Find Your Winter Fun in… Cabo San Lucas!

As 2021 wraps up, (hopefully) we can start getting excited to travel again! The kind of travel that involves resorts and airplanes NOT more trips from the home office to the backyard… #sorrynotsorry. I am the kind of person that LOVES to go somewhere warm in the dead of an Iowa winter, and if you are too, I would suggest a trip to Cabo San Lucas. Plus, read on to find out some awesome DEALS that are available when you go!

In early 2020, I was scheduling a Spring trip to Cabo with my friends from back home. The original trip dates were April 10-17 … prior to nearly all flights being grounded in April 2020 … it was then rescheduled to June (because I was overly optimistic in thinking that this crazy situation was going to improve) … and guess who also did not get to board a plane in June?! Are you sensing a pattern here? I finally rescheduled all the way out to October and, for heaven’s sake, I was going to drive there if I had to.

I actually had several work trips and conferences cancelled between April and September and I was feeling pretty crushed. I am sure MANY of you can relate. So we booked a Fall trip, followed DOZENS of safety protocols, and finally made it to Cabo. Our experience involved less people, more precautions, and was generally more cautious in Mexico than it was in our daily lives at home. This was our first time to Cabo and we liked it, but it’s not our favorite destination. I wish we would have been able to take advantage of the Spring weather, because it’s significantly less humid and rainy than Fall, but we still had a great time… AND came home to Iowa’s first snow of the year (insert eye roll here).

Resort

We enjoy the Villa del Palmar group resorts, which were operating at lower capacities and enforcing extensive cleaning protocols after being closed for several months that year. Every resort entrance had rubber mats to walk your shoes through sanitizer and luggage was disinfected upon arrival. All staff wore masks, pool chairs were 6′ apart, and restaurant tables were socially distanced. It was 30-50% capacity when we were there, but the guidelines for resorts are constantly changing. To be honest, the resort staff and community there were being significantly more strict with their precautions than I noticed in the US.

DEALS

You know this is my favorite thing to tell you about, right? There is this card called the Los Cabos Passport that gets you 2×1 OR 50% off anything you can imagine in Cabo. Wanna go fishing? Choose from 5 different fishing charter companies that are willing to give you 50% off when using the Los Cabos Passport. Wanna try a new restaurant? There are dozens that will give you a free meal when you purchase one. How about riding camels, parasailing, or swimming with the sharks? (yes, really) Use the passport card to get half off on all of them! The Los Cabos passport costs $80, can be used for up to 6 people, and is good for nearly a year (either January-January or July-July, depending on when you purchase it). You guys, it pays for itself if you use it for one free meal and one free activity. Can you imagine how much you would save if you did 3 or 4 activities? Plus some restaurants? Some of those cruises and snorkeling adventures are $100 per person and you would either be getting half off or buy one, get one free!

We had internet issues at the hotel, so I wasn’t able to get mine activated right away. But we were able to try a restaurant at the marina and get BOGO meals PLUS get 50% off on a glass bottom boat cruise out to the famous Arch (for four of us). I kind of wish I was going back before July so that I could use it more, because you can use it as much as you want before it expires!

SWIMMING WITH SEA LIONS – Cabo Adventures

This was the biggest highlight of our trip. We signed up for an all day adventure to go to La Paz (up in the Gulf of California), take a catamaran cruise to a nature reserve, snorkel and swim with colonies (dozens) of sea lions. We booked this trip through our resort activity concierge and it was operated by Cabo Adventures. We also had the option of swimming with whale sharks on a similar excursion, but everyone that I had with me seemed a little more concerned about that adventure (my husband literally asked if I was trying to kill him…). All tours were only allowing 50% capacity and operating on limited schedules to allow for additional cleaning. I LOVED our low capacity adventures: No crowded boats, no crowded buses, plenty of food, it was great.

We boarded an early shuttle one morning to take us to the Cabo Adventures building where all of the guests are temperature checked, signed waivers, and were divided out by what activity they were doing that day. We boarded a charter bus and went on a beautiful scenic drive up to La Paz. The drive was kind of long, which is mentioned when you book, but we got to see a lot of the country side and ocean views throughout Baja Sur.

We arrived in La Paz around 11am and were divided out onto the catamarans for our tour. Our tour group occupied two catamarans with 10-15 people on each. The five of us opted to sit by ourselves up in the upper level with the driver, where it was partially shaded and less people. On the cruise from La Paz to Espiritu Santo Island (where we would snorkel with the sea lions), we were offered unlimited food and drinks, and the views were breathtaking. Upon getting close to the island, smaller boats were dispatched to our catamaran to take small groups closer to the rocks to snorkel. We were advised on how sea lions behave and what they do when they get aggressive, especially when there are pups (sea lion babies) in the area. As we swam through the rock island points, I had at least two sea lions brush against me as they passed. I got some incredible photos and everyone in our party was absolutely impressed with the experience.

After snorkeling for as long as we wanted, the boats picked us back up to return us to the catamaran. We cruised to another spot to enjoy free swimming, more food and drinks, music and sunbathing. The waters were crystal clear and some of the people on our boat opted to snorkel more at this location, but we mostly relaxed and enjoyed the view.

Transportation

Our resort was about 30-40 minutes from the airport and most resorts do offer shuttle services for a fee. Our resort charges $42 per person for roundtrip from the airport to resort when we arrived and resort to airport for the return flight. I think that many of the resorts are in line with this pricing, in which case I would HIGHLY recommend private transportation. In this case, if you have a family of 3-4 (or a few couples) that are purchasing the hotel shuttle it is CHEAPER to get a private, luxury vehicle (like an Escalade) that provides beer, water, AND operates entirely on your schedule (no stopping at 6 other hotels on your way to yours). They will often even stop at the convenience store, grocery store, or Walmart for you to pick up a few things, if you need it. We used Brown’s Private Services and LOVED it. The driver was professional, courteous, and friendly. There were refreshments waiting in the vehicle for us and he was very punctual, something I really appreciate when we are talking flight schedules. This was the perfect end to a perfect trip. 

BONUS: If you get the Los Cabos Passport, you can get their private transportation services for 30% off!

Money saving tips

1. USE A TRAVEL AGENT – Would you like complimentary help to plan your next couples getaway or family trip? International or Domestic? I would love to help you find your perfect resort and plan your next vacation AT NO COST TO YOU! Shoot me an email at celia@EliteTCagent.com or fill out the Google Form: https://forms.gle/uAqpFYHDJL2NzBKP8

2. All-Inclusive is NOT required – if your family will not eat and drink your weight in meals each day, consider booking a resort that has all-inclusive OPTIONAL. We have done NO all-inclusive, a few days with and a few without (very few resorts allow this), and full all-inclusive before. Only doing 3-4 days of the week or just doing “pay as you go” makes way more financial sense for us.

3. Look for deals! This is the stuff I love: discounts, coupons, the Los Cabos Passport, all available on the internet with a little Google work.

4. Check for airplane tickets OUTSIDE of your home area – we drive to Minneapolis, do Park-Sleep-Fly, and grab a 3.5 hour direct flight to many locations in Mexico that is HALF the price of flights from Des Moines or Cedar Rapids. Chicago is also a reasonable drive when you are talking a $500 difference PER ticket.