Things to Do

Cabo Sunset Cruise: I'd Go Once, on a Small Boat

By Cabo Wander

A sunset cruise in Cabo usually gets booked as if every boat were roughly the same evening. They aren't. I'd do it once, on a boat that carries fourteen people or fewer and goes around Land's End to the Pacific side, and I'd plan on about US$100 to $140 a head with everything in.

The big boats are a decent party and a poor way to watch a sunset. If a party is what your group wants, book one and have a great time. Just book it knowing that's what it is.

Here's what took me a while to work out. "Sunset cruise" is one name for about six different things, and the name tells you nothing about the two things that decide your evening. The first is how many people are on the boat. The second is whether you're on the Pacific side when the sun goes down. Every boat leaves the same marina and passes the same rocks. At fourteen people you can hear the water. At a hundred and fifty there's an MC.

It's number ten on my list of things to do in Cabo, which is about right. It's the easiest nice evening in Cabo San Lucas, and it isn't the best thing you'll do here.

If you've already been out on a whale boat or to the Arch this week, you've been over this same water, so treat it as optional. And if you were sick on that boat, I'd watch this one from a bar stool. I've got a section on that further down.

Six Things Called a Sunset Cruise

The word "catamaran" gets used here for a boat that takes 18 people and a boat that takes 250. "Luxury" gets attached to a sailboat for fourteen and a three-decker for 180. So ignore the adjectives and read for the passenger number.

The small shared sailboat. This is the one I book. Cabo Sailing's shared sunset sail takes up to 14 people on a 38 to 42 foot sailboat, lasts two hours and lists at about US$120. You get chips and guacamole, cheese and cold cuts, and a bar that includes wine along with the margaritas, beer and spirits. That's snacks, so plan on dinner afterward. What I'd want you to know is that a sailboat leans and rolls, fourteen strangers in a cockpit is cozy, the bathroom is a small one below deck and there isn't much shade. It suits couples and small groups of pretty much any age.

The mid-size sailing catamaran. Cabo Adventures sells one sunset sail on two boats, a sailboat for up to 16 and a sailing catamaran for up to 24. The catamaran is the steadier ride and has more deck to move around on, so it's my pick for anyone who gets queasy. Ask which boat you'll be on, because you don't get to choose on the booking page. It's two and a half hours with a box of appetizers and a bar with sparkling wine, about US$120 at list price, plus a few dollars at the dock and about US$15 if you take their van. The minimum age is 8.

Pez Gato has a calmer mid-size option too, a wine sail on a sailing catamaran for about US$110, with cheese, charcuterie and several wines to choose from. The jazz in the name is recorded music, and the boat can take up to 80 people, so ask how many are booked on your evening.

The party catamaran. A bar that floats, and I mean that kindly. Pez Gato's party sail is adults only, on a boat for up to 45, for about US$75. The double-deckers that other companies run, Cabo Adventures included, hold a lot more than that. There's a DJ or an MC, the open bar is beer and house spirits with mixers, and the sunset gets a countdown before the music goes back up. On the bigger ones, the things that go wrong are drinks that are slow or watered down and a lot more people than you pictured. For a bachelorette or a group of friends who want to dance, it's the right boat. For a couple, I'd look elsewhere.

The dinner cruise. These are the biggest boats. Sunrider's takes up to 250 and runs about US$115 plus fees. Caborey's has three decks and a live band, for about US$95 plus a small port tax. Pez Gato runs a taco buffet boat for up to 150 at about US$100, and Cabo Adventures has a three-deck boat for up to 180 that serves canapés. Dinner is a buffet in nearly every case. My problem with it is that the food gets called right about when the light is at its best, so you're eating while the thing you paid for is happening. A buffet plate in a sea breeze is hard work, and on a full boat the food can run short. I skip it. The small sail gets the same sunset, and you'll eat better on land afterward. I'd only book one for a big family group, grandparents to grandkids, who mostly want to be on a boat together.

The pirate ship. There are a couple of these. They're old motor vessels with masts for show, and the evening is sword fights, an MC, ribs and chicken on a plate in your lap, and an open bar. It's LOUD. Kids between about four and ten are who it's for, and if that's who you're traveling with, go. Without kids, take the sailboat.

The private boat. This is the small sailboat without the strangers. As a rough guide it's about US$700 for up to four people for three hours, and I'd treat that as a starting point. The price is for the boat, so two people pay the same as four, and each extra guest adds a bit more. With six or more of you, the per-head cost gets close to the shared sail. If you're planning a proposal, ask about flowers and decorations, because they can be arranged. Say "per boat or per person?" out loud before you pay, because listings get loose about that.

Where the Sun Actually Sets

The sun doesn't set behind the Arch, even though so many listings promise it does.

From inside the bay, meaning the marina, Médano Beach or a boat sitting in front of the Arch, the sun goes down behind land. You get color in the sky and a dark rock in front of it, and it's pretty. You don't see the sun touch the water.

For that, the boat has to go around Land's End to the Pacific side. That's why I care so much about the route. A sun going into the sea is the whole reason to do this from a boat, and the boats that go around the point are the ones that can give it to you.

What you photograph out there is the rock in the last warm light, and then the sky. It's a lovely picture, and it's a different one from the famous one. The classic view of the Arch is from the bay in the morning, and that's a twenty dollar water taxi I cover in my guide to El Arco and Lover's Beach. You also won't have the Pacific side to yourself. The whole sunset fleet is out there with you.

Sunset is around 5:30 in early winter and a little after 7 in early summer, and it gets dark fast here, about twenty minutes after the sun is gone.

The sun moves about an hour and a half between December and June, and the boats change their departure time much less than that. So in some weeks the timing is tight. Look up the sunset for your date, and check it against your boat, which needs 30 to 45 minutes to get out of the marina and around the point. Confirm the departure time when you book, too. I wouldn't trust one off a web page.

How the Evening Goes

This is a winter evening on a small sail, which is the version I'd send you on. Boats leave around 4:30 or 5 and you're back at the dock around 7.

You walk down to the marina, past the timeshare people at the mall entrance. Use a bathroom on land. Then you find your dock, which is the one fiddly part, because the check-in desks and docks are spread all around the marina and the meeting point is different for every company. Get the exact spot when you book and leave yourself time to find it. The big dinner boats want you there up to an hour early.

You board from the dock with dry feet, and on a small boat there's a drink in your hand before the lines are off. Then it's ten slow minutes out of the marina under engine.

The first stretch is the same loop every boat does. Pelican Rock, the spire they call Neptune's Finger, Lover's Beach, the sea lions, and then the Arch with the engine in neutral while the crew takes everybody's phone in turn. A lot of listings name Lover's Beach as a stop, but you sail past it. Nobody gets off a sunset boat.

Then you go around the point, and the water changes right there, from flat bay to open ocean swell. If there's wind, this is when the sails go up and the engine goes quiet. If there isn't, they don't. Cabo Sailing says on its own page that it uses the engine as needed to keep the trip on time, and I think that's fair. The sunset isn't going to wait for a breeze. Just know that you'll be motoring for part of a "sailing" trip, and on a calm evening you may be motoring for all of it.

You sit off Divorce Beach while the granite turns orange and the sun goes down. In winter the blankets come out about now, and there's a fair chance somebody spots a whale blow. Don't put your phone away when the sun is gone. For me the color afterward is the better half.

It's dark by the time you come back past the Arch, with the hotels on the cliff lit up. You tie up, tip the crew, and you can be at a dinner table by 7:30. Where I'd walk to from the dock is in my Cabo San Lucas guide.

In summer everything shifts later. It's warm on the water, there's more haze and more swell, there are no whales, and dinner is a late one.

What It Costs

This is one of the few things in Cabo where the price you see is close to the price you pay. What lands on top is a dock fee, a tip and maybe a ride.

Here's what I'd budget per person, with the dock fee and tip in:

• Small shared sail: about US$120 at list price, so US$100 to $140 all in
• Mid-size sailing catamaran: about the same, plus around US$15 if you take the van
• Wine sail on a mid-size catamaran: about US$125 to $135
• Party catamaran: about US$85 to $125
• Buffet dinner boat: about US$110 to $145
• Pirate ship: about US$115 to $125
• Private small sailboat: about US$700 for up to four, plus a tip, so around US$200 each for four people

Those are built on list prices. Discount codes and sale prices are common on the operators' own sites, which is why the low end of my small sail range sits under the list price. Have a look before you pay full fare.

A few notes on the extras:

• The dock fee is a few dollars a head, in cash, and it has no fixed value. It's a different amount at different gates, a couple of companies don't mention one at all, and one dinner boat rolls a park fee into it and charges about ten dollars.
• The tip is 10 to 15% of the ticket, in cash, and up to 20% on a private boat. The rest of my tipping table is in how much Cabo costs.
• On the big boats, photos are for sale, and premium drinks and extras like lobster cost more once you're on board. On the small boats the crew just uses your phone.
• Kids are usually about half price from around four or five up to eleven, and the littlest ride free.

The small sail is worth it. What gets me is that it costs about the same as a seat on a boat carrying ten times as many people.

Getting there is the other line. From a Cabo San Lucas hotel near the marina you walk. From San José it's 35 to 45 minutes and about 600 pesos by Uber each way, so for a couple the rides come to about the price of another ticket. If you're staying over there, pair the boat with dinner in San Lucas and sort out your ride home before you board. I compare the options in getting around Cabo.

The One I'd Book

Cabo Sailing's shared sunset sail. I'm picking it mostly on what it tells you before you pay, and I think that's the right way to pick any of these.

It gives you a hard passenger number, and the number is 14. It tells you what's in the bar, wine included, where most listings just say "open bar". It's two hours, which is the right length for this. And it carries blankets and tells you to bring a light jacket. That last one is a small thing that I trust a lot, because it means somebody there has been out after dark in January.

What I wish were different: it's a sailboat, so it leans, and that makes it the wrong boat for a queasy guest. The sailing is partial, like I said. And I'd still ask what time it leaves against the sunset for your week.

If that boat doesn't fit you, I'd switch to one of these:

• You get seasick, or you want more room to move: the Cabo Adventures sunset sail. Ask to be on the catamaran.
• Your group wants a party: Pez Gato's party sail, which is on the smaller end for a party boat.
• You have kids between four and ten: the pirate ship.
• There are four or more of you and it's an occasion: a private small sailboat.

How to Book It, and What to Ask

Book on the operator's own website. It's the same boat a hotel desk or a booking site would sell you, at the same price or less, and if the port closes it's much simpler to sort out with the people who run the boat. The very low prices on reseller sites are "from" prices before fees. Changing a date can cost you, too. I've seen a change fee of a quarter of the ticket.

For a small boat in season I book a few days ahead. For Christmas through New Year's, Valentine's week and Presidents' week I'd go a week or more, because a 14-seat boat is sold out at seven couples.

Ask about cancellation before you pay. A couple of the companies give a full refund up to 24 hours out, and for most of the others I can't tell you the terms, because they don't publish them clearly.

These are the questions I ask:

• How many people are booked on this departure, and what's the most the boat takes?
• Which boat is it? Some companies swap boats.
• What time do we leave, and what time is sunset that day?
• Do we go around to the Pacific side, and what do you do if it's rough? I can't tell you how far any of them go or what plan B is, so make them say it.
• What's in the bar, and is wine included?
• Is the food a meal or snacks? "Appetizers", "canapés" and "light bites" all mean book a table for afterward.
• Is there a dock fee, and is it cash?
• What happens if the port is closed?

On that last one, know the gray area. If the port captain closes the harbor, every boat is canceled, and you should get your money back or a new date. If the port is open and the sea is just lumpy, the boat goes, and your choices are to go or lose the fare. It works the same way on a charter, which I explain in sport fishing in Cabo.

If you're coming between late August and mid-October, put this early in your stay and book something refundable. The port can close for days at a time in those weeks. November is my favorite month for it, with warm evenings and clear air, and the rest of the calendar is in the best time to visit Cabo.

The "free" or half-price sunset cruise from the friendly person with a lanyard on the boardwalk is a timeshare voucher, and it's usually for one of the big catamarans. What it really costs is in my post on the Cabo timeshare presentation.

Seasickness, the Cold and Kids

Seasickness. This is the boat trip where people get sick, because the Pacific side has swell and that's where you're headed. If it's you, take the catamaran over the sailboat, sit in the middle, and keep your eyes on the horizon. Take your medication about 45 minutes before you board. Taking it on the dock is too late. And go easy on the bar until you're around the point, since the drinks start before the swell does. If you were sick on a whale boat, I'd watch this one from land.

The cold. From November to April, bring a windproof layer or a fleece. Evenings are in the high 50s to low 60s on land and it feels cooler than that in the wind on the water, especially on the ride back in the dark. It's easy to dress for the afternoon you just had at the pool, and that's the mistake. Wear flat shoes with soft soles, since some boats have you take them off, and bring sunglasses for the first hour. From May to October you don't need anything extra.

Kids. The small shared sail takes all ages. The dinner boats take kids at about half price. The Cabo Adventures sunset sail has a minimum age of 8, and Pez Gato's party sail is 18 and over, so don't show up with a 17-year-old. For the four to ten crowd, the pirate ship is the one built for them.

Anyone unsteady on their feet. Take a catamaran. You board from a level dock either way, but a sailboat leans once it's moving, and a catamaran is much steadier.

Whales. From about Christmas to late March there's a good chance you'll see humpbacks from a sunset boat, and I'd count it as a bonus. These aren't licensed whale boats, so they have to stay well back. Pez Gato does run a sunset whale trip, in late winter only. If whales are the reason you're coming, book a proper morning trip, and my post on whale watching in Cabo covers the boats.

If You'd Rather Stay on Land

The sunset is free. The boat is what you're paying for, and there are good ways to do this for the price of a drink.

For a view of the bay and the Arch at that hour, I'd book the lounge at Sunset Monalisa. It's about 500 pesos a person and that amount comes off what you order. I'd have the drink there and eat somewhere else, and I explain why in is Sunset Monalisa worth it.

If you want to face the open Pacific like the boats do, there are two places I'd look at near town. The Whale Watcher bar at Sandos Finisterra is the easy one. El Farallón at the Waldorf Astoria is the big splurge dinner on the cliff. And if your hotel is on the Pacific side, your own terrace will do the job.

Médano Beach costs nothing, and from the sand you get the rocks going dark against the sky.

I'm not going to send you down onto the Pacific-side beaches for it. That surf is the dangerous kind, and I go into it in is Cabo safe.

What the boat adds is the Arch up close, the turn at the point when the ocean changes under you, and in winter maybe a whale. From a terrace you get a steadier drink. If you haven't been on the water yet this trip, take the boat. If you have, the bar is a perfectly good answer.

You'll also see a late-afternoon water taxi suggested as the cheap version. It's about US$20 and it's a nice look at the Arch in softer light. It has you back at the dock before the sun is down though, so I wouldn't call it a sunset trip.

The Catch

It's the same loop as the Arch trip and the first part of a whale trip. If you've done either one this week, the only new parts are the light and the drink.

You're also sharing it. The Pacific side at sunset has party boats, dinner boats and yachts all sitting in the same patch of water. A small boat fixes what's happening on your own deck, but it can't do anything about the neighbors.

And the two things I care about most are the two I can't promise you. I can't tell you how far past the point your boat will go, or what it does on an evening when the Pacific is too rough. My guess is that you'd watch the sunset from inside the bay... which, as you now know, means the sun goes behind the land. So ask before you pay.

The Verdict

Do it once, on a small boat, and pick the boat by its passenger number.

Here's who I'd send where:

• Couples: the shared small sail. If the budget is there, a private small sailboat.
• First trip, and you haven't been on the water yet: yes. It doubles as your look at the Arch, without the beach.
• A group of six or more: price out a private boat. It gets close to the shared price per head.
• A group that wants to drink and dance: a party catamaran, the smaller the better.
• Families with kids from four to ten: the pirate ship.
• Anyone who gets queasy, or isn't steady on their feet: a sailing catamaran, with medication taken ahead of time.
• Staying in San José: only with dinner in San Lucas the same night.

And who I'd send somewhere else:

• You did a whale trip that morning: skip it. It's the same water.
• You want dinner and a sunset: take the small sail, then go eat on land. I'd pass on the buffet boat.
• You get really seasick: a Pacific-facing bar.
• You want the famous photo of the Arch: that's a morning water taxi.

I'd do it again, on a trip when I haven't already been out on a boat. If you're working out which evening to give it, I've placed it in my 5-day Cabo itinerary.

Sunset cruise, yes, once. Small sailboat, 14 people max, book it on the company's own site a few days out. Ask how many are on board and whether it goes around to the Pacific side. Check the departure against sunset that day. Jacket in winter, seasick pill 45 minutes before, cash for the dock and the tip. It's snacks, so book dinner for 7:30. Skip the buffet boat, and skip the guy on the boardwalk.

Quick Answers

Is a sunset cruise in Cabo worth it? Once, yes, on a boat for fourteen people or fewer. If you've already done a whale trip or the Arch that week, it's the same water and I'd call it optional.

How much does a Cabo sunset cruise cost? About US$100 to $140 a person all in on a small shared sail. Party catamarans run about US$85 to $125, buffet dinner boats about US$110 to $145, and a private small sailboat is about US$700 for up to four, plus a tip.

Does the sun set behind the Arch? No. From inside the bay the sun goes down behind land. The boats that go around Land's End to the Pacific side are the ones where you watch it go into the sea.

Is dinner included? Only if the listing says dinner, and then it's almost always a buffet on a big boat. Snacks, canapés and appetizers mean you should book a table for afterward.

Will I get seasick? You might, because the Pacific side has swell. Pick a catamaran over a sailboat, take your medication 45 minutes before boarding, and if you've been sick on a boat before, think about watching from land.