Baja California Sur, Mexico
Los Cabos
The honest guide to Los Cabos for UK travellers: Cabo San Lucas vs San José del Cabo, the 20-mile corridor in between, which beaches you can actually swim at, and how the resort prices really work in pounds.
In short
Los Cabos at a glance
Los Cabos isn't one place — it's a 20-mile resort corridor at the tip of Baja, with two very different towns at each end and a string of all-inclusives between them. Cabo San Lucas is the loud, marina-and-nightlife end with the famous Arch (El Arco); San José del Cabo is the quieter, art-gallery old town. The catch first-timers miss is the sea: the open Pacific beaches along the corridor are beautiful but mostly too dangerous to swim, so you go for the resorts, the boat trips and a handful of protected coves — not a swim-off-the-sand week. There are no direct flights from the UK, so you'll connect through a US hub or Mexico City; budget a full travel day each way.
People book Los Cabos imagining a single beach town and arrive to find a 20-mile corridor of resorts strung between two places that barely feel related. At the west end, Cabo San Lucas is all marina, sportfishing boats and late nights, with El Arco — the rock arch at Land’s End — a ten-minute panga ride from the harbour. At the east end, near the airport, San José del Cabo is a low-key colonial town of art galleries and a Thursday Art Walk. The all-inclusives fill the desert highway in between, which is why which end you book matters more than the resort itself.
The thing first-timers get wrong is the water. This is a coast where the Pacific swell and undertow make most of the postcard beaches genuinely unsafe to swim — the red flags aren’t decoration. You come for the resort pools, the boat trips out to the Arch, the December-to-April whales and a short list of protected coves like Médano and Chileno, not for wading off the sand wherever you fancy. Get that expectation right, pick your end of the corridor, and pre-book the airport transfer rather than running the timeshare gauntlet on arrival, and Cabo delivers exactly what it’s good at.
The route
A relaxed week built around one resort base, with the boat trip everyone comes for and a day at each end of the corridor. Drive times are for the corridor highway (Mexico 1); a private transfer or hire car covers them, as there's no useful public bus for visitors.
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Days 1–2
Settle into the corridor
Land at San José del Cabo airport (SJD) and transfer to your resort — about 20–30 min if you're staying near San José, 45 min to Cabo San Lucas. Spend the first two days at the resort recovering from the long travel day, with a swim at Médano Beach (the one reliably calm, swimmable town beach) in Cabo San Lucas.
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Day 3
El Arco and the boat trip
Take a water-taxi or panga from Cabo San Lucas marina out to El Arco (the rock arch at Land's End) and Lover's Beach — about a 10-minute boat ride, roughly 250–400 pesos return per person. This is the single iconic sight and best done mid-morning before the swell and crowds build.
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Days 4–5
Whales or snorkelling, then San José
In December–April, book a whale-watching trip out of the marina (grey and humpback whales, ~£40–£55pp for 2–3 hours). Otherwise snorkel at Chileno Bay, the corridor's protected, swimmable cove. Spend an evening in San José del Cabo's old town — the art district and the Thursday Art Walk (Nov–Jun) are the calm counterpoint to Cabo's marina bars.
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Days 6–7
Slow days, then the long way home
Keep the last days light — a final beach session, a desert ATV tour or a tequila tasting — and don't book anything for the morning of departure. Allow extra time at SJD: you'll connect through a US hub on the way home, so factor in US transit security.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Cabo San Lucas (Marina & Médano Beach)
££ mid-rangeThe lively end: the marina, the bars, Médano Beach (the swimmable town beach) and the boats to El Arco on your doorstep. Best if you want walkable nightlife and the headline sight, but it's busier and louder, and spring-break crowds peak in March.
Best for: Nightlife, the marina, walkable bars and beach
The Tourist Corridor (Chileno / Palmilla)
£££ premiumThe 20-mile stretch of big all-inclusives and luxury resorts between the two towns, near the few swimmable coves like Chileno and Santa María. Best for a self-contained switch-off week, but you're car- or taxi-dependent for anything beyond your resort.
Best for: An all-inclusive resort week with calm swim coves nearby
San José del Cabo (Old Town)
££ mid-rangeThe quieter, more characterful base: colonial old town, art galleries, the Thursday Art Walk and a slower pace, ten minutes from the airport. Best for couples and culture over clubs, though the town beach here is rough and not for swimming.
Best for: Couples, art and a calmer old-town atmosphere
Getting around Los Cabos
There's no useful public transport for visitors here, so plan to move by pre-booked transfer, taxi or hire car. From San José del Cabo airport (SJD), arrange a fixed-price private transfer in advance rather than haggling on arrival — it's about £55–£75 each way for a private car to Cabo San Lucas (45 min) or less to a corridor resort. Taxis between the towns are unmetered and pricey (often 800–1,500 pesos / ~£35–£65 one way), so agree the fare first. A hire car (from ~£25–£40 a day) makes sense if you want to roam the corridor's beaches or drive up to Todos Santos, but you don't need one for a resort-and-boat-trips week. Avoid the timeshare 'free transfer' touts at the airport — the lift comes with a hard-sell presentation.
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Los Cabos FAQs
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