need a town at all.

I'd stay here again, and I do, most trips. I just know now that the town I like is the one at 8am and the one three blocks inland... and the rest is a hallway I walk through on the way to a boat.

For where to sleep, see the best hotels on Médano Beach, the best affordable hotels in Cabo and the best boutique hotels in Cabo.

Stay mid-Médano. Swim before ten. Lunch at Tres Islas, a few blocks back from the marina, pay in pesos. Boardwalk before 9:30 or after 5 only. "No, gracias" and keep walking, and don't answer the guy with the lanyard. Mt Solmar at 8, any day but Saturday. At the bars, pay as you go and read the check. Uber home.

Quick Answers

Is Cabo San Lucas walkable? The core is. The marina, downtown, the bar strip and the marina end of Médano are a short flat walk from each other. The far east end of Médano, El Tezal, the Pedregal villas and anything on the Corridor or the Pacific side need a ride.

How far is the marina from Médano Beach? From the mall side of the marina it's a short, flat walk. From the cruise tender pier on the far side it's a good half hour around the harbor in the sun, so take the water taxi across. You'll be asked US$10 to $15 a head, and US$5 to $7 is fair once you've bargained.

Is it safe to walk around at night? The boardwalk, the main street and the blocks around the bars are busy and well lit until the bars close, and that's where I walk. Take a ride for the dark sand at the east end of Médano, the Pedregal roads, and quiet blocks farther inland.

How late do the bars stay open? The clubs run until two or three in the morning. Mango Deck on the beach winds down around ten or eleven.

Is downtown Cabo San Lucas worth visiting? For an hour and a lunch, yes. There's a shady square, a small church and seafood and tacos at local prices. It's not a sight the way San José's center is.