In the 50 years since Mexican tourist trust FONATUR first began developing Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del 
Cabo into world-class tourist destinations, the cape cities have seen remarkable changes: from the arrival of luxury resorts and pampering spas to upscale dining and championship level golf courses.
But there’s another side of Los Cabos, one much less developed, but with considerable charms for visitors seeking a different kind of “Cabo” vacation. That would be the East Cape, a seventy-mile stretch of coastline that swells outward from San Jose del Cabo to Los Barriles.
This coastline offers spectacular conditions for just about every outdoor activity imaginable, from surfing, diving, fishing, and hiking to mountain biking, camping, kayaking and kiteboarding.
If you’ve never experienced life on the East Cape, now’s a good time to start. Here are four of our favorite reasons for vacationing here (and for possibly making the vacation permanent).
The East Cape is a Time Machine to the “Old Cabo”
Because is it so much less developed than Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, going to the East Cape is a bit like getting into a time machine and hitting the setting for “Old Cabo”. The benchmark fishing resorts of Los Barriles and Buena Vista are close to 50 years old, and offer a glimpse of the region’s past, when the prime attractions were fishing, beaches, and little else. But head south below La Ribera and the old Camino Cabo Este (East Cape Road) is almost completely dirt, from just north of Cabo Pulmo to Zacatitos, 10 miles outside San Jose del Cabo.
The East Cape is an off-the-grid paradise, in other words – or at least significant parts of it still are – and it offers an incredible combination of peace, privacy, gorgeous scenery, and luxury rental accomodatons at affordable prices.
The Undersea Fantasia of Cabo Pulmo National Park
In 1995, the 100 or so residents of the tiny East Cape village of Cabo Pulmo noticed that their offshore waters were overfished and their offshore reef was being degraded. What followed was one of the world’s great ecological success stories. Determined residents and regional academics petitioned for protection, and Cabo Pulmo became first a protected sanctuary, and finally a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The eight fingers of offshore coral reef are among the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, and in the 25 years since Cabo Pulmo gained protected status, it has become the most densely populated area of the Sea of Cortez in terms of marine life; it literally teams with life, from mantas, dolphins and giant sea turtles to profusions of colorful tropical fish so intense it’s awe-inspiring. Cabo Pulmo has become one of the best snorkeling and diving destinations on the planet, and visits here are among the highlights of any East Cape vacation.
Beautiful Beaches Without Crowds or Vendors
Surfers have been heading to East Cape beaches like Shipwrecks and Nine Palms for generations, riding the waves from southwest swells. These beaches are beautiful, and there are hundreds just like them along the East Cape, stunning stretches of sand with virtually no one on them save a few surfers, or local fishermen putting their boats in the water. No vendors will bother you, no crowds will intrude on your space. It’s remarkable really; a bit like being in your own private Corona commercial.
Villas and Vacation Rentals That Will Take Your Breath Away
Has there ever been a year like 2020 in showing just how important it can be to truly get away from it all? Not only for peace of mind, but for the health and safety of family and friends?
The beauty of the East Cape is that you can get away in style. Take the Villa El Rincon del Sol, for example, a private 12-acre estate just north of Cabo Pulmo that offers a luxurious five-bedroom vacation rental with heated infinity pool and two waterfalls, plus over 200 meters of private beachfront. There are no crowds or vendors to bother you here. The only sounds you’ll hear are seabirds and waves gently lapping upon the shore. It’s a perfect privacy, with your own beach and some of the best snorkeling and diving in the world just down the road. The home is staffed with four full-time employees, including your own private chef, and if you have a stressful day in the infinity pool, a professional masseuse is only a phone call away.
This is the beauty of the East Cape experience, and it’s why a few discerning travelers are choosing it over the crowds and the noisy hustle-bustle of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. If you want the hustle-bustle and the action, you can still have it, of course. The East Cape is in the Los Cabos municipality, after all, and thus proximate by car to the “other” Cabo.
But there’s also immense natural beauty and total privacy, and those things are in shorter supply each passing year.
For more information about events, activities and villa rentals in Los Cabos, call us TOLL FREE at 1-888-655-4548, visit www.LosCabosVillas.com, www.TheCaboRealEstate.com or email us at Info@LosCabosVillas.com.
Photo credit: Chris Sands
Upcoming Events Calendar
November
Day of the Dead – Nov. 2
WON Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot – Nov. 4 – 7
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Nov. 5, 12, 19, 26
Viva La Plaza in Cabo San Lucas – Nov. 6, 13, 20, 27
Los Cabos Film Festival (online only) – Nov. 11 – 19
53rd Annual SCORE Baja 1000 – Nov. 16 – 21
Revolution Day – Nov. 20
Thanksgiving – Nov. 26
December
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Dec. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Viva La Plaza in Cabo San Lucas – Dec. 4, 11, 18, 25
Festival del Mole in Todos Santos – Dec. 5
Sabor a Cabo Rural 2020 – Dec. 11
Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe – Dec. 12
Official Start of Whale Watching Season – Dec. 15
Las Posadas – Dec. 16 – 24
Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) – Dec. 24
Navidad (Christmas) – Dec. 25
Nochevieja (New Year’s Eve) – Dec. 31
January
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28
Viva La Plaza in Cabo San Lucas – Jan. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
February
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25
Viva La Plaza in Cabo San Lucas – Feb. 5, 12, 19, 26
