logo ×

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

A popular question we often hear is “Where is it safe to swim in Cabo?” Below is a complete list of all the beaches and recommended activities and safety precautions for each beach. When you book your private villa with Baja Sur Vacation Rentals, the list below and the detailed map of beach locations, will serve you well in your vacation planning.

Water Safety

Beach Resorts use a flag system to indicate water safety. Depending on the weather, flag colors may change, so be sure to always check on current beach conditions. Even on swimmable beaches, exercise caution due to these seasonal changes. 

Red – Dangerous
Yellow – Caution
Green – Safe
Blue Flag Beaches– World-renowned eco-certification awards for being clean and accessible, great water quality; meets high safety standards; and works hard to protect local shorelines and ecosystems.

Cabo San Lucas

PEDREGAL(Pacific Ocean): NO Swimming or Wading Near Shore Break
A beautiful and pristine beach, but there is no swimming allowed on any beaches located on the Pacific Ocean side because of strong and dangerous currents, harsh waves, and under toes.

PLAYA SOLMAR (Pacific Ocean): NO Swimming or Wading Near Shore Break
Located on the Pacific side of Land’s End, Playa Solmar offers spectacular views and long stretches of white pristine sand. Beach vendors are not allowed access. Absolutely no swimming is allowed because the strong currents and powerful shore break is very dangerous.

LOVER’S BEACH (Sea of Cortez): Swimming, Snorkeling, Kayaking
Lover’s Beach (Playa de Amor) is located on the Sea of Cortez side near the famous stone arch (El Arco). The only access to this beach is by water taxi from the marina or Medano Beach. Make sure to arrange for your return trip. Swimming and snorkeling is good on the Sea of Cortez side depending upon the water conditions.

DIVORCE BEACH (Pacific Ocean): NO Swimming or Wading Near Shore Break
Warning! While at Lover’s Beach do not attempt to wade or swim on the neighboring Pacific Ocean side, called Divorce beach, as strong and dangerous under toes are prevalent and very dangerous.

MEDANO BEACH (Sea of Cortez): Safest Swimming, All Water Sports, Blue Flag
Medano Beach is the safest swimming beach in Cabo San Lucas in the middle of downtown and all the major happenings. The water is calm so is great for swimming. Here you will find all the water activity rentals. Since this beach is the most popular, it tends to be very crowded.

CANNERY BEACH (Sea of Cortez)(La Empacadora Beach): Swimming, Kayak, Blue Flag
For a more peaceful experience, this small beach (located at the end of Marina Blvd. past the Navy base) is popular with locals. This hidden gem is a private, but public beach, with no vendors and is great for swimming, snorkeling, and kayaking.

 

Tourist Corridor

PLAYA MONUMENTOS (Monuments Beach): Surfing (No Swimming)
This small beach is good for expert surfing only. It is the closest surfing area to Cabo San Lucas. Great to explore the rocky terrain. It is below Sunset Da Mona Lisa Restaurant with incredible sunset views.

PLAYA CABEZA DE BALLENA(Whale’s Head Beach, Punta Ballena): Swimming, Snorkeling
Great beach for snorkeling and swimming. It’s also a nice sandy beach for sunbathing and relaxing.

PLAYA BARCO VERADO (Shipwreck Beach):Swimming, Snorkeling, Diving
Great for swimming, snorkeling, diving, and tide pools. Although swimming is generally safe, proceed with caution during times when the sea is rough. This is a common diving location for tours. It is located by the Sheraton Grand and the Hacienda Resort.

PLAYA LAS VIUDAS(Widow’s Beach or Twin Dolphin Beach): Swimming, Snorkeling, Blue Flag
This beach should be top on your list as it has many private coves and scenic rock formations. Great for swimming, snorkeling, and has excellent tide pools.

SANTA MARIA BEACH: Safest Swimming, Snorkeling, Blue Flag
Another beach that should be top on your list is Santa Maria Beach. This beach boast calm, clear waters which is perfect for diving, snorkeling, and swimming. It is claimed as a marine sanctuary with an abundance of tropical fish. This beach is great for families.

CHILENO BEACH: Safest Swimming, Snorkeling, Diving, Blue Flag
Great for families, snorkeling and diving. Several reefs are situated in these calm, clear waters with an abundance of marine life consisting of over 80 species. This is a common area for snorkeling and diving tours. Public restrooms and showers are available as well as sandy beach areas and shady places to rest and relax.

TEQUILA COVE (Hilton Cove or Playa Bledito): Swimming, Water Sports
Very safe for swimming and water sports as it has a man-made break water.

PUNTA PALMILLA: Swimming, Snorkeling, Water Sports, Blue Flag
Beautiful and private cove with a large bay perfect for swimming, snorkeling and water sports. Great for families. Near the luxurious One & Only Pamilla Resort.

EL TULE BEACH:Expert Surfing (No Swimming)
Good for the expert surfing only as it has a very strong break with fast swells coming in both directions. Driftwood and boulders on the beach.

PLAYA ACAPULQUITO(Old Man’s Beach & The Rock): Surfing (Risky Swimming), Blue Flag
South of the Arroyo is The Rock and Old Man’s surf breaks. The Rock is best for intermediate surfers and Acapulquito Beach is good for beginners or long boarders.  Good swimming during calm seas.

PLAYA COSTA AZUL (Zippers Beach): Surfing (Risky Swimming)
Home to the world-famous Zippers surf break situated North of the Arroyo and is for advanced Surfers. Swimming is risky and only recommended for surfers. Many surfing competitions take place here every year.

San Jose del Cabo

PLAYA HOTELERA(Hotel Beach): NO swimming, Surf Fishing
A long, open sandy beach with great scenery and good for surf fishing, beach walks (especially at night), horseback riding, and beach volleyball. No swimming allowed as there is a strong undertow.

ESTUARY BEACHNO swimming
Located at the north end of Hotel Row. No Swimming as the waves and undertow are strong and dangerous.  Also, a freshwater lagoon that has over 350 species of wildlife and beautiful vegetation. Great for bird watching and hiking around the area.

LA PLAYITA and EL GANZA BEACH CLUBSafe Swimming, Water Sports
At the marina in San Jose del Cabo are two small swimmable beaches. El Ganzo is a beach club with is open to public for small fee. Playita Beach has a roped-off swimming area and regular beach for swimming, skim-boarding, surfing, and other water sports.

LET’S ALL CELEBRATE CHILDREN!

El Dia de Los Niños , a tradition that began in Mexico in 1925, is celebrated on April 30 .  The idea was born from the first “World Conference for the Well-being of Children” that was held in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1925.  At that time several countries selected days to celebrate children.  Dia Del Niño, or Day of the Child, is an annual celebration throughout Mexico.  This day recognizes children, their importance to society and their well-being.

This celebration of children was started in the US on April 30, 1997 and promoted by Pat Mora a literary advocate and award winning author who thought people in the US should join many Latin American countries in this celebration.  Upon learning of this Mexican tradition Pat began developing the coupling of this day with Dia de Los Libros.  Literacy goes hand in hand with the well-being of children. Her idea was to equate El Dia de los Ninos to El Dia de los Libros  and to encourage the love for reading and learning.  A time for parents to read together with their children, visit libraries and bookstores and to create a special library for children to enjoy at home. She presented her idea to the University of Arizona Latino faculty and staff. They contacted a local chapter for the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and Spanish-Speaking.  In addition a group in Santa Fe New Mexio, a national Latina advocacy organization, endorsed the idea.  From the grass roots beginning the idea grew for support in linking language and literature for Dia del Niño and became official in the US in 1997.

Cabo San Lucas Country Club Winter Golf Deal

The Cabo San Lucas Country Club is offering Winter Golf Cards good November 2011 through April 2012 at great discounts.

Platinum Card
Initial Payment of $998.00
4 monthly payments of $250.00 each
Unlimited green fees
Use of practice facility
2 Guest passes
USGA Handicap service
20% merchandise discount
Weekly skins game
Season ending Club Championship
Add family for $899.00
Tax included
Gold Card
Initial Payment of $525.00
5 monthly payments of $175.00
Unlimited greens fees
($22.00 cart fee required)
Use of the practice facility
2 guest passes
USGA Handicap service
20% merchandise discount
Weekly skins game
Season ending Club Championship
Add family for $699.00
Tax included

Baja Sur Vacation Rentals has a number of Cabo Condos and Cabo vacation rental homes near the Cabo San Lucas Golf Course.

Check our inventory at http://www. bajasurvacationrentals.com

Baja Baby Gear is the brainchild of owner Jenni Reichert who experienced excess baggage fees for all of her baby Wyatt’s gear when traveling from Cabo to the U.S. She has specifically targeted timeshare families staying for a week or more as well as families who have rented vacation homes in the area. She also offers a baby concierge service, delivering baby supplies along with the equipment. Almost all of the equipment was shipped in from the U.S. so as to give the traveling consumer peace of mind in familiarity. Known brands such as Graco, Chicco, Disney are represented in her rental inventory.

Jenni converted her garage into a storage room for immediate access to her inventory. She charges a $25.00 delivery fee for orders under $100.00 Free delivery for orders over $100.00. Items are priced for daily and weekly rentals. For example a high chair is $35 per week or $7.00/day. A box of toys is $14.00/week, a crib $65/week. Cribs come with complimentary bumper pads, bedding and mobile. A car seat is $50 for the week. Fold away beds, portable toddler beds, mosquito netting for cribs, car seats for 2-5 year olds are also available with plans to expand depending on requests.

Cleanliness is always an issue and when items are picked up after each rental they are washed with a soapy solution and water. Any cloth items are machine washed with Dreft. All gear is then steam cleaned. The equipment is then sterilized with Lysol and plastic wrapped to be stored. When items are requested for use, they get another once over with Clorox. Finally, when she delivers the items she gives them one last wipe down with Lysol wipes.

Baja Baby Gear is a member of the Baby Travel Pros Association which is a collection of international baby equipment rental companies, who all adhere to a high standard of safety and quality practices.

When traveling to Los Cabos with little ones leave all your equipment and gear at home and contact Jenni at info@bajababygear.com. You can see her entire inventory with prices at www.bajababygear.com Renting on line and making arrangements for pick up or delivery upon your arrival is available. Local cell: 044-624-157-9123

The Baja Peninsula consists of 2 states.  Baja Norte and Baja Sur.

Cabo is located in Baja Sur and the state capital is La Paz, located about 1 1/2 hours north of Cabo.

Recently I came across some interesting facts about Cabo and Southern Baja.  

Almost 40% of the Southern Baja residents were born in another part of Mexico.  (I always enjoy locating a Cabo native and learning from them about Cabo in the early years)

Baja Sur is the least populated state in all of Mexico, however the population of Southern Baja has doubled in the past 20 years. (637,026 people at last count) 325,433 men and 311,593 women. 96% of those age 6-14 attend school.

There are almost 11,000 people who speak an indigenous dialect.

Religion:  82.7% Catholics,  7.5% Christians of different denominations.

Commerce and Service employees 72.4% of the population with 17.5% working in manufacturing and construction.  9.2% work in agricultural activities.

Electricity has reached 96.7% of the homes with 87.8% receiving water from the city.

94% of homes have TV, 88.6 have refrigerators, 69.7% own at least one car, 40.7% have a telephone, 41.5% own a computer, 33.2% have internet and 86.5% own at least one cell phone.

Please feel free to add any other interesting facts you may know about Cabo and Southern Baja.

We always enjoy reading the Gringo Gazette, one of Cabo’s local English newspapers.  The owner/editor Carrie Duncan is always creative as are the other contributing writers.  Next time you are in Cabo pick up a copy or go online.  Here’s the link:  http://www.gringogazette.tv/

In a recent issue, March 28, I found the following article and thought it would be fun to share.

Who Reads What?
And is anybody reading the Gringo Gazette?

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the U.S.

2.  The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the U.S.

3.  The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the U.S. and who are very good at crossword puzzles.

4.  USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the U.S. but don’t really understand The New York Times.  They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.

5.  The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the U.S., if they could find the time–and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.

6.  The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a poor job of it.

7.  The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the U.S. and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

8.  The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who is running the U.S. as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

9.  The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country, but need the baseball scores.

10.  The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure if there is a United States or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for.  There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped, minority, feminist, atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens form any other country or galaxy, provided of course, that they are not Republicans.

11.  The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

12.  The Gringo Gazette is read by people in Mexico who have recently caught a fish and need something to wrap it in.

March 21 is a national holiday in Mexico celebrating Benito Juarez Day.   Benito Juarez was born on March 21, 1806 and died July 18, 1872.  His full name was Benito Pablo Juarez Garcia and he was a lawyer and politician from Oaxaca.  He served 5 terms as President of Mexico from 1858 to 1872.  He is known for being the first Mexican leader who did not have a military background and was also the first full-blooded indigenous national ever to serve at President of Mexico and to lead a country in the Western Hemisphere.  During his reign he resisted French occupation, overthrew the Empire and restored the Republic.  He is also known for his liberal efforts to modernize the country. 

Today he is remembered as a progressive reformer dedicated to democracy and equal rights.  His time as President is known as La Reforma (the reform), and “constituted a liberal political and social revolution”. His photo is on the 20 pesos bank note.

Mexican banks, state and federal offices and local offices will be closed today.

Cactus World San Jose del Cabo
Cactus World San Jose del Cabo

I had the opportunity to visit Cacti Mundo on a recent visit to San Jose del Cabo and enjoyed walking through this wonderful Cacti garden.  Having lived in the desert for many years I thought I had seen every cactus possible, but not so.  The variety of the Cacti found in Cacti Mundo (Cactus World) is amazing.  It’s a relatively small garden with so much to see.  The cost is only 30 pesos and worth it.

Cactus World San Jose del Cabo

Cacti Mundo is located in San Jose del Cabo.  To get there go past Hotel Row and turn left at the El Presidente and entrance to the Estuary.  Cacti Mundo is about 1/2 mile up the street on the left side as you are heading into downtown San Jose del Cabo.

Sunrider Adventure

The Sunrider Adventure offers a variety of tours.  We enjoyed their Sunset Dinner Cruise not too long ago but they offer so much more.

Sunset Dinner Cruise
Mexican Buffet with full open bar
$45/person
½ half price for children under 10
Sprint/Summer 5:30-8:30
Fall/Winter 4:00-6:30

Whale Watching Dinner Cruise
Mexican Buffet with full open bar
$45/person
½ price for children under 10
4:00-6:30

Snorkel Lunch Cruise
1 hours of snorkeling in Santa Maria Bay
Mexican Buffet with full open bar
$45/person
½ price for children under 10
11:00 AM- 2:30 PM

Whale Watching Lunch Cruise
Mexican Buffet with full open bar
$45/person
½ price for children under 10
10:30 AM-1:30 PM

Mexican Buffet includes:  BBQ beef, chicken skewers, refried beans, tortilla chips, dipping melted cheese, guacamole salsa, fresh fruit, rice and vegetables.

Open Bar includes: Margaritas, Pina Coladas, Daiquiris, Tequila, Beer, Rum, Vodka, Gin, Whiskey, sodas and juices.

Board at Dock 4 thirty minutes prior to departure.

Private charters, special events and catering also available.

Reservations required  1-888-332-8477

Prices subject to change

Father Nicolas Tamaral established the Mission San Jose del Cabo Anuiti in 1730 as part of the Jesuit colonization of the peninsula of Baja California.  The building site was moved by the missionaries on several occasions in an attempt to flee from epidemics and mosquito infestations, while securing a source of fresh water.  Early buildings were simple structures of adobe, sticks and palm fronds, vulnerable to storm damage.

In 1734, the region’s Pericu Indians destroyed the four southern missions, including the Mission of San Jose. Father Tamaral was murdered with great cruelty during the uprising which is depicted on the tile mural above the church’s entrance.

The Jesuits left the Baja Peninsula in 1768, to be followed by the Franciscans and then the Dominicans.  The Combonian missionaries served the Mission of San Jose from 1948 to 1986. Since, the church has been in the hands of diocesan clergy.

The twin-towered church seen today was built in 1932, at the traditional location on the plaza long occupied by the Mission of San Jose.