SAN JOSE DEL CABO
In short, we say Cabo. Cabo in Spanish, means Cape (like Cape Cod or Cape Canaveral). Los Cabos means the capes, of which there are several at the tip of the state of Baja California Sur. Most popular destinations are Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. We chose the latter.
We stayed at the Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf and Spa Resort. This is our third Secrets. And all Secrets are not created equal. My favorite is still Secrets Maroma Beach. But, I'm looking forward to Secrets Moxche in Playa Del Carmen soon. Why do we go to Secrets locations? All inclusive, great staff, decent food and we are preferred club members. So, we get private check-in/check-out, top shelf drinks, and free upgraded rooms.
For this trip, I was motivated to get off the resort and explore a little. And we did just that. First night, we went to Jazz on the Rocks at Sunset Point located at the top of the Sunset Monalisa restaurant (recommended by my good friend @aeroreflection). It was scenic, romantic and chill. They have a live jazz band every night. Their cocktails are named after jazz musicians. Fancy menu. We watched the sunset while eating dinner perched high on the rocks where we could see the iconic Cabo San Lucas Arch in the distance. Complete date night vibes or fancy girls' night out. Just watch out for the horse flies. I ordered the herb crusted sea bass for me and the flies, I guess. I had to eat it so fast to prevent the flies from landing on it. Was it good? Probably. Granted, the restaurant tried a table fan and burned herbs at our table. Didn't work. They were relentless.
The second night, we went to the San Jose Art Walk. It's held every Thursday from 5 pm to 9 pm. The event boasts artists with the best paintings, vendors selling food and other merchandise, street shows and people buzzing around to enjoy the weather. It's not super crowded. There are plenty of souvenir shops, restaurants, eateries and bars around. We even stopped in a tequila shop, took about 10 mini shots, and walked away with two bottles.
The third night, we went on a cruise to see the Cabo San Lucas Arch up close. It was beautiful and such a mysterious wonder. How did the rocks form? How did they become so tall? What is keeping them upright? I was excited to see the arches but the choppy waves had a different idea for my stomach. I meant to take some dramamine but forgot it in the room. SMH. HUGE MISTAKE!! Don't be like me. Take your motion sickness meds first. I only enjoyed the first part of the cruise. The second part, I was stuck in the bathroom trying to get air from the 12 in by 4 inch window. And I'm usually a stickler for details. I just knew I had been hoodwinked when we were escorted to a catamaran. I was prepared to write a letter and give a scathing review. It was my fault though. I booked a catamaran instead of a yacht cruise. Other than being unfancy on a catamaran and being super seasick, I would recommend cruising to the arches.
The days were spent by the pool. If you have been to any resort, you know that the pool and beach chairs are a hot commodity. I was about to fight someone in Cancun in January because they stole our beach chairs. I was ready to start swinging again but I didn't have to. But, I did have to get up at 6:30 am to secure two chairs though. And I didn't even get the best spot. Everyone else must get up at 6:29 am because there is no way that two days in a row, we ended up with the last of the pickings. We had a cabana by the main pool on the first day. But, the main pool has bottom shelf drinks and more action. The preferred pool has top shelf drinks and is pretty quiet. My priority is top shelf drinks. So, chilling at the pool with the noise level on library status was ok for me. I binged watched Swarm on Amazon Prime, watched a bunch of Tiny Desk performances, and kept ordering top shelf Cadillac margaritas.
This time, I splurged on a swim up room. Before this vacation, I would have never booked a swim up room. I felt like the killer would wade through the water to break into my room. But, I went out on a limb this time. I'm so glad I did. The pool is semi-private and convenient. And since we didn't have any access to a beach, this was the next best thing. Why no beach? When we arrived, they said a storm washed away the beach at the resort two weeks prior. So, they were working on it but didn't know when it would be accessible again. We had the option to go to the beach at Hotel El Ganzo, which was five minutes away. Or Lover's Beach about 40 mins away. That was too much going back and forth for me. And there was no beach service at these places. I considered getting a day pass to hang out at another resort. It was still doing too much to secure a cabana. The swim-up room gave me a different experience. Although I still had to make sure the janky sliding door was locked every night, I was no longer scared of the killer wading in my pool.
Would I go to Los Cabos again? Absolutely. I would check out the other side, Cabo San Lucas.
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