Los Cabos: The Perfect Romantic Getaway

Los Cabos International Airport serves the entire Los Cabos corridor with direct flights from most US cities (3-5 hours from most). The hotel corridor between San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas is 33km of resort hotels built on the desert bluffs above the Pacific and Sea of Cortez, many with dramatic infinity pools hanging above the ocean. Check into your hotel and get to the water — the Corridor beach beaches have significant Pacific surf at most points; the calmer swimming is at Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas (the only swimmable beach near the town) and in the Sea of Cortez at Chileno Bay and Santa Maria Cove. The Los Cabos sunset from the Corridor pool terraces — the Pacific horizon turning crimson while the Baja desert behind turns amber — is one of Mexico's finest.

• ✦ Los Cabos Corridor — resort hotel infinity pools above the Pacific
• ✦ Medano Beach — Cabo San Lucas's only safe swimming beach
• ✦ Chileno Bay marine preserve snorkeling
• ✦ Corridor infinity pool sunset over the Pacific

El Arco (The Arch) at Lands End —kat the absolute tip of Baja California — is one of the most iconic natural monuments in Mexico. The 63-foot granite sea arch, flanked by the sea lion colony on the adjacent rocks and framed against the Pacific horizon, is the image that defines Los Cabos. Water taxis from Medano Beach run continuously and land at the Playa del Amor (Lover's Beach) —kat the only beach accessible from both the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez sides of the cape, separated by just 50 meters of sand. The Divorce Beach on the Pacific side (dangerous surf) and Lover's Beach on the Sea of Cortez side (calm, swimmable) make the contrast between the two oceans immediately visible. Snorkeling at Santa Maria Cove Marine Reserve (a small protected bay with extraordinary fish populations in crystalline water) in the afternoon. Sunset at the Cabo Wabo Cantina or The Office beach restaurant.

• ✦ El Arco — the iconic granite sea arch at the tip of Baja
• ✦ Playa del Amor — two oceans separated by 50 meters of sand
• ✦ Sea lion colony at Lands End
• ✦ Santa Maria Cove marine reserve snorkeling

San José del Cabo, 33km north of the Cabo San Lucas marina, is the quieter, more genuinely Mexican half of the Los Cabos municipal area. The historic center — a grid of colonial-era streets around the Misión de San José (1730) — has maintained its small-town Mexican character despite the surrounding resort development. The Art District around the plaza comes alive on Thursday evenings (November-June) when the Art Walk connects galleries displaying contemporary Baja art: local artists, international imports, and the creative scene that has made San José a genuine arts community. The Mercado Orgánico in the art district has excellent local produce and artisan food. Lunch at La Lupita Taco & Mezcal for traditional Baja tacos, or Flora Farms restaurant (on an organic farm 10 minutes from town) for the finest farm-to-table meal in Los Cabos.

• ✦ San José del Cabo colonial center and Mission San José
• ✦ Art District Thursday Night Art Walk
• ✦ Mercado Orgánico artisan food market
• ✦ Flora Farms restaurant — organic farm-to-table in the hills

Los Cabos is one of the world's premier whale watching destinations December through March —kat humpback whales gather in the waters between the Corridor and the East Cape for their winter calving season, and breaching humpbacks visible from the hotel pool terraces are a genuinely extraordinary sight. Gray whales travel the Pacific coast of Baja from their Arctic feeding grounds to their Baja lagoon nurseries (Ojo de Liebre and Laguna San Ignacio) through Los Cabos waters. Boat tours typically see multiple individuals at close range. In summer, whale sharks (the world's largest fish, up to 40 feet) aggregate in the Sea of Cortez and can be snorkeled with. The Sea of Cortez (the narrow sea between Baja and mainland Mexico) has the highest diversity of marine life of any body of water on earth —kat Jacques Cousteau's aquarium description remains accurate. Afternoon at a Corridor beach club.

• ✦ Humpback whale watching December-March (or whale sharks April-October)
• ✦ Sea of Cortez — the world's highest marine biodiversity
• ✦ Gray whale migration along the Pacific coast of Baja
• ✦ Breaching humpbacks visible from the hotel pool terrace

Los Cabos is the world capital of sport fishing —kat the junction of the Pacific and Sea of Cortez creates extraordinary conditions for billfish (marlin, sailfish, dorado, and tuna) year-round. The Los Cabos Fishing Marina in Cabo San Lucas has 200+ charter boats of all sizes; a standard day-trip charter includes tackle, bait, licenses, and the crew's expert knowledge of where the fish are running. The International Game Fish Association world records for striped marlin, black marlin, and blue marlin have all been set in Los Cabos waters. Even without a fishing obsession, watching the crews work, the boats maneuvering in the sea, and the desert cliffs dropping into the Pacific from the boat's perspective is a genuinely extraordinary Los Cabos experience.

• ✦ Los Cabos Fishing Marina — 200+ charter boats in the world's billfish capital
• ✦ Blue marlin, striped marlin, and dorado fishing
• ✦ IGFA world records set in these waters
• ✦ The desert-meets-sea panorama from the charter boat

The Sierra de la Laguna mountains rise to 7,000 feet above Los Cabos and constitute one of Mexico's most pristine and least-visited wilderness areas — a Biosphere Reserve of oak and pine forest at altitude in stark contrast to the desert coast below. The La Laguna Trail from Santiago or Todos Santos climbs through extraordinary elevation change, from desert cacti at sea level to Sierra palm forest at 4,000 feet and pine-oak woodland at the summit. The summit meadow (La Laguna) was once a lake drained by earthquake; it's now a high-altitude grassland surrounded by pine trees with mountain views in every direction. Guided day hikes from Los Cabos (2.5-hour drive to the trailhead) take 6-8 hours round trip. Alternatively, visit Todos Santos —kat the charming colonial artist town on the Pacific coast north of Cabo San Lucas, in the transition zone between the Cape Region and the Central Desert.

• ✦ Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve — Baja's highland wilderness
• ✦ La Laguna summit meadow in pine-oak forest at 5,000 feet
• ✦ Dramatic elevation change from desert coast to mountain forest
• ✦ Todos Santos colonial artist town alternative

Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) has excellent US connections. A final morning at your hotel's infinity pool or beach club — the Los Cabos sunset is extraordinary but the sunrise over the Sea of Cortez from the eastern-facing Palmilla or Las Ventanas is equally remarkable. Buy artisan Baja mezcal (the producers of the Cape Region are making extraordinary small-batch expressions), Baja wine from the Valle de Guadalupe (the most important wine region in Mexico, 2 hours north near Ensenada), and the salt from the Guerrero Negro salt flats (the largest natural salt flat in the world). Los Cabos has evolved from a sleepy fishing village into Mexico's most sophisticated beach destination — and done it while maintaining the desert beauty that makes the Baja landscape unlike anywhere else.

• ✦ Final infinity pool sunrise over the Sea of Cortez
• ✦ Baja mezcal, Valle de Guadalupe wine, and Guerrero Negro salt
• ✦ Transfer to Los Cabos International Airport SJD