WatchBoom’s guide to Los Cabos
Story and photos by Bob Schulman
Sorry, big-time hotel builders, you'll have to build your next project someplace else. Down here in Los Cabos, all the beachfront lots – all 20 miles of them – are 100 percent taken by the likes of luxury resorts, condos, marinas and golf courses.
That's not to say there's no wide open spaces out there. Building codes for newer properties only allow a small percentage of each lot to be developed. Still, the million-plus annual visitors to the area have their pick of over 50 hotels from sprawling mega-resorts to boutique inns, all told with about 12,000 rooms.
Old-timers around Los Cabos (the capes) remember the days when this spot at the tip of western Mexico's Baja Peninsula was an exclusive hideaway of the rich and famous. They tell stories of how Errol, Tyrone, Lana, Desi, Liz, Bing and the gang came down for a few days of sportsfishing in waters teeming with marlin, sailfish, dorado, wahoo and yellowfin tuna. Or to cut a quiet deal with the studio moguls. Or maybe for some star-class shenanigans.
Back then, a rutted, 18-mile-long dirt road linked the area’s two main villages, Cabo San Lucas (Cape of St. Luke) at one end of the resort area and San Jose del Cabo (Cape of St. Joseph) at the other.
Fast-forward to the early 80s, and the stars have been replaced by a mix of expat American sun-lovers living in little Bohemian enclaves, sports anglers and a handful of mainstream tourists. Many sailed down from California on their own or rented boats and stayed on them, too (there being only a half-dozen tourist-class hotels in all of Los Cabos). Others drove across the border to brave a 1,000-mile-long, two-lane highway down the peninsula perhaps most kindly described as “treacherous.”
Today, Los Cabos (Cabo for short) consists of the two cities (hardly villages any more) and – replacing the old road between them – a modern highway flanked by hillsides alive with condos, gated residential areas and dozens of the area's swankiest hotel-resorts. The section between the cities is called “The Corridor.”
Boasting 1,200 fishing boats operating in waters where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortes – a collision that somehow creates a magnet for big gamefish – Cabo still enjoys a reputation for world-class sportsfishing. But rods and reels are fast sharing the stage with mashies and putters, developers having so far opened nine championship golf courses. Credits for the rolling greens looking out on Cabo's beaches, coves and lagoons read like a who’s who of designers...Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones II, Tom Weiskopf, Tom Fazio and the Dye Design team among the all-star lineup.
And no less than six new championship courses are either in work or on the drawing board.
Back in the days of Tyrone, Bogey and The Duke, the glitterati often flew down to Cabo in sleek Beechcraft Bonanzas or Cessna 195s. Heading to dirt airstrips next to the stars' secluded posadas (there was no international airport there at the time), pilots were sometimes given landing instructions by a bartender doubling as an air traffic controller on a two-way radio stashed between tequila bottles.
Now, most visitors to Cabo are among the thousands of passengers arriving daily at the three modern terminals of Los Cabos International Airport. Served by the jets of over a dozen airlines, the airport is located some 10 miles inland from San Jose del Cabo (hence the airport's official designation, SJD). The highway from the airport skirts the city, then runs down The Corridor to Cabo San Lucas. The ride to your hotel typically takes anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 minutes.
Nonstop flights to Cabo take two hours or less from the big airline hubs at Los Angeles, Phoenix and Houston. Nonstop hops from other hubs at Denver, San Francisco and Dallas/Ft. Worth take three hours or less.
About the towns
Looking out at a mile-long bay, Cabo San Lucas (population: 80,000 and growing fast) is where the action is. The city's bustling streets are packed with wall-to-wall shops, timeshare hawkers, familiar American fast-food franchises, traditional Mexican eateries and fine gourmet restaurants. Liberally sprinkled around the city are dozens of hip cantinas – bars with names like Cabo Wabo, the Giggling Marlin, El Squid and Coyote Ugly.
Also raking in the pesos (U.S. bucks are happily accepted, too) is a stateside-like mall with 200 shops, a 10-screen cinema and a bowling alley.
Chances are you won't be lonely in Cabo San Lucas. On a typical day, there might be 8,000 or so stayover tourists wandering around town, joined on some days by as many as 10,000 day-visitors from cruise ships docked in the bay.
In stark contrast to all this, San Jose del Cabo at the other end of The Corridor is a laid back, pleasant city of meandering streets (population: about 30,000 and pretty much staying that size). San Jose, as it’s known, made the maps in 1730 when the Jesuits built a mission there, and later on gained prominence as a trading post for passing ships. It was also a pirate hangout, especially around the times Spanish super-galleons passed by on their way back from Manila loaded with silks, porcelain, spices and ivory.
Despite its golf courses and a long line of ritzy beachfront hotels, San Jose still retains the charm of its colonial heritage. Wander around the city and chances are you’ll end up at the town square. This is where everyone gathers to shoot the breeze, and at night to listen to the sweet strumming of Mexican guitars. Among other landmarks are various old-time buildings like the Municipal Palace (the mayor's offices) and the twin-steepled church of Parroquia de San Jose.
A particularly popular section of town is its art district, where two dozen galleries offer locally made paintings, sculptures, stoneware and the like along with those from other Mexican states. Among big sellers are wall hangings and woodworks from Oaxaca and amber jewelry from Chiapas.
A tip: Tourists are invited to rub elbows with the local folks on Tuesday night “art walks” when the galleries host little parties and serve free wine and cheese.
Coming up: East Cape
Cabo might be out of room for more hotels, but lots of developments are popping up a little up the coast of the Sea of Cortes in an area called East Cape. Puerto los Cabos, the first of two huge projects there, features a 430-slip marina – said to be the largest private marina in the country – along with two designer golf courses and the project's own village, all surrounded by residential lots with to-die-for views. Also, five luxury hotels are planned there over the next few years.
Further up the coast is the new Cabo Riviera stretching along three miles of choice beaches. Construction began two years ago on what will eventually be a 900-acre complex peppered with residential units and a couple of upscale hotels around a 285-slip marina, a Pete Dye golf course, a “European-style artists' village” and other attractions.
Beyond that, there's a bay full of hotels including the Buena Vista catering to serious sportsfishers, and a few funky beach villages. The latter are quickly becoming less funky and more costly in the wake of skyrocketing property values sparked by the new developments.
Not too far in the future, Cabo officials say, East Cape could be dotted with developments all the way up the 100-mile strip from San Jose to La Paz. Perhaps helping to speed all this will be the expected opening later this year of a mile-long bridged highway from San Jose to Puerto Los Cabos. Replacing an old, bumpy road, the bridged access “will open East Cape to the world,” officials say.
More info: Visit the Los Cabos Convention & Visitors Bureau at visitloscabos.travel or the Mexico Tourism Board at visitmexico.com (after selecting a language click Destinations and then Los Cabos). For the East Cape projects click caboriviera.com.mx and puertoloscabos.com.
Todos Santos: Bring your alibis
By Bob Schulman
Here’s a change of pace from the fun in the sun at Cabo: a side trip to the
little town of Todos Santos (All Saints) about an hour’s drive up the Pacific coast. In this 287-year-old village you’ll find a mix of some 5,000 locals, mostly farming families, and 1,000 or so American and Canadian expats including a fast-growing art colony. Their carvings, paintings and other goods are sold in colorful galleries dotting the village’s streets and lanes.
With the artists have come a number of tony restaurants, one of which, the Cafe Santa Fe with its superb Italian cuisine, draws guests from as far away as La Paz on the other side of the Baja Peninsula.
And then there’s Todos Santos’ best known landmark, the Hotel California. That’s THE Hotel California, the one in the Eagles’ song of the ‘70s.
Well, maybe. Some say it’s the place, some say it isn’t.
What’s known for sure is that the two-story hotel is located close to a mission (as in the song) and was around in the ‘70s. It’s said to have been a favorite stopover for hippies – they rented hammocks there for $2 a night – wandering around Mexico. As the song goes,
“They’re living it up at the Hotel California. What a nice surprise,
bring your alibis...”
Nowadays, the hotel's brochure says you can bed down there in “11 sumptuously appointed, wildly imaginable rooms and suites” at rack rates of $147 to $287 a night, plus taxes. But for the rock and roll ambiance of the ‘70s, you’ll have to tune in and drop out at nearby bars and restaurants where Eagles’ songs can usually be heard blasting away on aging hi-fi systems.
More info: Visit todossantos.cc and hotelcaliforniabaja.com.
