Los Cabos

May 21, 2024 – May 29, 2024

The Newbies – all of us!

Let me start by saying Mexico isn’t really my jam. Los Cabos, however, offered many gems and does warrant a trip back to do all the things we really want to make sure we do before Mexico is checked off the list. Previously, my husband, children, parents and I have been to Cancun together – just the parents, children, and I have been one more time. Los Cabos is no Cancun, thank the heavens, though I could see how Cabo San Lucas and the resorts would be very similar. What I dislike about both Cancun and Cabo San Lucas is the feel of a 50-year-old Spring Break. I am not a partier. I never had any desire to do Spring Break in my younger years. I do not like shots, crude knickknacks, drunk people, and loud music. I really did want to see authentic Mexican towns that aren’t entirely catering to American tourists. All that said, let’s go…

First tip – Never. Ever. Under any circumstance. Fly American Airlines through DFW. We missed our first day of the trip sleeping in a DFW hotel and then taking a very early flight the next day. More on this later.

We finally ended up in San Jose del Cabo on Wednesday. Because of the kerfuffle in Dallas, my husband ended up on separate flights from the rest of us but after delays we landed about the same time. Since we were supposed to land much earlier, we scheduled a Cabo Airport Shuttle service which was easy to do online, handed us a beer in the car, and talked to us the entire way to the AirBnb. My husband arrived shortly after us with the rental car. We took the rest of the day to grocery shop, lounge by the pool, and take naps before walking down to dinner. Luckily, as I mention in my tips, Wednesday wasn’t a planned day anyway because you should always take a day to settle in and relax before you launch into your vacation!

Vacation mode on Thursday! I had found a place called Buzzard’s online and I thought it was near the beach we wanted to go to…it was not but it was worth the drive! We saw that it was only open for a couple more days and we were going to be able to grab lunch and drinks two days before they shut their doors forever. Toes in the sand and drinks in hand kinda lunch! Worth it but unfortunately, it doesn’t help anyone reading this and wanting to visit as they are no longer in business.

Things you can do! Definitely do the Thursday night Art Walk and if you can, you need to do this. The Art District is lively, filled with artists, tourists, locals, and food carts. It was a great way to shake off the Dallas dust and dive into our Mexican vacation. Since my sister has an allergy to bivalves and potentially more things from the sea, eating out was definitely an adventure in a coastal area known for its seafood. My husband and I found a great rooftop eatery, Simaruba, and when the first thing they asked was “do you have any allergies?”, we called my sister and her boyfriend to come join us. This was a spectacular meal. I highly recommend the squid ink risotto but everyone ordered something different and it was all phenomenal. A little off the main plaza so we weren’t worried about it being a tourist trap though we didn’t really see anything that felt that way other than potentially the Italian eatery.

The reason this whole trip happened was because my sister was heading down for a dear friend’s wedding. We were just tagging along. On Friday, the wedding festivities started and my husband and I were off to explore just the two of us. Well, it started with three of us but then we lost my sister’s boyfriend to wedding festivities in the evening. Beaches in Los Cabos are easy to come by but more difficult to navigate if you are looking for a specific thing. Some are surfing beaches, some are swimming beaches, some are you-absolutely-cannot-swim-here beaches (like the first one after our lunch at Buzzard’s). We wanted swimming and snorkeling and heard that Santa Maria was a fantastic place for this as it is in a protected cove. The water is beautiful. It is a little off the path so it wasn’t busy. The snorkeling was great according to the sis’s BF. It is definitely choppy as you get closer to the rocks on the side but the right side was where the boats brought people and the lifeguards didn’t yell at you. Things to note – it’s a walk so if you plan on taking a ton of things and hanging out for the day just be warned. It’s a pebble beach, not a sand beach. Wear something on your feet that you can walk in pebbles with because it is HOT and could burn your feet but also just difficult to walk in. The birks were a little painful since the pebbles kept getting between my feet and the bed.

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I’m not going to include much else here for the evening. It was fine. Food was terrible. Drinks were fine. Shopping was fine. Walking the streets was beautiful as always but nothing worth noting so we’ll just save some time.

Wedding Day! Well, for others but a day alone to explore! Upon the advice of a dear friend, hubby and I headed to Todos Santos and the Green Room. This was a wonderful day and I am happy to pass on this recommendation! Todos Santos is a great little town to spend the day browsing shops, eating good food, and drinking local beer. Check out La Catrina Cantina for lunch and Todos Santos Brewing for drinks. We were skeptical about La Catrina Cantina but ended up eating ourselves sick! It was delicious! I don’t drink beer so I’ll take the hubby’s word that the beer was good. The seltzer they had on tap was fantastic! All that said, the highlight of the trip was definitely the Green Room! It’s a drive out of town but worth every second! After arriving, you walk down an adorable path through tall bushes to sit with your toes in the sand on a pristine beach to watch the sunset while sipping the best food and drinks we had on the trip. I cannot say enough about how worth it this was. Do not miss it if you are in the area. It was absolutely the best part of this trip.

The next few days were a blur of typical Cabo San Lucas things – boat cruise to the Arch, drinks on a rooftop overlooking the marina, typical Mexican/American food but still fun, just not really anything to write home about. However, drinks were good and views were great at Rooftop 360 at Corazon and if you are craving some typical Mexican food that you would eat at home but better, check out Texican.

Now, one of the most beautiful places I have been to was saved for our last real day in Los Cabos. It’s a drive to get over to La Paz, but Balandra Beach is worth it. 100% worth it. It’s an interesting place to get to. It’s legally protected so you can go at either 8:30AM or 1PM. Only a certain number are let in so it is quiet and pristine! We chose to come in by boat after snorkeling with the sea lions. I’d share pictures and the tour we took for this but we’ve never actually received the video and photos of that. We thought we would be snorkeling with baby sea lions but we got the adolescent sea lions which was very similar to snorkeling with adolescent children. They don’t care that you are there. They want nothing to do with you and would probably prefer you didn’t come at all. The trip out was interesting and we saw blue-footed boobies which were roosting on their migratory island from the Galapagos. Once we pulled into the bay though, we were blown away. This water is absolutely crystal clear, shallow, warm, just perfect! The tour company had lunch for us on the beach which was fine but just swimming and walking around, checking out the wildlife, and enjoying the quiet surroundings really was a highlight. This is the one place we are planning on returning to so our family can enjoy this and couple it with snorkeling with whale sharks that are in the Gulf of California. We wrapped up the tour and wanted to grab an actual lunch and see what La Paz had to offer. It was too hot to actually walk around. Lunch was absolutely horrible and we didn’t eat it so I don’t have much to add to this part of the trip. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant to tell you to avoid it but I don’t. Sorry about that. It’s on a corner and all the seating is outside so that narrows it down to about 300 places.

So, if you are going to do Los Cabos but aren’t really an “I love Mexican Spring Break!” kinda person, head to:
1. San Jose del Cabo Art Walk
2. Simaruba in the Art District
3. Playa Santa Maria
4. Todos Santos
5. La Catrina Cantina in Todos Santos
5. The Green Room in Todos Santos
6. Balandra Beach

The rest, well, you do you!

Oh, back to the Never. Ever. Under any circumstance. Fly American Airlines through DFW. On the way home, we got stuck again. We already knew it was coming and the first flight delay from Los Cabos to DFW, we headed to the airport immediately and tried to jump on an earlier flight. My hubby dropped up and returned to the car. Due to a bit of a language barrier, the person at the counter booked my sis, her boyfriend, and me on one flight which boarded in 19 minutes. We ran through the airport and security and somehow made this flight. My hubby got on the next one, which was the one I was trying to get us all on but failed. We landed in DFW with plenty of time to make the next flight home BUT, we just kept seeing flights coming in and flights out getting canceled. As the airport got progressively fuller and we got progressively more nervous, after about 10 delays, they canceled us right as we were about to board. Lines at this point were so long, we estimated about five hours to even get to talk to anyone. We overheard one passenger being told to go to another gate so we slipped out of line and headed to that gate as well. Luckily, there was only one other person ahead of us, we were put on a standby at 9AM the next morning, and booked our own hotel hoping to be reimbursed (I’m not sure if we ever did). Somehow, by some miracle, despite being in the 4th, 8th, 14th, and 15th on the standby list, my husband made it on, and then I was called with “my party” so we all made the flight! It was a nightmare, just like the flight out. At least on the flight out it wasn’t midnight and we were given a hotel and food vouchers. Not so on the way back but thank the gods for the gate agent that stayed for 19 hours and at least got us on that standby.

Never. Ever. Under any circumstance. Fly American Airlines through DFW.