The Best Things to do in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Cabo San Lucas is the best known town in Baja California Sur at Mexico’s West Coast. It’s known for luxury resorts & it’s clubbing scene but also for it’s incredible wild life and landscape. Find out in this post what are the best things to do in Cabo and the surrounding area.
Find a map with the exact location of all mentioned places in this blog post below
1. Visit Lovers & Divorce Beach
How to get to Lovers & Divorce Beach?
These beaches are without any doubt the most beautiful but also the best known beaches in Cabo. You can only reach them by boat from the marina. It’s a shuttle service so you pay for both ways before the ride. At the marina you will find many companies which are offering the transfer and it’s not necessary to book the tickets in advance. All you have to do is walking along the marina – I promise you: You will get several offers for the transfer within a minute! Make sure you don’t pay more than 20 USD for two persons and for both ways. They usually ask you to pay the double but there’s room for bargaining.
In times of Covid and to avoid masses at the beach you’re now only allowed to spend a maximum of one hour at both beaches unfortunately. The last pick up from the beach is at 4 pm so make sure to plan the best time for your visit in advance.
Lovers Beach
Lovers and Divorce Beach are located right opposite of each other but offer very different conditions. Lovers Beach is very calm which makes it perfect for swimming and snorkeling. We actually planned to do that but within one hour we didn’t had enough time for it.
Divorce Beach
Divorce Beach offers the most amazing views at the rock formations and Mt. Solmar behind you but it’s not possible to swim here since the sea is extremely rough with high waves. At the Divorce Beach I would recommend you to walk right to the end of the beach to the rocks. If you climb up a bit you will have a nice view over the whole beach.
But no worries – you don’t have to decide for one option during your stay, you can simply walk between both beaches within a few minutes.
P.S. If you’re wondering about the name of the beaches – they are not related to couples and their relationship status 😉 They got these names due to the heavy contrast of the conditions at both sides even though they are so close to each other.
2. Watch the sunset at Solmar Beach
The beautiful Solmar Beach is located close to Divorce Beach – but on the other side of Mount Solmar which makes it impossible to walk from one beach to the other. Solmar Beach has a rough sea too and amazing sunset views but other than Lovers & Divorce Beach you can reach it by foot. Make sure to park your car at the marina and walk the rest. Unfortunately it’s not possible to park right at the beach since it’s surrounded by hotels. To reach Solmar Beach you have to walk through one of these hotel complexes. We chose the Terrasol Beach Resort since it’s a complex with different apartment buildings that you can pass without having to walk through a lobby.
The sun will set at the right side of the beach which is amazing for pictures cause you’ll not only have the ocean as a background but also a rock with houses on top which looks a lot like Positano in Italy 🙂
Make sure to bring a blanket and some drinks to enjoy the most spectacular sunsets at Solmar Beach.
3. Hike up Mount Solmar
Mount Solmar is the mountain right between Divorce Beach and Solmar Beach. The entrance to hike up to the top is located on private property which means that you can’t hike up on your own. But no worries – the owner is a friendly dog trainer which does the hike daily twice (except sunday when he’s only going up in the morning) and invites the public to join him. See the exact starting point on my map below! The owner will open the gate always at 8.15am and 4.15pm but make sure to be there on time! Once he closed the gate he refuses to let other hikers in due to the dogs which roam around free.
It’s a short but intense hike which reminds more of climbing the higher you get! So make sure to wear proper shoes. At the top you can enjoy the incredible views over Cabo San Lucas, the sea of Cortez, Divorce Beach and Solmar Beach right under you! If you walk around a bit you can find some amazing perspectives for photos 🙂
There is no entry fee for this hike but all hikers gives the guide a little tip at the end as a thank you for letting them in, explaining the area and showing the safest way up und down.
4. Hop on a Boat
If you’re visiting Cabo San Lucas you just can’t leave without doing a boat tour to see the beautiful rock formations from the water, to go snorkeling and if you’re here in the winter months even watch some whales! Located at the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) the area is a paradise for divers and snorkelers. There’s actually nothing you can’t see here: From sea lions and marlins to dolphins and the whales!
We did our tour with Dive Ninja Expeditions in Cabo and can absolutely recommend this company if you’re looking for a professional team which truly cares about its customers and the wildlife. We had a private boat tour in the morning and it’s been one of my favorite experiences in Cabo San Lucas!
First stop was the most impressive rock formation of Cabo: The Arch! It was naturally formed by the wind and sea and can only be seen from a boat! The closer you come to the arch the louder you will hear the sounds of the sea lions which relax on the surrounding rocks or jump into the water to catch some fish! There are so many of them and it’s absolutely cute to watch them 🙂
On the way to a calm snorkeling spot we cruised along the coast line and watched at least three to four groups of humpback whales! They migrate to the Sea of Cortez from mid November until mid April. If you’re visiting Cabo San Lucas during the peak season from December to March it’s almost guaranteed that you will see some of them jumping out of the water which is a truly impressive spectacle.
Due to Mexican Law it’s not allowed to swim or dive with these gentle giants but no worries – the sea of Cortez is so rich in Maritime Life that you have much more to see! We did a short snorkeling tour close to the coast to watch some corals and colorful fish but if you go a little deeper you can even see marlines, dolphins, mantas and everything else the ocean has to offer. The team of Dive Ninja Expeditions also offers amazing diving tours you shouldn’t miss if you have a diving license or planning to get one 🙂
5. Visit Todos Santos
The weather in the area of Cabo is mostly sunny throughout the whole year but during our visit at the end of January we got a bit unlucky with some rainy days. So we thought why not visiting the nearby town Todos Santos which one of my followers recommended us. It’s around one hour from Cabo San Lucas by car and known for its artesian shops and art galleries but also has some lovely little restaurants that are worth a visit.
The city is still not very touristy and much smaller, quieter and less modern than Cabo San Lucas. You can still feel the real Mexican culture in the historical center Todos Santos with many colorful houses and while strolling through the little boutiques and art galleries of locals.
For lunch we made a stop at a small restaurant run by a local family. They make the BEST fish and shrimp tacos I ever had! So make sure to visit “Tacos y Mariscos El Sinaloense” for a lunch break!
6. Visit La Paz & Balandra Beach
If you’re planning on a full day trip from Cabo San Lucas head north to the city of La Paz to spend a day at the incredible Balandra Beach around 2,5 hrs from Cabo San Lucas. I would even recommend to spend a night or two in La Paz since it’s a charming town with great restaurants, a beautiful promenade at the beach plus it’s a famous place to go on a whale shark snorkeling tour.
To be honest I’ve never heard of Balandra Beach before but once we arrived in Cabo I got countless messages from my Mexican followers telling me that I can’t leave the area without seeing Balandra Beach which is one of the most beautiful beaches in Mexico.
Due to Covid the entry is strictly limited so they only allow a 150 people per day at the main Balandra Beach. When we arrived around 11 am (the beach opens at 10 am) it’s been already full cause most people get in line with their car already at 8 or 9 am to make sure to get in.
But anyway we found a way to reach it: Following the street further there’s a little off-road parking lot where a path leads up to one of the hills surrounding Balandra Beach. I marked it in the map below! If you walk the way up and follow the path around the hill you can walk down to a hidden empty beach. We made a stop here and had it all to ourselves! Since the water of this area is super shallow you can simply walk through it (or close to the rocks if you don’t wanna get wet) to reach the next beach which is already located in the beautiful Balandra Bay. The Balandra Beach itself is not really spectacular – BUT what makes it so special is the turquoise bay located between the mountains, surrounded mangrove forests and with calm turquoise blue and shallow water which looks impressive from above! If you wanna relax and enjoy the sun we even found the first beach more idyllic cause it was absolutely empty and didn’t had umbrellas and sun beds like the actual Balandra Beach has.
Find the best things to do in Cabo San Lucas & the surrounding
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