10 Best Tips For Traveling to Cabo San Lucas
After spending 5 days in Cabo, there are a few things that we wish we had known ahead of time.
In this page, we'll cover all of the important tips that we already knew, and that we wish we knew before traveling to Cabo.
1. Book Transportation to the Hotel Ahead of Time
After you exit Los Cabos International Airport, there will be a herd of people trying to talk to you and sell you transportation to your hotel/airbnb.
If you decide to go this route, it'll be tough to compare pricing on the fly, and more importantly know who is a reputable company.
To avoid this, you'll want to book ahead of your trip with a reputable shuttle company.
We recommend using Cabo Airport Shuttle, as they have a variety of options and can accommodate up to 21 guests.
Prices will vary by the number of passengers, and whether you want to do just one way or round trip.
We recommend doing a round trip, as it ensures that you have transportation back to the airport on the day that you need to fly back home.
2. Do the Wild Canyon Tour
If you're looking to make unique memories that will last a lifetime outside of the resort, you'll want to consider the Wild Canyon Tour.
This tour was hands down one of our favorite parts of the vacation.
They offer the following options:
- ATV's & UTV's
- Ziplining
- Camel Riding
- Horseback Riding
- Bungee Jumping
- A Water Park
- Suspension Bridge
If you want to do more than one of these activities, they also offer passes that include many of them, if not all.
You'll want to be aware that if you're traveling with a group of 10 or less people, it'll be seamless.
However, any more than that and it'll be tough to coordinate with the group and get all of the activities done in the time frame.
Typically the activities are available from 10 AM - 3 PM.
3. Stay at an All Inclusive Hotel
It is absolutely worth getting an All Inclusive package when visiting Cabo, Mexico. In fact, I'd recommend only considering hotels that have All Inclusive packages.
PROS OF ALL INCLUSIVE PACKAGES
- All food and drinks are already paid for
- You can get as many plates and drinks without an additional charge
- There are multiple (convenient) locations where you can get food and drinks around the entire resort
- They have everything that you need for a relaxing vacation
It ultimately depends on a few personal factors:
- How much time do you plan to actually spend at the resort?
- Are you picky when it comes to food and drinks?
- Do you mind paying a higher upfront cost?
4. Know Where to Go During the Day
If you want to have a day where you aren't at the resort, with a 'Party environment', you'll want to head to Mango Deck Restaurant & Beach Club (more commonly known as Mango's).
They serve both food & drinks on the beach, while holding events where the audience can participate.
In fact, many cruise ships that dock in Cabo will take their passengers to this exact restaurant.
Depending on which hotel you're staying, you'll be able to walk to Mango's, take a water taxi, or even just a regular taxi.
We ended up staying at one of the Riu hotels, and it ended up being about a 30 minute walk down the beach.
The beach, sand and views were amazing, however if we could do it again, we'd walk there, and take a water taxi back.
The walk on the sand was definitely much tougher on the calves on the way back.
5. Know Where to Go For the Night Life
Similarly to Mango's being the place to be during the day, there are two places to visit (downtown) during the night:
- Cabo Wabo
- El Squid Roe
Cabo Wabo offers a sit-down option with food, drinks and a live band, while El Squid Roe offers drinks and a DJ.
Cabo Wabo is the place that you'll want to visit first to get food in your system, before transitioning over to El Squid Roe later in the night.
To get to both of these places, you'll definitely want to take a shuttle from the hotel or a taxi.
6. Make Sure Your Phone is Ready For International Lines
Some members of our group had T-Mobile, and as soon as we landed in Cabo, they received a message that their phone was transferring to an International line.
Their phone worked instantly.
Others of us that didn't (and didn't set it in place ahead of time), had no service.
Don't make this rookie mistake!
Go into your service provider's app, and make sure that you have international access enabled before landing in Cabo.
7. Know Where You Can & Can't Swim
Believe it or not, although you'll most likely be near the ocean, you aren't able to swim in most places in Cabo.
There will be many signs that will tell visitors (in both English and Spanish) to not swim in certain areas due to the strong water currents.
If you're not sure whether or not you can swim in an area, it's better to be safe than sorry, and not swim.
Additionally, there will be several lifeguards around the beach that will answer your questions.
8. Know That Resorts Have Purified Water
You've heard it time and time again, "Don't drink the water in Mexico". This is true to an extent for tap water.
The resorts offer purified water, which allows guests to drink water as they would anywhere else in the world.
If you still don't feel comfortable, feel free to purchase bottled water either at a store on your way to the resort, or at the actual resort, and drink from the bottled water.
9. Know Whether to Exchange to Pesos
For the most part, anywhere that we went in Cabo, they accepted either dollars or a card.
The one exception was when paying the shuttle drivers, as they were expecting to be paid in pesos.
Luckily, we converted dollars into pesos ahead of time, and took care of the driver.
Other than this, we used card 90% of the time, and cash 10% of the time.
If you are planning to use drivers out of the resort a lot throughout your stay, you'll definitely want to make sure that you have pesos.
10. Know What to Expect After Customs
Once you clear through customs, you'll pass sliding doors in a room, before actually exiting the airport.
In this small room, there are a dozen Timeshare salesmen that will immediately come up to you to get your attention.
If you are interested in Timeshare, this is a great opportunity for you.
However, if you're not, you'll want to politely say 'no thank you' and make your way out of the airport through the second set of sliding doors.
As soon as you exit the airport, you'll immediately notice that there are two bars that offer food and drinks.
If you're waiting for the rest of your party to arrive, this is an ideal place to wait, as after landing, there's nothing on that side of the airport besides customs and currency exchange.
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