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Condé Nast Traveler picks
 Best of Los Cabos
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Two towns connected by an 18-mile coastal road called the Corridor make up the vacation enclave collectively called Los Cabos. Cabo San Lucas is an antic cruise port full of bars and shopping malls. San José del Cabo, an eighteenth-century mission town, has its share of tourism, but it's also filled with traditional haciendas and adobe houses and charmingly occupies the edge of a 125-acre estuary with white sand beaches and 200 bird species.
Convenient, cloudless, and affordable, Los Cabos and the Baja Peninsula are ideal from autumn through spring, when temperatures range from 60 to 90 degrees. The beaches and rocky coves on the tip of Baja were the domain of fishermen until 1973, when Highway 1 was completed and development began. Since then, Los Cabos has become a Hamptons for Hollywood, with world-class resorts alongside hotels, inns, posadas, B&Bs, and hostels—many of which are bargains. The Corridor is busy with taxis and buses that connect the resorts, golf courses, and 17 principal beaches. Attractions & Activities Los Cabos has seven championship golf courses, including several at resorts: three nine-hole courses at the One&Only Palmilla, each with different landscaping (52-624-146-7000); 36 holes at the Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos, where guests have tee privileges at Cabo del Sol's Ocean and Desert courses (52-624-145-6200); and 18 holes plus a putting green at the Westin Resort & Spa, where guests can book tee times at all of Los Cabos' courses (52-624-142-9000). There's superb snorkeling on the Sea of Cortés side of Cabo San Lucas' Playa del Amor and, in the winter months, exceptional whale watching about 400 miles up the Pacific coast at Laguna San Ignacio, which gets just 3,000 visitors a year (compared with the 10,000 who pass through the larger Scammon's Lagoon). Ecoturismo Kuyimá can suggest an itinerary (52-615-154-0070). The pleasures of surfing off Baja attract the cognoscenti; there are numerous breaks off Los Cabos. Check in with the Costa Azul Surf Shop in San José del Cabo for the latest information and equipment rentals (52-624-142-2771). For boating, the Sea of Cortés is winter's heaven on earth—sandy desert meets cobalt sea under cloudless skies. Charter boats usually provide snorkel and dive gear—neoprene wet suits are essential in winter, when the sea can be 70 degrees or cooler. Bring water sandals, sunscreen, a windbreaker, sunglasses, a hat, fleece pants, and a pair of compact binoculars in a waterproof case for onshore forays. You'll spend most of your time on, or in, the water, so wear a long-sleeved jacket over a union suit for insulation. Suggested sailboat charters: Baja Coast SeaFaris will ask scores of questions so that you can pack and provision properly (take the seasickness query seriously). Go with an empty wallet—once you leave the marina, there's no way to spend money (52-612-348-5899). The Moorings has single-hull crafts and catamarans for competent sailors. On request, it will arrange for a captain and a cook, and will stock the boat with food and kayaks (727-535-1446). For a muscle-powered cruise, Sea & Adventures arranges kayaking trips around the island of Espíritu Santo. It also has day-trips from La Paz (406-522-7595; $35–$1,300 per person per day). Lodging Three super-posh hotels off the Corridor vie for the stars who come down from California: On a rocky point landscaped with elephant trees and cactuses, the minimalist 50-room Hotel Twin Dolphin has no phones, but discreet cell phone use is tolerated. The property is within walking distance of Santa María Beach, which is safe for swimming and snorkeling. The 56 rooms at Esperanza Resort, situated along 17 acres on a bluff outside Cabo San Lucas, have postcard-worthy views of the turquoise-to-azure spectrum where the Sea of Cortés and the Pacific mingle. Rooms are among the largest in Baja and contain local artwork as well as DVD players and complimentary high-speed Internet access. Chef Flynt Payne takes the locale to heart with dishes such as sea bass on crystallized-lime couscous. Spa-level Palapa suites have the best views. The poshest and most popular property is the Mediterranean-style One&Only Palmilla—recently retooled to include an unofficial family wing (with a kid-friendly infinity pool). The resort offers a tequila welcome and suites so large, it's easy to get lost while looking for the limes and salt. The decor includes Tlaquepaque textiles and hand-painted ceramics from Guadalajara. Its One&Only Spa is one of the top-rated in the West. There are two eateries: C, the first international venture of Chicago's Charlie Trotter, and Agua, where Larbi Dahrouch's innovative Mexi-Med cuisine has many fans, including John Travolta and Michael Jordan. Beachfront Casita suites afford the most privacy. Other good choices in Cabo San Lucas: For picturesque privacy in a secluded enclave of its own near Land's End, Solmar Suites has 160 rooms, many with ocean-view terraces. Those who enjoy nightlife prefer the more affordable Hotel Finisterra, poised on a cliff between Cabo San Lucas Harbor (which is within walking distance) and a vast beach at Land's End. Heading east along the Corridor, the stylish, airy Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort & Spa is surrounded by a couple of Los Cabos' best golf courses. A couple of miles farther on, the 255-room Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos sprawls amid landscaped greenery, with only its swimming pools separating it from a long stretch of beach. The facilities include lighted tennis courts, a fitness center, and a spa. In the center of the Corridor, the 375 rooms at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort are chic and well-furnished. The sun-yellow, 237-room Marquis Los Cabos Resort, with a dramatic waterfall that cascades into the pool, has a superb beachside location and 28 casitas with private pools. All suites have balconies and hydromassage bathtubs. On the road to San José del Cabo, the sleek terra-cotta-colored Westin Resort & Spa, at the edge of the Pacific, gets particularly high marks for its newly renovated rooms and overall design. Behind its own high walls in the town of San José del Cabo, Casa Natalia is small, stylish, with more local flavor. More affordable, the pale-yellow, hacienda-style El Encanto Inn has 26 rooms of various sizes. South of town, the beachside 333-room Crowne Plaza Resort Los Cabos–Grand Faro has an all-inclusive plan as well as a wide range of activities but nothing in the way of stylish decor. Dining San José del Cabo, home to a number of the area's top restaurants, is the place to dine; Cabo San Lucas's draw is nightlife. One of San José's best, Mi Cocina, set in the courtyard of Casa Natalia, serves a superb fusion of nouvelle European and Mexican cuisines (4 Mijares Blvd.; 52-624-142-5100; entrées, $16–$30). In a patio garden Tequila is also outstanding, and serves dishes inspired by Mediterranean, Asian, and Mexican cuisine, more than 50 different tequilas, and Cuban cigars (1011 Manuel Doblado; 52-624-142-1155; entrées, $11–$42). Locals book patio tables at Damiana, a restored eighteenth-century merchant's house on the main square, famous for lobster, abalone, and its namesake herb, reputed to be an aphrodisiac (8 Mijares Blvd.; 52-624-142-0499; entrées, $11–$42). A tiny one-story building in the shadow of a telephone tower, El Chilar is more upscale, with an excellent 180-vintage wine list (1515 Calle Benito Juárez; 52-624-142-2544; entrées, $10–$54). The most romantic meal in Cabo San Lucas, with prices so high your true love will know you care, can be had in Casa Rafael's (Calle Medano and Camino Pescador; 52-624-143-0739; entrées, $20–$40). Barhopping to excess in Cabo San Lucas is legendary. Two of the most popular spots for drinking and dancing are the three-story El Squid Roe (Av. Lázaro Cárdenas and Calle Ignacio Zaragoza; 52-624-143-0655) and Cabo Wabo Cantina, owned by former Van Halen singer/songwriter Sammy Hagar (Av. Lázaro Cárdenas and Calle Vicente Guerrero; 52-624-143-1188). Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.
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