Cabo San Lucas

Like a drinking dragon, the granite rock bows down to the water of the Pacific and majestically dismisses the peninsula into the roaring sea.

When the traveler, after 1,000 miles‘ drive (1,600 km) with unforgettable impressions of the desert and the sea, reaches the cape region of Baja California, he must not expect to arrive at a tranquil beach in the light of sundown. Nay, Cabo San Lucas, the southernmost town on the huge peninsula, is pulsating day and night. All the things that have separated the traveler from Western civilization for days and weeks are present here in a kaleidoscope of exclusive shops, luxury hotels, restaurants of any type, discos and animators, international jet set and loud-voiced vendors and their American and international customers.

The cape region of Baja California was originally inhabited by the nomadic people of the Guaycura Indians. Living as hunter-gatherers, they survived far into the 17th century the diseases brought in from Europe by the Spaniards. Several sources report that due to warfare, there was a “shortage of men” among the Guaycuras, which resulted in polygamy. The legend, originating in the 16th century, of a women‘s army with matriarchic leadership, however, seems to be less realistic and to be a product of the imagination of traders traveling through the region. One of these visitors was freebooter Thomas Cavendish, who often rode at anchor in the bay of Cabo San Lucas and used this place as a base to plan and execute his operations. When he seized the Spanish galleon “Santa Ana”, which was laden with gold and silk, the Spanish decided to put an end to the notorious pirates‘ nest for good. At the utmost point of the cape, King Philip II. of Spain erected a fort that was henceforth to keep the seas of Baja clear of freebooters with English licenses.

In 1934, only 436 people lived in Cabo San Lucas, then a small fishing village, which was well-known for its excellent fishing grounds, though. Luxury yachts and sport fishers from all over the world soon began to come to Cabo San Lucas to angle for billfishes and swordfishes along the nearly inexhaustible “Marlin Alley”. The Carretera Transpeninsular (1973) and the international airport in San José del Cabo eventually opened the door to large-scale tourism in this region.

Besides the great yachting harbor and the display of the history of Baja California in the “Museo de las Californias”, you shouldn‘t miss making an excursion to the Playa del Amor with a glass-bottomed boat. Enclosed by huge rocks on either side, a magnificent sand beach opens to the Pacific and the protected bay of Cabo San Lucas. It is beyond question that aquatic sports and outdoor activities are highly important in Cabo San Lucas: You can get all you need for water-skiing, jet skiing, snorkeling, diving, surfing, kayaking, or paragliding, to name just a few of the many activities offered in the town. Innumerable restaurants, bars and discos invite you for a visit in the evening and turn night into day.

All is dominated by a landmark, which towers above the bay of Cabo San Lucas: the enormous rock of Los Arcos, the southernmost point of Baja California. Like a drinking dragon, the granite rock bows down to the water of the Pacific and majestically dismisses the peninsula into the roaring sea.