Things to do in Los Cabos
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Los Cabos
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Heat and humidity break, the sea is still warm and fishing peaks. Early October keeps residual hurricane risk, November is safer.
High season and whale season with dry sunny days and the calmest seas, and the highest prices and fullest hotels.
Quieter shoulder as whales leave and prices soften, the sea warms and striped marlin fishing is strong.
Hot, humid hurricane season and the honest worst window, with storm risk peaking in September.
Best months overall are February and November.
What's on
- Los Cabos Billfish Tournament Usually early October
Tournament week turns the Cabo San Lucas marina into a festival of weigh ins and parties.
- Bisbee's Los Cabos Offshore Usually mid October
Part of the October Bisbee tournament run in Cabo San Lucas.
- Bisbee's Black & Blue Usually late October
Billed as the world's richest marlin tournament.
- World Wide Technology Championship Nov 2-8, 2026
PGA TOUR event played at El Cardonal at Diamante.
- Cabo Tuna Jackpot Nov 4-7, 2026
Tuna tournament following the October marlin events.
- Dia de Muertos Nov 1-2
Altars, cemetery vigils and centro events in San Jose, the local heartfelt version.
- San Jose del Cabo patronal festival around March 19
St Joseph Day festival with fair, music and food in the centro.
- San Jose del Cabo Art Walk season Thursdays, November-June
Galleries behind the plaza stay open late on Thursday evenings in season.
- Whale watching season Dec 15-Apr 30
Official season, peaking January to February with mothers and calves and near daily sightings.
Best things to do in Los Cabos
El Arco de Cabo San Lucas
The granite arch where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific, seen properly only by boat from the marina.
Whale watching in Los Cabos
Humpbacks calve and breach off Los Cabos in winter, best heard and seen from a small boat with a naturalist.
Playa El Médano
The big social swimmable bay in town, with calm water, beach clubs and rentals and no car needed.
Playa Chileno
A protected snorkel and family cove with reef at the edges, clear water, palapas and public facilities.
Playa Santa María
A pretty horseshoe cove with shore snorkelling over reef and a more natural feel than Medano.
Playa Palmilla
A calm protected cove with gradual entry, long sand and a local family feel near San Jose.
San José del Cabo Art Walk
Thursday evenings when galleries stay open late behind the plaza, with artists, music and full restaurants.
Sunset sail from Cabo San Lucas Marina
A sail past Lands End and the arch at golden hour, with the format set by boat size and occasion.
Where to stay in Los Cabos
Medano Beach and Marina, Cabo San Lucas
first trip, groups, swimming and nightlife without a car
The only in town swimmable beach plus marina departures and the densest restaurant and bar choice, but the loudest base.
Historic Centro and Gallery District, San Jose del Cabo
couples, food travellers and a calmer trip
A real town with plaza, mission, galleries and Art Walk, with good boutique stays below Cabo luxury prices.
Tourist Corridor
luxury resort week, golf and swimmable coves
The great resorts and Chileno and Santa Maria coves live here, but every dinner and errand needs a car or taxi.
Pedregal, Cabo San Lucas
villas, views and privacy
A gated hillside above the marina on a beautiful Pacific beach that is not swimmable, chosen for room and view.
Palmilla and Puerto Los Cabos
quiet luxury, golf and one swimmable cove
Palmilla Beach gives this stretch the swim the San Jose hotel zone lacks, plus marina, farm dining and golf, still car dependent.
Think twice about
- Pacific-frontage resorts west and northwest of Cabo San Lucas sold on price alone
Car locked on a no swim beach, with the saving spent on taxis if swimming or walking anywhere matters.
- Far San Jose hotel zone beyond walking distance of the centro
A beach road resort strip, not the Gallery District. Check the map rather than the San Jose label.
- Divorce Beach and the Pacific side beaches
Beautiful and dangerous and not swimmable, with powerful shore break where people have drowned.
- Unlit non-tourist residential edges late at night
The situation to avoid in either town, along with any tour or pitch that takes you off the tourist map with strangers.
Best restaurants in Los Cabos
Flora's Field Kitchen
Seasonal cooking from the farm own acres, wood fired pizzas, pastas and roast chicken in the gardens.
Acre
The glamorous farm sibling: seasonal Baja cooking and praised cocktails in a lush evening setting.
Manta
Enrique Olvera Mexican cooking through Peruvian and Japanese lenses, in a glass room facing the arch.
El Farallon
Cliffside tables above the surf where you choose fish by weight and it is grilled simply.
Sunset Monalisa
Terraced Mediterranean dining with the definitive postcard view of the arch at sunset.
Comal
Modern Mexican, open air and oceanfront at Chileno Bay, refined without stiffness at sunset.
Cocina del Mar
Seafood led dining perched above a cove at Esperanza, a splurge worth the taxi from anywhere.
Los Tres Gallos
Traditional Mexican in a pretty courtyard off the marina, moles, cochinita and chiles en nogada in season.
Outdoor things to do in Los Cabos
Cabo del Sol Cove Club Golf Course
The Nicklaus course that put Los Cabos golf on the map, reaching the Sea of Cortez on its closing stretch.
Diamante Dunes Course
A true seaside links through massive Pacific dunes, where wind is a playing partner throughout.
El Cardonal at Diamante
Tiger Woods design debut: playable wide view desert golf with panoramic ocean vistas and a PGA TOUR stage.
Quivira Golf Club
A cliff top Nicklaus spectacle above the Pacific, playable only by Pueblo Bonito guests and residents.
Puerto Los Cabos Golf Club
Nicklaus and Norman nines in a marina and farm setting, with a twilight rate that includes food and drink.
Palmilla Golf Club
The classic Corridor round, 27 Nicklaus holes across mountain, arroyo and ocean nines with big views.
Cabo Real Golf Club
A Robert Trent Jones Jr course with the toughest front nine reputation in Los Cabos.
Club Campestre San José
The friendliest priced proper course, with an elevated range facing the sea and undulating greens.
Best hotels in Los Cabos
Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal
Entered through a private tunnel, with plunge pool rooms above a no swim Pacific beach by the marina.
One&Only Palmilla
The historic grande dame on the Palmilla headland, with butler service and a swimmable cove below.
Chileno Bay Resort & Residences, Auberge
Modern luxury sitting directly on the best snorkel cove, with a younger design led feel.
Montage Los Cabos
Serene full service luxury on the Santa Maria snorkel bay in the Corridor.
The Cape, a Thompson Hotel
Design forward surf view luxury west of town, home to Manta and a famous rooftop.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso, Rosewood
Romantic, service obsessive ultra luxury seclusion in the Corridor.
Four Seasons Resort Cabo San Lucas at Cabo Del Sol
Newer ultra luxury at resort scale with Cove Club golf access at Cabo Del Sol.
Hilton Los Cabos
A sensible Corridor resort notable for protecting a swimmable section of its beach.
Is Los Cabos expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | MX$2,700 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | MX$6,000 a person |
| Splurge | MX$14,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- El Arco de Cabo San Lucas: a few days ahead
- Whale watching in Los Cabos: weeks ahead
- Sunset sail from Cabo San Lucas Marina: a few days ahead
- Flora Farms: weeks ahead
- Cabo del Sol Cove Club Golf Course: weeks ahead
- Diamante Dunes Course: weeks ahead
- El Cardonal at Diamante: weeks ahead
- Quivira Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Flora Farms and Acre book out weeks ahead in high season, December to April and holidays.
- Reserve Manta, El Farallon sunset seating, Sunset Monalisa sunset seating and Comal as soon as dates are fixed.
- Book whale tours in peak January and February, top fishing fleets, Cabo Pulmo on calm weekends and golf access early and reconfirm.
- Art Walk is Thursday only in season, November to June, so plan the San Jose night around it.
- Bisbee tournament week in late October fills Cabo San Lucas hotels and marinas, so book that week early or avoid it.
Is Los Cabos safe?
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
- Drowning is the main danger. Respect flags and the swimmable list, and never swim on Pacific beaches or after drinking.
- Agree prices first and check bills for scams and overcharging, including timeshare, unmetered taxis and beach club tabs.
- Keep phones and bags secure on Medano and in club crowds, use the hotel safe and take minimal valuables to the beach.
- Avoid night driving on rural highways, watch for animals on the road, and taxi home after marina nights.
- Use ATMs inside banks or malls in daylight and carry a card rather than stacks of cash.
Los Cabos travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Timeshare presentations start in the airport arrivals hall and run hours of hard sell. No free tour, golf or boat is worth half a day.
- The marina front restaurant row has the highest prices and most variable food. Eat a street or two inland and drink on the marina.
- Sunset Monalisa and El Farallon are view first splurges. El Farallon prices fish by weight, so confirm the total before you commit.
- Glass bottom boats show the arch and fish through glass but are not snorkelling trips. The reef trips are Chileno, Santa Maria and Pulmo.
- Downtown club strip clubs are loud, young and tout driven, right for a party night and wrong as a default for couples.
- A hotel claiming a swimmable beach without naming a protected cove is marketing a beach you will photograph, not enter.
Getting around Los Cabos: public transport and more
- SJD airport is about 20 minutes to San Jose, 30 to the Corridor and 40 to 45 to Cabo San Lucas via the toll road.
- A rental car is the unlock for Corridor stays, Todos Santos, Cabo Pulmo and farm dinners. Do not drive rural roads at night.
- Taxis have no meters, so agree the fare before you get in. Expect 10 to 20 US dollars in town and 30 to 50 plus between towns.
- Uber works best for in town and town to town rides away from the airport, where pickups and some hotel frontages are restricted.
- Ruta del Desierto buses along the Corridor highway are the cheap local option if you can flag buses and walk from highway stops.
Who Los Cabos suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Los Cabos your trip
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