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Los Cabos
Where the desert, the Pacific, and the Sea of Cortez meet, and where Baja's resort coast begins.
Municipality population: ~350,000
Municipality created: 1981
Los Cabos ("The Capes") sits at the very southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. The region is made up of two very different towns: Cabo San Lucas, the lively marina and nightlife hub at the tip, and San José del Cabo, a calmer, more traditional town with a historic center and an arts scene. Between them, a roughly 30 km (20 mi) coastal corridor is lined with beaches, golf courses, and resorts. The municipality had about 351,000 residents at the 2020 census, and it's the state's main tourism engine and its busiest international gateway.
What Makes Los Cabos Different
Los Cabos is the most developed and best-connected destination in Baja California Sur, with the widest range of restaurants, hotels, marinas, and services. It also has some of the region's most dramatic scenery: the granite rock formations of Land's End and the iconic El Arco rise straight out of the water where two seas collide.
Compared to La Paz, Los Cabos is more polished, more international, and much livelier. English is widely spoken, US dollars are widely accepted, and the pace is faster. For many visitors, it's the perfect starting point. For others, it's the place to fly into before heading somewhere quieter.
Cabo San Lucas
The energetic southern tip of the peninsula, built around a busy marina, Medano Beach, and a well-known nightlife scene. It's also the departure point for most boat tours, sportfishing charters, and yacht outings to El Arco and the surrounding coast.
San José del Cabo
A slower-paced, more traditional town with a colonial-era center, art galleries, a lush estuary, and a strong food scene. It's a good base if you prefer charm to nightlife.
The Tourist Corridor
The stretch of highway linking the two towns is home to many of the area's best-known resorts, golf courses, and calmer swimming beaches, such as Chileno Bay and Santa María Bay, both popular for snorkeling. Note that many Pacific-facing beaches in Los Cabos have strong currents and are unsuitable for swimming, so check local conditions before getting in the water.
On the Water
Los Cabos is one of the world's best-known sportfishing destinations, with marlin, tuna, dorado, and wahoo depending on the season. It's also a natural launch point for yacht charters, sunset cruises, snorkeling trips, and whale watching from roughly December through March, when humpback whales pass close to shore.
Climate & Best Time to Visit
Los Cabos is sunny for most of the year, with very little rain outside the late-summer storm season. The most comfortable months are roughly November through May, with mild days and cooler evenings. Summers are hot and humid, and hurricane season runs roughly June through November, peaking August through October.
Getting There
Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) is the state's main airport, with direct flights from many US and Canadian cities and connections throughout Mexico. From the airport, Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo are each about a 20 to 40 minute drive, depending on traffic. La Paz is roughly two to two-and-a-half hours north by road.
Beyond Los Cabos
Los Cabos is a great base for day trips. Cabo Pulmo National Park (one of the oldest coral reefs in North America) is about 1.5 hours northeast, Todos Santos is about an hour up the Pacific coast, and La Paz offers a very different, quieter side of Baja for those who want to go further.