Cabo is located in Baja California a State of Mexico close to California.
It is a tourist resort and famous for its deep sea fishing, golfing and time shares and plenty of people wanting to sell you cigars, jewellery and everything else.Cabo is also famous for it's party boats and nightlife, something that is wasted on me these days.
The place is really buzzing at 9pm, and I think that is just the starting time.
Monica and Richard have a condo in Terrasol which is located close to the Marina and "The Arch"
The car was not needed as everything was in walking distance... But in my normal fashion I tried to see everything and go everywhere on the first days and have the blisters on my feet as a result, although I think that may be more to do with my thongs though, if I had of been wearing runners I don't think I would have got them.
I weighed myself before and after a walk and I had lost 1.5 kg so drink lots of water.
If you like the sun and heat and don't mind the humidity then this is the place for you.
This part of Mexico is relatively safe for tourist, but like everywhere you have to be careful not to get ripped off.
A lot of locals speak English especially those wanting to sell you something.
The beach is packed with people with all sorts of water sports available, including deep sea fishing.
Monica has heaps of documentation, which first looked too much, but I found myself often looking at it for reference.
The beach at the rear of the condo is deep water and only for fishing, the entertainment beach is 15 minutes walk away at Medano beach
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| Terrasol is the building behind the large boat on the left Spot the seal riding on the back of the boat, after fish |
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| View from patio to beach |
My first attempt at using the local white buses, called collectivo's, located near to the condo was not all that successful. I asked the driver if he was going near to the Walmart, and he waved me in and charged me extra because I was a foreigner. Normal fare is 11.50 pesos (about $1).
Anyway when we got downtown 1 km away he dropped me off and pointed to which direction I should go... He did not go anywhere near Walmart and I ended up walking over a km on my blistered feet. I saw later plenty of these collectivo's going to Walmart but they all have the main bus stops (including Walmart) written on the windows. I did not realise that at the time.
Now in hindsight, a week later, I may have been unfare to the bus driver... After he dropped me off I could have walked across a couple of streets and caught a bus going to Walmart. Perhaps that is what the bus driver was trying to explain to me.
The return taxi ride from Walmart cost $14 and I only had a $20... and of course he had no change :)
But I am a tourist and wanting to learn about the place. Not too expensive but a learning that you should have both $US and in smaller denominations as well as Pesos with you when you travel around. The local ATM dispense one or the other, just watch which output currency is in the machine.
Later on the week I tried again to get to the Walmart again, but I thought with a bit more knowledge. So I did manage to get on a bus that had Walmart on the window, but half an hour later I ended up going along a lot of dirt roads at 5km/hr as they were full of potholes and the bus has no suspension.
I ended up at the bus depot what seemed a long way from anywhere, so I obviously caught the bus that had already been to Walmart and was just returning to the depot. So another warning, just because the bus has Walmart written on it does not mean you are going there.... I got the next bus that returned me to the start. That was a good sight seeing tour and if you don't mind not knowing where you are or where you are going, it was quite exciting. The next day I figured out what side of the road I needed to be standing on to get to Walmart, quite an anti climax as I got there and back without concern. I had to get 2 buses to get back to my starting point but that was no problem at that stage.
Info that some other knowledgable tourist has written on the subject: Collectivo information
Today is a new day and the Collectivo's are now almost easy. I find myself having to advise other English speaking tourists that get on where it is going and what to do. Not very many on board speak English. Today I got the main bus that went to San Jose. That is about 45 mins away and cost 32 pesos each way. San Jose is much quieter than Cabo and definately worth a visit, even if just to look at all the development along the way. There are lots of golf courses and resorts between the 2 towns. They are really magnificent resorts and on some beautiful coastline with warm seas, white sandy beaches, surfing and swimming.
Of course I am still managing to get at least 3 hours per day beside the heated pool. They serve drinks and reasonably priced meals there most of the day, but I am content with being in the pool and soaking up the sun just so that when I return to work they will be able to see what I have been doing while they endure their winter.
I meet a lot of interesting people at the pool as most seem to go there at some stage to either eat or cool down. I get lots of invites to join others going out drinking or on their booze cruise but I am happy just to watch them all going past from the comfort of the patio. My bedtime is closer to 9 or 10pm rather than 1am, those days are past :) Some may call that boring!
The weather and temperature is very predictable. Fine blue sky with 26 deg in the morning and 35 during the day, some call that perfect. For me it is a bit hot for sleeping at it is closer to 30 while trying to sleep and I don't like A/C units or ceiling fans.
They have about 10 days of rain per year and when it does rain it can be heavy and causes problems.
A lot of the resorts have desalinated water which is ok but if you want to drink water it is best bought.
Unlike in Australia and NZ where they manage to sell bottled water for whatever reason, since tap water is perfectly fine, here you do need to purchase bottled water for drinking.
Most of the shopping around the Marina and all the resorts charge you US$ rather that pesos, so you do need to have both currencies.
It is definitely an advantage to know some Spanish, or at least have someone in your party that knows it, that way you would make the most out of the place and perhaps seen with different eyes.
Anyway when we got downtown 1 km away he dropped me off and pointed to which direction I should go... He did not go anywhere near Walmart and I ended up walking over a km on my blistered feet. I saw later plenty of these collectivo's going to Walmart but they all have the main bus stops (including Walmart) written on the windows. I did not realise that at the time.
Now in hindsight, a week later, I may have been unfare to the bus driver... After he dropped me off I could have walked across a couple of streets and caught a bus going to Walmart. Perhaps that is what the bus driver was trying to explain to me.
The return taxi ride from Walmart cost $14 and I only had a $20... and of course he had no change :)
But I am a tourist and wanting to learn about the place. Not too expensive but a learning that you should have both $US and in smaller denominations as well as Pesos with you when you travel around. The local ATM dispense one or the other, just watch which output currency is in the machine.
Later on the week I tried again to get to the Walmart again, but I thought with a bit more knowledge. So I did manage to get on a bus that had Walmart on the window, but half an hour later I ended up going along a lot of dirt roads at 5km/hr as they were full of potholes and the bus has no suspension.
I ended up at the bus depot what seemed a long way from anywhere, so I obviously caught the bus that had already been to Walmart and was just returning to the depot. So another warning, just because the bus has Walmart written on it does not mean you are going there.... I got the next bus that returned me to the start. That was a good sight seeing tour and if you don't mind not knowing where you are or where you are going, it was quite exciting. The next day I figured out what side of the road I needed to be standing on to get to Walmart, quite an anti climax as I got there and back without concern. I had to get 2 buses to get back to my starting point but that was no problem at that stage.
Info that some other knowledgable tourist has written on the subject: Collectivo information
Today is a new day and the Collectivo's are now almost easy. I find myself having to advise other English speaking tourists that get on where it is going and what to do. Not very many on board speak English. Today I got the main bus that went to San Jose. That is about 45 mins away and cost 32 pesos each way. San Jose is much quieter than Cabo and definately worth a visit, even if just to look at all the development along the way. There are lots of golf courses and resorts between the 2 towns. They are really magnificent resorts and on some beautiful coastline with warm seas, white sandy beaches, surfing and swimming.
Of course I am still managing to get at least 3 hours per day beside the heated pool. They serve drinks and reasonably priced meals there most of the day, but I am content with being in the pool and soaking up the sun just so that when I return to work they will be able to see what I have been doing while they endure their winter.
I meet a lot of interesting people at the pool as most seem to go there at some stage to either eat or cool down. I get lots of invites to join others going out drinking or on their booze cruise but I am happy just to watch them all going past from the comfort of the patio. My bedtime is closer to 9 or 10pm rather than 1am, those days are past :) Some may call that boring!
The weather and temperature is very predictable. Fine blue sky with 26 deg in the morning and 35 during the day, some call that perfect. For me it is a bit hot for sleeping at it is closer to 30 while trying to sleep and I don't like A/C units or ceiling fans.
They have about 10 days of rain per year and when it does rain it can be heavy and causes problems.
A lot of the resorts have desalinated water which is ok but if you want to drink water it is best bought.
Unlike in Australia and NZ where they manage to sell bottled water for whatever reason, since tap water is perfectly fine, here you do need to purchase bottled water for drinking.
Most of the shopping around the Marina and all the resorts charge you US$ rather that pesos, so you do need to have both currencies.
It is definitely an advantage to know some Spanish, or at least have someone in your party that knows it, that way you would make the most out of the place and perhaps seen with different eyes.
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