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Why Villa Rentals are the Gold Standard for Los Cabos Getaways 2016-17

November 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment

(And Why You Don’t Have to Make A Mint to Afford Them)

Everyone who has been to Los Cabos has seen them, majestic luxury villas towering on hillsides between two seas, or shrouded by bougainvillea and palms in exclusive coastal communities…the sort of eye-popping properties that come complete with private chef and access to the nearest world-class golf course.

These sprawling, scenically situated villas may seem the sole province of the rich and famous – and honestly, some of them are – but the truth of the matter is that villa rentals are an accessible accommodation option for a great many vacation visitors. In certain cases they’re actually a more affordable option than the alternative.

This is especially true with larger groups: families traveling together, couples sharing a weekend getaway, those arriving for conventions and special events, and so on. In these circumstances, the cost per suite or bedroom often compares favorably with the average beachfront resort.

There is no comparison, however, when it comes to bang for your buck. Los Cabos’ villas are among the most spectacular properties on earth, with awe-inspiring ocean views and five-star services that range from chefs and concierges to car rental delivery.

Take Villa Land’s End, for example, a sprawling 13,000 square foot luxury villa nestled in the hillside dsc_2860enclave of Pedregal, easily the most prestigious and exclusive address in Cabo San Lucas. Breathtaking views of the half-mile Land’s End headland and the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean are available from seven bedrooms on five separate levels, not to mention from the swimming pool and jacuzzi. The place is a jaw-dropper, even by movie star standards, AND just received a two million dollar makeover.

Villa Land’s End can accommodate up to 16 guests, so even at a total price of $2560  to $3200 per night it’s more cost effective than most local hotels and resorts. Where else can you live like royalty for $200 each per night?

Estrella del Mar (Star of the Sea) is another stunner. Set in Puerto Los Cabos, a luxurious lcv-com116development located just outside San Jose del Cabo, this seven-bedroom villa features marble floors and top-of-the-line appliances, plus swimming pool and rooftop whale watching terrace, and of course easy beach access to beautiful La Playita. $2000 – $3000 per night…

Did I mention the local links, the world’s only composite design between Jack “The Golden Bear” Nicklaus and Greg “The Great White Shark” Norman? How about the yacht-friendly marina, or the sculpture garden filled with artworks from famed Mexican surrealist Leonora Carrington?

For more information about these and other incredible Los Cabos Vacation Rentals,
Call 1-888-655-4548 or email Aviani@LosCabosVillas.com.

 

 

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Los Cabos Pro-Am Golf Tournament Tees Off Again in January 2017

November 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Los Cabos is one of the most remarkable golfing spots on earth. A stunning three of its 14 completed cabo-del-sol-oceancourses – Querencia, The Dunes at Diamante and the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol – are currently ranked among the 100 Best in the World by Golf Digest, and the Land’s End getaway was recently declared the 2017 Golfing Destination of the Year for Latin America and the Caribbean by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators.

But unlike other regional golf meccas such as Scotland and Northern California, Los Cabos has virtually no history and very little tradition. The first course in the area wasn’t built until 1987, and that was the nine-hole municipal course in San Jose del Cabo.

18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus kicked off the Los Cabos golf boom in the early 1990s with a trio of breathtaking coastal layouts at Palmilla, El Dorado and Cabo del Sol. But it was a Senior Slam event at Cabo Real in 1996 that really put Los Cabos on the international map, when television cameras spied humpback whales breaching spectacularly near seaside greens.

Since then fellow major champions Greg Norman, Tom Weiskopf and Davis Love III have joined Nicklaus with prestigious area loops, and new layouts are on the way from Norman, Woods and Fred Couples.

Professional tournaments appeared with some regularity during the 90s boom – including two Senior Slams, three Taylor Made Pro-Ams, and three Las Americas Tournaments – but in recent years the biggest draw has been the Los Cabos Pro-Am, the 9th annual edition of which is scheduled for January 16 – 20, 2017 at Cabo del Sol’s Ocean and Desert Courses.

The Ocean Course, the second of six Nicklaus layouts in Los Cabos, drew rave reviews from The Golden Bear, who famously called its site “the best golf property I’ve ever seen.” Take that Pebble Beach!

Fellow major champion Tom Weiskopf sculpted the neighboring Desert Course, which although less heralded, is still ranked among the best in Mexico, with dramatic views of desert, mountains and the Sea of Cortez.

Sheraton’s gorgeous Hacienda del Mar property will once again host participants in the Los Cabos Pro-Am. For registration or information about stay and play packages, email Barry Fleming at b_fleming@hargray.com, or call (843) 384-5342.

Photo of the Cabo del Sol Ocean Course courtesy of Nicklaus Design.

http://www.loscabosvillas.com/los-cabos-golfing/

Call 1-888-655-4548 or click on www.LosCabosVillas.com for more info

 

 

 

 

 

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Los Cabos Fishing Report – November 20, 2016

November 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment

November 20, 2016 71_grayhooker

The fall season is now starting to wind down, still quite busy this past week, with visiting anglers and sun worshipers, though not quite as crowded as it was the previous weeks. With Thanksgiving Holiday scheduled this next week, we will see more families arriving, though many people do prefer to stay at home for these holidays and from now until Christmas  Holidays we will see the normal slack period for tourists, this is just not the time frame that many people are traveling, as they are more preoccupied with the approaching holidays.

We felt strong north winds through the first half of the week, then we had a couple of very calm days, before the wind picked back up late in the week, crazy weather patterns, still quite warm, reaching near 90 degrees. Ideal temperatures actually, early morning lows averaging 70 degrees. Early week there was a late season Tropical Storm Tina which formed farther off to the southwest, as fast it had developed, it dissipated, as it moved over cooler water. All around  the water temperatures from Cabo Sab Lucas towards Los Frailes has been ranging from 82 to 85 degrees, three or four degrees warmer than what would be normal for this time of year. This should prove favorable for fall type fishing action to last all the way through December.

Bait options continued the same, slabs of squid, caballito, ballyhoo available from bait vendors and opportunities to catch skipjack and chihuil on the offshore grounds, for use trolling live or drift fishing as. Combined factors of swells, strong northerly winds and the full moon phase, made for several tougher days, though anglers did catch some quality fish. Most productive areas were from Chileno, Gordo Banks, 1150 Spot and Iman Bank. Most common gamefish being encountered were yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado, and late season black and blue marlin.

Yellowfin tuna action was good to start off the week, increased wind made it tough to drift fish on the Outer Banks, but some quality sized tuna were accounted for, quite a few fish to 100 lb. and at least a half of dozen over 200 lb. Also there was good action found a couple of days for smaller tuna found traveling with porpoise, close to shore and moving fast, strips of squid was the main method of hooking up. The larger yellowfin were striking on baits such as skipjack or chihuil, either drifting or slow troll, in the vicinity of the Outer Gordo Banks. Same grounds have been producing some billfish strikes, both black and blue marlin were hooked into. One angler had quite a story of hooking into a 40 lb. plus yellowfin tuna, then during the fight a huge black marlin inhaled the hooked up tuna and the battle was on with the marlin, as the fish was spooling off hundreds of yards of line and being chasing down by the super panga skipper, after close to 30 minutes of that the marlin heading deep, line went slack and then heavy again, but now the marlin had spit out the three and a half foot tuna, which to their amazement was still alive and continued to fight until they brought it to gaff, this whole scene took over two hours.

Wahoo was the main species being targeting closer to shore, from Cardon to the Iman Bank, good numbers of these prized fighting fish were being accounted for. Trolling with live chihuil was the most productive, ballyhoo and caballito worked as well. Also limited numbers hit on trolled lures, though far more strikes were reported on bait, versus lures. Many fish were seen following baits, but were finicky at times, other times action was fast and furious, with wahoo fishing, a good average percentage seems to be about one fish actually landed for every three strikes, many things happen, very fast fish, with hard bony jaws, slashing at baits, not just  strike and swallow like most fish. Many charters accounted for two, three and even up to five wahoo, sizes ranged from 20 to 45 lb.

Dorado numbers increased toward the end of the week out of San Jose del Cabo, still only a handful of these fish being found in this area, more number were reported from the Pacific, though reports were varied from different sources. We saw quite a few dorado in the 15 to 20 pound class, though we had more wahoo in the fish counts.

Bottom fishing was very limited, only an occasional snapper and triggerfish, wind made this even harder, water temperature still warm, more bottom action when currents cool some. Commercial pangeros did catch a few nice sized yellowtail off of the Gordo Banks, so that is encouraging, maybe something will happen on this. We do expect to be targeting the tuna, wahoo and dorado through this month and next. No inshore action to report, except for a few roosterfish and sierra.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 166 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 3 blue marlin, 4 black marlin, 4 striped marlin, 4 sailfish, 320 yellowfin tuna, 46 dorado, 165 wahoo, 11 yellow snapper,4 leopard grouper, 12 bonito, 14 huachinango, 4 roosterfish, 14 sierra,14 rainbow runner, 6 surgeonfish and 45 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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Sabor a Cabo and the Many Flavors of Baja California Sur

November 15, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Imagine a whirlwind two-week Los Cabos vacation filled with incredible food, spectacular wines, awe-inspiring surroundings, and live entertainment from world-class musicians. saborcabo

Now imagine the entire action-packed endeavor telescoped into the space of a single evening. If you can wrap your mind around that, then you’re either ready for the Sabor a Cabo food and wine festival, or you’ve already experienced one.

The 11th edition of “Sabor a Cabo (in English, “Taste of Cabo”) returns Dec. 10, and as always is organized by CANIRAC, the local restaurant association.

In keeping with recent momentum, the event just keeps getting bigger and better. This year over 50 top regional chefs will showcase their delicious dishes at the Sculpture Garden at Puerto Los Cabos, with the first-class fare paired with bottled offerings from over 20 peninsular wineries in a magnificent seaside setting.

Did I mention the most famous Mexican rock band of all-time will be performing?

That would be Maná, winner of four Grammy Awards and eight Latin Grammys, and generator of over 40 million in record sales worldwide. The Guadalajaran quartet has been called “the U2 of Spanish rock,” and regularly sells out large arenas. As such, their appearance in Los Cabos is a huge deal, and has inspired a tremendous demand for tickets to what was already the premier Land’s End culinary festival.

No wonder ticket prices this year range from $200 to $350 for V.I.P. seating.

The money goes to a good cause, however, with proceeds benefitting fire fighters in cape cities Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.

Although Sabor a Cabo is unquestionably the headliner, auxiliary to-dos are also organized by CANIRAC: most notably, a Beer Fest, a Country Food and Wine Tasting, and an Art and Wine Walk in San Jose del Cabo’s historic Distrito del Arte.

The Beer Fest is expanding to a three-day event this year, and will take place Nov. 18 – 20 on the boardwalk promenade that parallels the Cabo San Lucas Marina. The Country Food and Wine Tasting will take place on Dec. 4 at Los Tamarindos, an organic farm and restaurant that, like neighbor Flora Farms, has helped pioneer the farm-to-table movement in Los Cabos.

For ticketing or other information, phone (624) 143-3944 or email ticket@caniracloscabos.com.

 

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Los Cabos Fishing Report – November 13, 2016

November 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment

November 13, 2016 72_wahoo

This past week was one of the busiest of the entire year, large crowds of anglers continue to arrive in the Los Cabos area and the whole town is bustling with business. Weather conditions are now typical for the fall season, early mornings have a slight chill, down into the mid to upper 60’s, daytime highs have been reaching into the upper 80s. So far winds have been moderate, with the breeze picking up predominately from the north later in the day. Ocean swells have been minimal, water temperature have dropped slightly, now averaging 84 degrees, about 81 degrees on the Pacific side on Cabo San Lucas.

Local fleets have found the most productive action from the grounds off of Chileno Bay, north to the Gordo Banks and Iman, even as far as Vinorama. The overall fishing action improved this past week, the first couple of days of the week the wahoo action went wide open on the Iman Banks, charters were landing up to five of six wahoo during a morning trip, with many other strikes also being lost, fast and furious action. The wahoo were ranging in size up to 45 lb., with the majority of strikes coming on live baits, such as caballito or even better, chihuil, which can be caught early on the Inner Gordo Bank. Some anglers had success trolling rigged ballyhoo, Rapalas or even casting bombs and yo-yo’s. This action tapered off through the rest of the week, but we were still seeing a fair amount of wahoo being brought in each day.

The most common species continue to be yellowfin tuna, these schooling fish were being found mainly on the Gordo Banks and around Iman Bank. Drift fishing with strips of squid or slow trolling chihuil proved to be most successful. Sizes ranged from 10 lb. to 250 lb. Most fish were in the 20 to 30 lb. class, but this week we saw more 100 lb. and heavier fish than during previous weeks. With the largest fish coming from the Gordo Banks.

We also started to see more dorado show up in the fish counts, still no significant numbers, but at least we are finally seeing some nice dorado, we saw bulls up to 25 lb. These fish were found scattered throughout the area, sometimes not very far from shore, where ever there might be concentrations of baitfish, with frigate birds circling overhead, that was a good place to try.

Billfish were more active around the 1150 spot, though a few were also found on the Gordo Banks and further north. A mix of sailfish, blue, striped and black marlin were all accounted for. There were reports of blue marlin over 300 lb.

Not much being found off the bottom, besides triggerfish, a few miscellaneous pargo/snapper species and an occasional leopard grouper. Inshore a few more sierra showing up, though we will see more when the water temperature cools off more. An occasional roosterfish still around late into the season, including some being found on the offshore high spots.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 240 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 black marlin, 6 blue marlin, 4 striped marlin, 7 sailfish, 720 yellowfin tuna, 42 dorado, 140 wahoo, 14 yellow snapper, 7 leopard grouper, 15 bonito, 22 huachinango, 7 amberjack, 5 roosterfish, 31 sierra, 22 rainbow runner, 8 surgeonfish and 125 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

Filed Under: Cabo San Lucas Blog, Fishing

Art, Wine and the Beauties of San Jose del Cabo

November 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Thanks to its big-time fishing tournaments and boisterous nightlife, Cabo San Lucas is now the more artsjdcfamous of the two cape cities that largely populate the Los Cabos municipality. But this was not always so. Until the advent of the tourist age some 50 years ago, San Jose del Cabo was far better known.

Before 1960, there was little in Cabo San Lucas save a cannery and about 300 residents. San Jose del Cabo, by contrast, has been an important regional community for almost 300 years, since the Jesuits first built a mission there in 1730. Not only is it the current seat of local government, but it boasts the sort of historic architecture unknown in San Lucas, from a beautiful old Catholic church to a stately City Hall topped with a nearly century-old old clock tower, and a courtyard filled with murals that trace the history of both the region and the country at large.

Nowhere is this colonial style city’s beauty shown to greater advantage than in its picturesque Distrito del Arte, where each week during tourist season galleries throw open their doors to celebrate the seasonal Art Walk.

The 2016 – 2017 Art Walk season kicked off on October 27:  thus visitors and residents alike are now invited to attend each Thursday from 5 – 9 p.m.; to stroll the neighborhood’s charming cobblestone streets, to sip wine, listen to local musicians, and of course explore the numerous galleries which proliferate in the downtown area.

Like Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo has long been noted for its thriving arts community. Aficionados will find works both contemporary and classic, including high-quality painting, sculpture, pottery, glassware and jewelry.  An eye for art is hardly a prerequisite to enjoy the weekly event, however, since the Distrito del Arte is also home to a flourishing drinking and dining scene. The state’s first microbrewery, Baja Brewing Company, is located in the heart of the Art District, as is one of the region’s finest taquerias, La Lupita Tacos & Mezcal.

For more information about the event, as well as participating galleries, visit www.artcabo.com.

 

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Los Cabos Fishing Report – November 6, 2016

November 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment

November 6, 2016 73_198tuna

Near capacity crowds are arriving now, as this is the peak fall season for the Los Cabos area, the influx of tourists will start to taper off by the end of this month. With the WON Tuna Jackpot being the main event going on this week, with some 169 teams competing for three quarters of a million dollars in prize money and next week there is the annual Wahoo Tournament out of La Playita, in Puerto Los Cabos Marina. Weather has been feeling more like fall now, cooler mornings and also the first predominate north winds sweeping in during the latter part of the week, making tournament conditions a bit rougher that what would be ideal. Ocean temperatures have ranged from 82 to 86 degrees, we should see a cooler trend in the coming weeks.

Anglers have continued to rely on slabs of squids as the main bait sources for targeting the yellowfin tuna, which has been the most common species now being found. As dorado continue to be scarce and wahoo have not been consistent either, though are showing some more signs of becoming more active. Other bait options were small skipjack, chihuil and caballito.

Most sportfishing fleets are concentrated on the areas from the Gordo Banks to Iman, San Luis and Vinorama. In recent days the more consistent action switched from around the Iman Bank to the Gordo Banks, though heavy boat pressure and gusty winds have made efforts more challenging the past couple of days. The yellowfin tuna have ranged from 10 lb. footballs, up to 200 lb. plus cows. Most of the tuna landed were in the 15 to 30 lb. class. Action was up and down, sometimes not until later in the day, charters accounted for catches ranging from one yellowfin to a half dozen fish.

The few wahoo per day on an average that we have seen brought to the docks have been taken on slow trolled trap hooked baits, as well as on Rapalas. Fish averaged 25 to 40 lb. We expect with cooling conditions that the wahoo should start to bite more consistently, best areas recently were near Iman and to the north.

Nothing to speak of near shore now, though we did hear reports of some out of normal season roosterfish seen off of the San Jose del Cabo resort stretch. A few more sierra starting to be seen, sure would be nice if we would see signs of sardinas moving in, but we have heard of no signs at all, this limits options, especially for the winter inshore action.

The bottom has not been producing any consistent bite either, of course there are triggerfish, but only limited numbers of pargo, snapper, cabrilla or amberjack.

We did not see much billfish action this past week out of San Jose del Cabo, this is transition period now for the blues, blacks, stripers and sailfish, these fish are in the area, but numbers are now more limited..

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 168 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 blue marlin, 6 striped marlin, 8 sailfish, 355 yellowfin tuna, 17 dorado, 23 wahoo, 18 yellow snapper, 12 leopard grouper, 6 barred pargo, 45 bonito, 35 huachinango, 2 dogtooth snapper, 6 amberjack, 1 roosterfish, 21 sierra and 125 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

Filed Under: Cabo San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Los Cabos Rolls Out the Red Carpet – Los Cabos International Film Festival

November 2, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Los Cabos Rolls Out the Red Carpet – November 9-13 jackie

The Capes Region has long been a favored destination for big-name actors and actresses, but it’s only in November that Hollywood’s brightest stars fly down for business.

Show business, that is.

Each November since 2012, Los Cabos has hosted its annual International Film Festival, with screenings and premieres, affiliated parties and events, and of course red carpet galas featuring a who’s who of Mexican and American luminaries.

Last year Star Wars film series actors Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson hammed it up for paparazzi as they walked the red carpet at Cabo San Lucas’ Pabellon Cultural de la Republica, the venue that has hosted the festival’s opening night gala since 2013.

The appearance put them in good company. Over the course of its short history, the Los Cabos International Film Festival has hosted many movie stars, including Edward Norton, Reese Witherspoon, Diego Luna, Matt Dillon, Virginia Madsen, Gael Garcia Bernal and Melissa Leo.

Who is attending this year? You’ll have to buy tickets to find out. Odds are, though, that high-profile attendees will be actors and directors whose movies are making their Mexican premieres in Los Cabos. Films like Jackie, a film from Chilean director Pablo Larrain about the challenges facing Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy in the aftermath of her first husband’s assassination; Café Society, a period piece from Woody Allen featuring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart; American Pastoral, the directorial debut of McGregor; and Captain Fantastic, which stars Viggo Mortensen as an unconventional father of six children.

Larrain has a history with the festival. His film No, about an advertising campaign to oust Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, was a featured selection at the inaugural event (then known as the Baja International Film Festival) in 2012. Jackie is already generating Oscar buzz for its star, Natalie Portman, who previously won the coveted Best Actress statuette for Black Swan in 2010. Captain Fantastic, a critically acclaimed effort from writer and director Matt Ross (he won best director at Cannes for the comedic drama), will be the closing screening.

The 5th annual Los Cabos International Film Festival takes place Nov. 9 – 13. In addition to gala screenings at the Cultural Pavilion, films will be shown at Cinemex Theaters at marina based mall Puerto Paraiso, as well as at select outdoor sites. For more information, visit cabosfilmfestival.com.

Come to Cabo for Fun in the Sun!

Los Cabos Vacation Rentals will help you with your accommodations and anything else you may need.

Photo courtesy of Los Cabos International Film Festival.

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