Letters from Mexico: Los Cabos

Last week we spent a week in Los Cabos.

Los Cabos is in Baja California peninsula, about 2 hours from Mexico City by plane. (Be careful, because there is 1 hour difference between Los Cabos and Mexico City.)
Baja California might seem small on the map, but it is actually about 1600 kms from North to South, almost the same length as Japan.
Los Cabos (The Capes in English) is located on the very south tip of the peninsula and refers to two small towns, Cabo San Lucas and San Jose de Cabo and endless beach hotels in between.

The climate is mild to hot all year long, with a 26 degrees average temperature. The mild "season" is from October to April, when the highs are about the average 26 and the lows goes below 20 degrees. The temperature in the other months are over 30 in the days and 24-25 in the nights. The stormy season is said to be around September, October which brings the most of the 25cms annual rain.

We had beautiful weather, with 34-36 degrees, although we were "lucky" to experience the rare rain in that area as we had two cloudy, rainy days. (It was said that it hadn`t rained since last September...)

Due to the small amount of rain, the surroundings are desert-like with many many cactus and small bushes.

Los Cabos` main economic factor is undoubtedly tourism. I guess, over 90% of the tourists here are from the U.S. which means that US dollar is widely accepted and English is understood everywhere.
The main attraction is "The Arch" rock which was declared a natural world heritage by UNESCO. There are brown pelicans and California sea lions around these rocks not to mention the thousands of tropical fish below the water. Therefore diving, snorkeling are very popular around that area.
Also sport fishing in the open sea is well known - it is said because of the meeting of the ocean and sea, these waters are one of the best for sport fishing in all around the world.
And finally, many tourists are visiting Los Cabos for the whales - they are passing along these waters with their babies from January to April heading to the North. It is said that at some points, you can see whales by 98% probability! Also, as there are no rules regarding whale watching, the boats can approach the whales close enough to pet them. However, it is said that sometimes these giant creatures approach the boats by themselves for some pats and strokes.

In Los Cabos we stayed at "The Corridor" and went to Cabo San Lucas from time to time. (This is where "The Arch" is.) As there is no competition, the taxi is very expensive - 300 pesos to take us to the city (about 15kms). Therefore I recommend the local bus, which is not only cheap (19 pesos for a ride) but fun as well - there are always music on the Mexican buses, there is natural air conditioning with the open windows and doors, and sometimes these buses are so old, you`d think they should be in a museum... instead, they`re still running!

The center of Cabo San Lucas is the Marine - a beautiful small marine, surrounded by luxury hotels, amazingly delicious restaurants and shopping malls. It is not at all Mexican (excluding the uncountable souvenirs in the shops) - English is spoken here, it is safe (!), the streets are smugly clean (!!)... which is not bad at all! Unfortunately, because tourism is the main job for most of the Mexican there, people inviting you to a restaurant, to a snorkeling tour, to fishing etc. can be quite bothering. Else that that, the Marine is a beautiful location, and I strongly recommend to try sea food in Cabo - the fish are always fresh and amazing! My personal favourite was the fish tacos in Tiki Bar. A must if you go to Cabo!

The World Heritage "Arch" can be reached only by boat, one from the Marine. It is about 4-5 minutes, right next to the Marine: next to the Arch, there is Pelican`s Rock (with many pelicans on it - just as its name says), and Neptune`s Finger (a finger-like, slim rock). The sea lions can be seen at Land`s End, the very end of the rock formations.
There are tons of boats going there for snorkeling, or just to take people to the Lover`s beach from about 20-30 dollars. However, I recommend diving - in that case you did the sightseeing on the boat, snorkeled (or better) and could see the sea lions and pelicans. But about diving, let me write later...