Baja California Sur (Los Cabos)
Cabo San Lucas
Medano Beach is the only properly swimmable sand at Baja's tip, so base there for five to seven nights, time it December to April for whales, and budget like a US resort.
Best length
5-7 nights
Airport
San José del Cabo (SJD), ~47km / 29 miles northeast
Airport to centre
~40-50 min by toll road; no train or public bus to speak of
Best base
Medano Beach for swimming; the marina for nightlife and tours
In short
Cabo San Lucas at a glance
Cabo San Lucas is an upscale Pacific resort town at the tip of Baja, best for 5-7 nights of beach, marina life and boat trips: base yourself at Medano Beach for the only properly swimmable sand, book a transfer from San José del Cabo airport 45 minutes away, come December to April if you want whales, and budget like a US resort rather than mainland Mexico.
The short version
- Medano Beach is the one stretch you can safely swim; most of the dramatic Pacific-side sand has undertows that drown people every year.
- There are no direct UK flights — you connect through a US hub or Mexico City into San José del Cabo (SJD), then face a 45-minute transfer.
- Whale season runs 1 December to 15 April, with February the peak for humpbacks and grey whales breaching off Land's End.
- This is a dollar-priced resort economy: drinks, tours and restaurants cost roughly US levels, not the mainland-Mexico prices you may expect.
- Stay around Medano Beach or the marina for walkability; the Corridor towards San José is for golf-and-spa resort isolation, not strolling out to dinner.
Cabo San Lucas sits at the very tip of the Baja California peninsula, where the Pacific Ocean meets the calmer Sea of Cortez at a rock arch called El Arco. It is the louder, more developed half of Los Cabos — a marina ringed by bars and fishing charters, a wall of resorts stretching along the Corridor towards quieter San José del Cabo, and the photogenic sweep of Lover’s Beach that you can only reach by boat. The thing UK visitors most need to absorb is the water: this is a dramatic coastline, but most of that drama comes from surf that will kill you. Medano Beach, tucked inside the bay, is the one stretch you can safely swim, and it sensibly doubles as the best place to stay.
The other adjustment is cost. Cabo trades in US dollars and prices like a US resort, so the cheap-Mexico assumption falls apart fast — a beach-club cocktail is £8-£10 and a marina dinner for two can top £50. You claw the value back by basing yourself well, eating in downtown taquerÃas a few streets off the water, and timing the trip: December to April for whales and reliable sun, May-June for quieter warmth, and July-October only if you’ll gamble on hurricane season for the lower prices.
Five to seven nights is the sweet spot here, because the long-haul flight (always at least one stop, usually through a US hub into San José del Cabo) makes a short break a poor trade. Below, the structured planning — where to stay, the airport transfer options in pounds, the boat trips worth booking, and a realistic budget — picks up from here.
Plan your Cabo San Lucas trip
Keep a first trip focused: book the big timed sights, then leave room for neighbourhoods and food.
Top things to do in Cabo San Lucas
El Arco de Cabo San Lucas
El Arco is the wind-carved rock arch at Land's End, the tip of Baja where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez — and it's free to look at, so what you pay for is the boat that gets you close. Skip the packaged 'glass-bottom' tours and negotiate a shared water taxi off Medano Beach or marina Dock 3-4: the fair rate is about 200 MXN (£8-9pp), though touts open at $40-60. A 30-45 minute spin takes in Pelican Rock, the sea-lion colony and the arch itself. You cannot usually walk under it — the sandbar only appears every few years — and the beaches at its base split sharply: Lover's Beach (Sea of Cortez) is wadeable, Divorce Beach (Pacific) drowns swimmers.
Whale watching
From December to mid-April, humpbacks and grey whales migrate past the tip of Baja, breaching close to Cabo San Lucas; February is the peak. Trips leave the marina, from cheap pangas to small marine-biologist-led boats. Pay a bit more for the naturalist trip — the pangas see whales too but tell you nothing. Outside the season there are none.
Where to stay first
The areas that make a first visit easier — not an exhaustive directory.
Medano Beach
£££ premiumThe only properly swimmable beach in town and the most useful base: two miles of calm, protected sand with beach clubs, restaurants and Arch views, all walkable to the marina. Busiest and not the cheapest, but it saves you a transfer every time you want the sea.
Best for: First-timers, families, beach-first trips
The Marina
££ mid-rangeThe compact hub where boat trips, fishing charters and whale tours leave from, ringed by restaurants and bars. Best if you want to roll out of bed onto a tour and walk home from dinner. Expect timeshare touts and loud nights near the bar strip.
Best for: Nightlife, tours, walkability
Downtown Cabo San Lucas
£ valueThe grid of streets behind the marina, more affordable and more Mexican than the beachfront, with taquerÃas and cheaper rooms. A short walk from the water but with no sea views or beach access of its own.
Best for: Value, longer stays, walkers
The Corridor (towards San José)
£££ premiumThe 20-mile resort strip between the two towns, home to the big golf-and-spa hotels and the calm snorkel coves. Lovely if you want isolation and a pool, but you will taxi everywhere — there is no walking out for dinner.
Best for: Honeymoons, golf, all-inclusive isolation
Airport to city centre
| Option | Time | Cost | Book ahead? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared shuttle (van) | 60-90 min with hotel stops | about £14-16pp (US$17-20) | Cheapest, but slow as the van fills and drops others |
| Private transfer (SUV) | ~40-50 min direct | about £67-79 per vehicle (US$85-100) | Best value for 3-4 people; pre-book to skip the arrivals scrum |
| Official airport taxi | ~40-50 min | about £71-91 (US$90-115) | Use only the official desk, not the touts outside |
| Uber from SJD | ~40-50 min | often £45-65 depending on demand | Walk to the designated rideshare pickup, not the kerb |
When to go
Sweet spot: November to April is the prime window: warm, dry, low humidity, and the whales are in from December. February pairs peak whale activity with comfortable heat. May and June are quieter and still hot but cheaper before the summer build-up.
July to October is hot, humid and the Pacific hurricane season, with the highest storm risk in August and September — fewer crowds and lower prices, but a real chance of a washout. The flip side is that the best weather (December to April) is also the dearest and busiest, so book the popular beachfront hotels and whale tours months ahead.
What it costs
There are no direct UK flights to Los Cabos. You connect through a US hub (Dallas is often the quickest) or Mexico City into San José del Cabo (SJD). Return fares from London run roughly £460-£700 booked well ahead, climbing past £1,000 for British Airways one-stop or peak winter dates; December into spring is the dear season because that is also whale and sunshine season.
Daily budget per person
Cabo trades in US dollars and prices like a US resort, so treat the cheap-Mexico assumption with suspicion: a cocktail on Medano Beach is £8-£10 and a sit-down dinner for two around £40-£60. Eat in downtown taquerÃas a few streets back from the marina and the bill roughly halves. Pay in pesos where you can — paying in dollars usually gets you a poor in-house exchange rate.
Book the essentials
Where to stay
Tours & tickets
Airport transfers
Stay connected
Also in Mexico
Cabo San Lucas FAQs
Can you swim in the sea at Cabo San Lucas?
How do you get from the airport to Cabo San Lucas?
When is whale-watching season in Cabo?
Is Cabo San Lucas expensive?
Ready to book?
Find hotels in Cabo San Lucas