Things to Do

El Arco and Lover's Beach: Take the $20 Boat, and Go Early

By Cabo Wander

You don't need a tour to see El Arco, even though "which tour should we book?" is the first thing everyone asks. Walk down to the Cabo San Lucas marina by about 8:30 in the morning, get on a shared water taxi for about US$20 a person round trip, and you'll see what the people on the US$150 hotel excursion see. It's on my short list of things to do in Cabo in every month of the year.

So yes, it's worth it, and for pretty much everybody. It's a boat ride of about 45 minutes out to a very big rock, and it's a good one. The rocks are a lot bigger in person than they look in photos, there are sea lions, and you feel the ocean change under the boat when you go around the point. Where people come back disappointed, it's because of what got added to make it sound like more: the "glass bottom", the "tour", the "beach day".

The Arch is the easiest thing to see in Cabo, and Lover's Beach is the least dependable thing to do. The boat ride runs almost every day of the year. Getting off on the sand is the harbor master's call each day, and the answer is no more often in late summer and fall. So ask before you pay, and decide about the beach on the dock that morning.

The single most useful thing I can tell you is to not pay the full fare up front. Pay part of it, or nothing, and pay the rest when your own boat comes back for you.

Some of you can skip it. If you've already done a whale trip, a sunset cruise or a snorkel tour, you've seen the Arch, because every boat out of the marina goes past it. The only new part would be standing on the beach. And if what you want is a lazy beach day with easy swimming, Lover's Beach is the wrong beach for that.

How the Morning Actually Goes

The version I do is the shared water taxi from the marina with an hour on the beach.

You don't have to go looking for a boat. Somewhere on the marina boardwalk, before you've even reached the water, a man holding a laminated card of photos will ask if you want to see the Arch. You settle on a price and a plan with him (the exact words I use are further down), and he walks you to a dock. At the dock gate somebody collects a dock fee of a few dollars each, in cash. Nobody mentions it when they quote you, so have small bills ready. If you need a bathroom, use one at the marina now. I point out where things are along the boardwalk in my Cabo San Lucas guide.

Then comes the part nobody posts a photo of. The boat is there, and the other four passengers aren't. A shared boat waits until its seats are full, so you sit at the dock for a while. The wait is shortest first thing in the morning.

Once you're full, everybody gets a life jacket and the boat idles out of the marina past the fishing boats. From there the stops come in the same order on every boat:

• Pelican Rock. This is where the captain shows off the "glass bottom" and usually tosses something in the water to bring the fish up.
• Neptune's Finger. A tall spire of rock standing by itself.
• Lover's Beach from the water. You pass it on the way out.
• The window to the Pacific. A gap in the rock where you can see through to the other ocean.
• The sea lions. You smell them before you see them, and then you hear the barking.
• The Arch. The captain puts the engine in neutral, the boat rocks, and he takes your phone and shoots about twenty pictures of you with the Arch behind you.
• Around the point. A short push into the Pacific for a look at Divorce Beach.

That last one is my favorite moment of the ride. People talk about the two seas meeting as if there were a line in the water. There isn't one. What you notice is the swell changing within about a hundred yards, from flat bay to open ocean.

The whole loop is about 45 minutes, and closer to an hour on a full boat. A good captain makes it fun. Mine have joked the whole way and pointed out rocks that look like Scooby-Doo and The Thinker, and the photos on my phone were free, apart from the tip.

The glass bottom is two little windows in the floor, about the size of a serving tray, and they're usually scratched and cloudy. The fish come up to the surface for the food, so everybody on the boat ends up leaning over the side to look at them and ignoring the glass. On a clear day I've had a decent view through the floor, and from February to June the water is at its murkiest. I'm not wild about the fish feeding, either. Think of it as a cheap, fun boat ride to the Arch and you won't feel let down.

You don't get off at the Arch. No boat is allowed to land anyone there.

If boats are landing that day, you get dropped at Lover's Beach on the way back. You agree on a pickup time, look at the name on the side of the boat, and step off the bow into the water. An hour later your boat comes back for you, roughly on time, or a little after you've started to wonder. It's a short ride back to the dock, and that's where you pay the rest and tip.

Done this way I'm back on land by a little after ten, before most cruise ship passengers have come ashore. The opening quote on the boardwalk is a lot higher by then, for the same boat.

If boats aren't landing, it's the same ride and you come straight back. I still think that's worth the money.

Every Way to See the Arch

Every option here goes to the same half mile of rock by the same route, and they all idle in the same spot in front of the Arch for the same few minutes. What the extra money buys is a ride to the dock, a guide with more English, a drink, or sometimes nothing. So I'd pick by what you care about besides the rock.

The Shared Water Taxi from the Marina

This is my pick for almost everyone. It's a small open boat with a canopy that takes six to twelve people, it's the cheapest way to do it, and it's the one that can drop you on the beach.

Boarding at the marina means a level step from a dock with dry feet. That helps a lot if you have a camera, a small child or anyone unsteady with you. If someone in your group has limited mobility, board here and stay on the boat for the whole loop.

The catch is the selling on the boardwalk and that dock fee. I'd also say the captains vary. Most of mine have been great, and a few just drove the boat.

The Same Boat from Médano Beach

The water taxis also nose right up onto the sand along Médano Beach, down toward the marina end and at spots along the resorts. It's the same boat and the same loop for the same price, and there's no dock fee.

You board by wading out to about your knees and climbing over the side, so you're wet at both ends. On a flat morning that's nothing. With any waves running it's awkward, and I'd walk to the marina. If you're staying on Médano and it's calm, it's the easy choice.

A Booked Arch Tour

This is the same loop on the same kind of boat, booked online ahead of time, with a set meeting point and usually a guide who speaks both languages. It runs about US$30 to $50 a person, and the top of that range includes a van from your hotel.

You're paying ten to thirty dollars to not have to haggle. If negotiating on a boardwalk would put you in a bad mood for the morning, I think that's a fair trade, and I wouldn't feel silly about it. Just check that the trip includes the beach stop if you want one.

A Private Boat

For a group of five or six, ask for a private water taxi. It's a hundred dollars or so for the boat for about an hour, though I'd treat that number as a starting point, and split six ways it's close to the shared price. The real perk is that you don't wait for strangers to fill the seats, and you decide how long you stay on the beach.

Listings and boatmen both get loose about whether a price is per person or per boat, so say it out loud before you agree.

Kayak or Paddleboard

If you're fit and you don't love motors, this is the one I'd look at. It's a short paddle from Médano, you see the sea lions from water level, and most trips land at Lover's Beach and include a snorkel at Pelican Rock. Guided tours run about US$80 to $105 a person with snorkel gear, and you're on the water around two hours.

Go with a guide, and go in the morning, which is when the tours run anyway. Please don't rent a board at 11am and head out there on your own. You're low in the water with motor boats all around you, the wind comes up in the afternoon, and the paddle back is harder than the paddle out. The companies' own terms rule out pregnant guests and anyone with back, neck or heart trouble, and minimum ages are around six to eight.

A Sunset Cruise or a Whale Trip

Both of these pass the Arch as part of a bigger outing, and neither one lands.

A sunset boat shows you the Arch from the Pacific side in the evening. It's lovely, and it's a different picture from the famous one. From the bay, the Arch at sunset is a dark outline against the sky, and that's also the busiest hour of the day for boats out there. The different boats are in my Cabo sunset cruise post.

In winter, every boat doing whale watching in Cabo stops at the Arch for photos on the way out. If you're doing that, you only need the water taxi if you want to stand on the beach.

The Ones I'd Skip

The clear boat. This is a real thing, a boat with a completely see-through hull, and it's a fun idea. It also takes up to forty people and carries a photographer. On mine there were a few minutes of fish and a long stretch of posing, and then a screen of photo packages at the end that ran from about US$20 to US$90. It doesn't land at the beach. If the boat itself is the draw for your group and you're good at saying no at a sales desk, go for it. As a way to see the Arch, I'd take the water taxi.

A snorkel tour sold as an Arch trip. These are three or four hour boat trips at US$100 to $170 a person, and the Arch is a drive-by on the way to wherever the snorkeling is that day, which may be nowhere near Land's End. The biggest company in town says plainly that its guests don't land at Lover's Beach. They're nice boat days. Book one for the snorkeling and the sail, and don't count it as your Arch visit.

The hotel desk or cruise excursion version. It's the same kind of boat at US$80 to $150 a head. I've got nothing against the people selling it. It's just the most expensive way to take a twenty dollar ride.

A jet ski. As far as I've been told, rental jet skis aren't allowed up to the Arch, the sea lions or Lover's Beach, so don't plan on that.

Seeing It Without a Boat

You can see the rock formation at the end of the bay from Médano Beach, all day, for free. It's across the water and pretty small from there, so it's a backdrop for your beach day more than a visit.

The free guided hike up Mt Solmar looks down onto Lover's Beach and Divorce Beach from above. It doesn't get you near the Arch itself.

You may also read that you can scramble over the rocks from the hotel beach on the Pacific side. That route exists, and I don't recommend it. It's wet rock next to the most dangerous surf in town. For Lover's Beach, the boat is the only sensible way in.

Lover's Beach

Lover's Beach is a strip of sand between two high walls of granite, with the bay on one side and the open Pacific on the other. I love getting off there for an hour. It's the only way to stand between the two seas and walk through to look at the Pacific side, and at 9am there are hardly any footprints on it.

I'd plan on an hour, maybe an hour and a half, and have my real beach day somewhere else.

The Landing

There's no dock. The boat puts its bow on the sand and you step or jump off into water up to your knees, sometimes down a short ladder. If a wave comes through, knee-deep turns into thigh-deep, so hold your bag up high and wear your swimsuit and shoes that can get wet.

A couple of men stand in the water to steady the boat and hand people on and off. A dollar or two is the usual tip, and they earn it.

On a flat morning the landing is easy. When the boat is bucking against the ladder, that's the moment somebody gets hurt, and I'd stay on board. With little kids I'd only land on a calm day.

What's There

Nothing, and I mean that literally. There are no bathrooms, no lifeguard, no rentals, no shade umbrellas, nowhere to change, and little or no phone signal. Some days a man shows up with a cooler of beer, water and chips. Some days he doesn't, so bring your own water, and if you do buy a beer, ask the price before you open it.

The shade is the part that confuses people, because you'll read both that there's none and that the beach is shady. Both are true at different hours. Through the middle of the day there's nothing between you and the sun. In winter the sun goes behind the rock by mid-afternoon, and then the whole beach is in shadow and actually cold.

At high tide there's a lot less sand to sit on, too.

What I bring:

• Water, a hat and sunscreen
• A zip bag or dry bag for my phone
• Shoes that can get wet, because the sand gets hot and there are rocks
• Small bills
• My own mask, because nothing is rented out there

You Can't See the Arch from the Beach

This surprises almost everyone. The Arch is around the point from Lover's Beach, so you can't see it from the sand. The photo you want gets taken from the boat. Get it on the way out.

Bay Side Only

You swim on the bay side, close in, right in front of where the boats land. There's no lifeguard, and the current gets stronger toward the point and the Arch. Even the bay side can pull, including on mornings when the water looks calm from the sand, so stay where you can stand and get out if you feel yourself drifting sideways. The water is colder than at Médano.

For kids and anyone who isn't a strong swimmer, I'd stick to splashing at the edge. If a good swim is the goal, the beaches I'd send you to are in my ranking of the best swimmable beaches in Cabo.

Walk up the sand and over the hump between the rock walls, and about two minutes later you're on Divorce Beach, facing the Pacific. It's much bigger than Lover's Beach and usually almost empty, and there's a reason for that. It's steep, the waves break right onto the sand, and every so often one runs way up onto the dry part. Nobody swims on that side, ever. Don't wade in to your knees for a photo, either. Stand well back and enjoy the view. I go into why this coast is like that in is Cabo safe.

Leave the sea lions alone, too, and don't climb the rocks.

Snorkeling

On a calm day there are fish along the rocks on the bay side, in water that's pretty shallow near shore. Pelican Rock, just along from the beach, is the better spot. If snorkeling is why you're going, ask your captain to drop you at Pelican Rock, and go early. By mid-morning there are dive boats, snorkel tours and water taxis all sitting over it. October and November are the best months for it, and I go through the rest of the year in my post on snorkeling in Cabo.

Can You Walk Under the Arch?

You've probably seen the photos of people standing on sand right under the Arch. They're real. In some years, in late summer or fall, the swell piles up sand at the foot of it, and for a few days or a few weeks there's a strip of beach under there.

You can't plan a trip around it. It doesn't follow a schedule, whatever you read about it showing up "every four years". And when it does show up, you're not allowed to land there or walk on it, because the surf is dangerous and the tide comes back in.

So if it happens to be there when you visit, it's a neat thing to see from the boat.

What It Costs

The fair price for a shared water taxi is about US$20 a person, round trip, with the stop at the beach included. The first number you hear will often be two or three times that. On a slow day you might get it for a little less, and I wouldn't pay more than US$25.

You'll still see ten dollars repeated all over the place. That was the price years ago, and it's out of date.

A few things get added on top:

• Dock fee: a few dollars a person, in cash, at the marina gate. It's a real marina charge and nobody is pulling a fast one. There's no dock fee from Médano.
• Park fee: there's a small official fee for the protected area, a few dollars. You may or may not be asked for it.
• Tip for the captain: US$2 to $5 a person is normal on a twenty dollar ride.
• Tip for the men at the beach: a dollar or two.

All in, I'd budget US$25 to $30 a person from the marina. Bring small bills, because nobody on a water taxi has change.

For comparison:

• Booked Arch tour: about US$35 to $60 a person all-in
• Private water taxi: a hundred dollars or so for the boat, plus a tip
• Guided kayak or paddleboard: about US$90 to $125 a person all-in
• Hotel desk or cruise excursion: US$80 to $150 a person

Prices go up on cruise ship days, and they go up through the morning. It's the same boat and the same captain either way.

The other cost is getting to the marina. From a Cabo San Lucas hotel you walk. From the Corridor a taxi is US$20 to $40 each way. From San José it's an Uber of about 600 pesos or a taxi of US$40 to $70 each way, so the ride costs several times what the boat does. If you're staying over there, I'd pair the Arch with something else in San Lucas that day. I compare the rides in getting around Cabo, and the bigger trip budget is in how much Cabo costs.

At twenty dollars it's absolutely worth it, and it's one of the best deals in town. At a hundred and fifty I'd feel a little silly, because I'd know what the boat next to me paid.

How to Deal with the Boatmen

I know this is the part people dread, so here's what I say. It takes about two minutes, and everybody is friendly about it.

First, know who you're talking to. Most of the men with laminated cards on the boardwalk are sellers working on commission, and the captain is somebody else. That's fine. It just explains a couple of things below.

When he gives you his price, say:

"Twenty dollars each, round trip, with an hour on the beach."

He'll probably come down partway. If he doesn't get to twenty, say "twenty is my budget" and start walking. That has always been the end of it for me.

Then, before any money comes out:

"Can we get off and walk on the sand today?" If the answer is no, you can still go, and I would. Just agree on the price knowing it's the loop only.

"Is that your boat?" If he's a seller, he'll walk you to a captain and give you a ticket or a boat name. Hold onto both.

"I'll pay half now and the rest when you pick us up." Half now, or all of it at the end. A seller may want it all up front, and if you go along with that, the ticket is your proof.

"What time are you coming back for us?" Get an actual time, say it back to him, and agree on how long you get on the sand. I once took a cheap ride without asking and got fifteen minutes on the beach.

Then, as you step off at the beach, look at the name or number on the side of the boat and take a picture of it. There are hundreds of these boats and they look alike. If you ride back on a different one, you pay again. There's little or no phone signal out there, so the photo is more useful than the captain's number.

All of that is guarding against a couple of things I've seen go wrong. People who paid in full have ended up the last ones left on the beach. I had a captain try to tell me on the way back that I still owed him the whole fare. Holding back half and knowing the boat's name takes care of both. And boats come and go all day, so on a normal day the worst case is paying a second boat to bring you back.

Also, the "tourist information" stands along the same boardwalk will also offer you a cheap Arch trip. That one costs you a morning at a sales pitch, which I explain in my post on the Cabo timeshare presentation. A smile and a "no, gracias" is all it takes.

When to Go

The hour matters more than the boat. Be on the water by about 8:30 and off the sand by 10 or 10:30.

The bay is at its flattest before about ten, and the wind builds through the afternoon. The classic view of the Arch is from the bay side, and the morning sun lights that face. And on cruise ship days the passengers come ashore from mid-morning, often closer to noon, so that's when the price, the wait to fill the boat and the line of boats at the beach all get worse together. A lot of ships now stay into the evening, so don't count on the crowd clearing in the afternoon.

The worst time is late morning through mid-afternoon on a ship day. If you're coming off a ship yourself, go straight from the tender to a boat. I plan out the rest of that day in my Cabo cruise port guide.

Month by month, it's mostly about the landing:

• December to February: the calmest bay and the most dependable landing. From mid-December there's a good chance of whales off the point, which is a pretty great bonus on a twenty dollar boat. The water is cool.
• March and April: still dependable in the morning, with windier afternoons. The water is at its coldest, and around spring break the beach is the busiest it gets all year.
• May and June: the first south swells arrive, and there are some days with no landing.
• July and August: the water is warm and there are fewer ships. Swell comes through more often, so ask about landing every single time.
• September and October: the hardest months to count on. The port can close to small boats for days at a time, and landing can stay off after it reopens because the swell hangs around.
• November: my favorite month for this. The water is warm and clear, the sea has settled down, and the crowds are lighter.

If you're here in September or October, don't save this for your last day. Put it early in the trip so there's another morning to try. Nobody posts the port's status in one handy place, so ask at your hotel or at the dock that morning.

I'd skip a late winter afternoon on the beach, because of that shadow. The rest of the calendar is in the best time to visit Cabo.

How to Book It

For the water taxi, you don't. You show up at the marina or on Médano and go, and booking ahead only costs you more.

There are three cases where I would book ahead:

• A kayak or paddleboard tour. Groups are small and the tours go in the morning. High Tide Los Cabos and Cabo Day Trips both run guided kayak trips out there. Ask what happens if it's windy. One company's answer is extra snorkeling somewhere else, with no refund.
• You need a fixed time, or you really won't haggle. Book a small Arch tour online, and check the listing for the passenger count and the beach stop.
• A private boat for a group that wants a particular hour.

Whatever you book, ask one thing: does this trip land at Lover's Beach, and what happens on a day when landing isn't allowed? Some companies swap in something else, and I've seen that turn out to be shopping time at the marina.

The Verdict

Go see the Arch. Take the shared water taxi from the marina, be on it by 8:30, pay about twenty dollars, and get off at Lover's Beach for an hour if the boats are landing that day.

Here's who I'd send where:

• First trip: the water taxi from the marina, early, with an hour on the sand.
• Families with small kids: the boat loop for sure. Land only on a flat day, and keep it to splashing at the edge.
• Limited mobility: board at the marina dock and stay on the boat.
• A group of five or six: ask for a private boat.
• Snorkelers: ask to be dropped at Pelican Rock, early, with your own mask.
• Fit and not a fan of engines: a guided kayak in the morning.
• You want the photo: the first boat of the day. A sunset sail gets you a pretty outline from the other side.
• You've already done a whale trip or a sunset cruise: you've seen it. Go only if you want the beach.
• You were hoping for a beach day: skip the landing and swim at Médano.

What I wish were different is the landing. I'd love to be able to promise you the beach, and I can't, especially in late summer and fall. So plan on the boat ride and treat the hour on the sand as a bonus... it usually works out, and when it doesn't you've still seen the Arch for the price of lunch.

The whole morning fits in a few lines. Marina by 8:30, twenty bucks each round trip, ask if you can land before you pay. Pay half, take a picture of the boat's name, pay the rest when he comes back. Bay side only, an hour is plenty, bring water and small bills. Skip anything with a photographer.

Quick Answers

How much is the boat to the Arch? About US$20 a person round trip on a shared water taxi, plus a few dollars for the dock fee and a tip. The first quote is often two or three times that, and the ten dollar price you'll still see online is out of date.

Can you get off at Lover's Beach? Usually, but it's the harbor master's call each day, and landing is off more often in late summer and fall. Ask "can we get off and walk on the sand today?" before you pay.

Can you swim at Lover's Beach? On the bay side only, close in, on a calm day. There's no lifeguard and even that side can pull. Never swim on the Pacific side, which is Divorce Beach.

Can you walk under the Arch? No. Sand builds up under it in some years, in late summer or fall, and you aren't allowed to land or walk there when it does.

Is the glass-bottom boat worth it? As a cheap ride to the Arch, yes. The glass is two small scratched panels in the floor, so don't pick a boat for it.