Summer Means Fishing Tournaments Galore in Los Cabos

Bisbee’s trio of annual fishing tournaments in Los Cabos get plenty of attention, and with good reason. Not only have they set the standard for regional big game sport fishing competitions, they hand out the checks to prove it:  from the six figure payouts at the East Cape and Los Cabos Offshore to the million dollar plus windfalls that earned the Black & Blue its nickname as “the world’s richest fishing tournament.”

But despite their deserved fame, those are only a few of many fishing tournaments staged in Los Cabos during the late summer and early autumn months. Here are five more that every Baja bound angler should have marked on his or her calendar for 2017.

 21st Annual Stars & Stripes Golf & Fishing Tournament

Five days of world-class golf, fishing and entertainment are the lures, but the biggest payouts at this annual tournament in San Jose del Cabo are for charity. Over the last two decades, Stars & Stripes has raised over 23 million dollars for worthy causes. Hilton Los Cabos hosts again this year, with festivities scheduled from June 22 – 27. Mickey Thomas of Jefferson Starship and Kelly Hansen of Foreigner headline the visiting “Rock Star Collective.”

Ultimate Waterman’s Challenge

Fishing is only a part of this first ever challenge, and it’s not the kind you probably think. Former pro surfer Tim Curran and adventure company Mansa Vida are sponsoring this brand new contest, whose purpose is to identify and celebrate those with the all-around nautical mastery to be called “watermen” or “waterwomen.” Spearfishing is one of the competitive categories, along with swimming, surfing, stand up paddle boarding and prone paddling. The event will take place from July 12 – 17, and is hosted by The Cape: A Thompson Hotel, a boutique luxury property overlooking surf mecca Playa Monumentos.

 13th Annual East Cape Dorado Shoot Out

If you don’t own a brand new, fully loaded 4×4 pickup truck before the annual East Cape Dorado Shoot Out, you could when it’s all over. All you have to do is reel in the heaviest dorado on Saturday, July 15. Second place, third place and side jackpots are also on the line – last year they tallied over $80,000 – as are over $20,000 in raffle items. Dinner and live music accompany the post-tournament awards ceremony at Hotel Palmas de Cortez in Los Barriles.

 Señoritas Blue Water Classic

That’s right, the inaugural Señoritas Blue Water Classic is for ladies only! The organizers of this newly launched tournament on the East Cape feel women are a force to be reckoned with in the fishing world, and they aim to prove it by writing big checks to the distaff teams that haul in the largest marlin, tuna, wahoo and dorado. The event is scheduled for July 20 – 22, with final weigh-ins followed by an awards ceremony at the historic Hotel Buenavista Beach Resort.

 East Cape Gold Cup Wahoo Jackpot Tournament

Like the East Cape Dorado Shoot Out, the Gold Cup rules are pretty cut and dried. Catch the fattest wahoo on Saturday, August 26, and you’ll drive away in a brand new Volkswagen Golf with a bag full of dinero. Over $100,000 total in cash and prizes are on the line for this one, which like many of the summer events takes place on the Los Cabos municipality’s gorgeous East Cape. Traditional regional hotel brand Van Wormer Resorts is the host, with the awards ceremony to be held at Hotel Palmas de Cortez in Los Barriles.

Photo courtesy of Hotel Buenavista Beach Resort.

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Luxury Boom Leads to a Host of Spectacular New Los Cabos Resorts

Los Cabos is in the midst of an unprecedented hospitality boom. Over a four year period the number of hotel rooms in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo is ballooning by upwards of 35%: from 14,000 to 18,000. This significant leap in availability doesn’t merely reflect the bump in visitors generated by increased international flights, it also spotlights the region’s increasingly robust luxury market.

It seems hard to imagine now, with the proliferation of championship-level golf courses and pampering spas, but Los Cabos’ emergence as a tourist destination was almost entirely premised on big-game sport fishing. Despite important early lodgings like Hotel Cabo San Lucas, the luxury market remained largely untapped until the 1990s, when legendary local hotel manager Edward Steiner helped to refine and define the high-end Los Cabos experience; first at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, then later at One & Only Palmilla.

The Cape: A Thompson Hotel kick-started the most recent luxury boom in 2015, pairing urban chic and Chef Enrique Olvera’s world-renowned cuisine with a breathtaking seaside location at Playa Monumentos. In the past six months, two more wow-factor resorts have made their premieres in the tourist corridor that connects the cape cities. Grand Velas Los Cabos has turned heads with its stunning sail-shaped architecture – a nod to the family name Vela, which means sail in Spanish – as well as the world’s most expensive tacos (the 25K tortilla-wrapped treats include lobster, caviar and gold leaf). Chileno Bay Resort & Residence, by contrast, is distinguished by its amazing series of swimming pools, which combined stretch for over 400 meters.

More high-profile hotels and resorts are on the way, and with the exception of Hard Rock, all are aimed at the luxury market. Benchmark brands Ritz-Carlton and Four seasons are scheduled to open properties within the next year, the former at Puerto Los Cabos, the latter at La Ribera on the Los Cabos municipality’s spectacular East Cape.

Le Blanc and parent company Palace Resorts also plan to open a Los Cabos based resort later this year, following the success of their flagship Mexican property in Cancun. Grupo Solmar, one of the area’s pioneering hospitality brands, is unveiling a new offering this year called Rancho San Lucas, which will feature both a resort and residences at a spectacular Pacific Coast setting north of Cabo San Lucas.

Perhaps the most exciting new addition, however, is a boutique hotel from Nobu. After becoming famous for his fusion of Japanese sushi with Peruvian ingredients, Chef Nobu Matsuhisa started a hospitality company with acclaimed actor Robert De Niro and producer Meir Teper. Their Los Cabos property, slated to open in 2018 at Diamante, follows similarly branded projects in Las Vegas and the Philippines.

Photo courtesy of Chileno Bay Resort & Residences.

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Los Cabos Fishing Report – May 21, 2017

May 21, 2017

Late spring now, this past week was fairly quiet for the amount of visiting anglers we would expect to normally see, who knows what is creating the slack in tourism, we should see more activity the end of this month. Winds were finally weakening, after a couple of weeks of persistent south winds, as well as northerly’s at the same time, definitely still in the midst of crazy transition period. We need a couple weeks of hot and calm weather to get the fishing back on track. Recently the climate has been on the cool side,  with highs of 95 degrees, lows about 65 degrees, very ideal, comfortable climate for this time of year, surely it will become much warmer soon enough.

Ocean water temperatures have ranged from 70 degrees on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, to 76 degrees off of San Jose del Cabo and to the north, actually a couple of degrees warmer closer to shore than it is further offshore. Sardinas supplies are becoming more limited, even surf conditions have been light, this is normal for this time of so far. Sometimes patterns can be later than normal, this appears to be what is happening this season.

The striped marlin bite has never really become red hot this year, normally the month of May is the peak season for stripers off of San Jose del Cabo. At this time they are finding limited numbers of marlin scattered anywhere from four or five, to fifteen or more miles offshore. Anglers are finding occasional tailing fish that will readily take larger baitfish once encountered, some boats are having multiple chances per day. Only a rare report of any dorado strikes, should be soon that we start to see some nice dorado move into the area. Wahoo very and far between as well, an occasional strike reported, most of them incidental and not being successful for actually landing the fish.

Highlight this past week out of San Jose del Cabo was looking for the regenerated yellowfin tuna action between Iman Bank and Vinorama. Anglers were using what available sardinas they could obtain and some people were using chuck bait from skipjack with success as well. The bite was sporadic, most days the best chances were found early in the day, daily totals ranged from one or two fish per charter, up to a half of dozen, sizes were ranging from 15 lb. to 45 lb.., average size fish in the 30 to 40 lb. class, nice grade fish for this early in the season. Lots of yellowfin tuna are now on these grounds, but are finicky as they often can be, gorging on the available natural food source, also a problem with too many aggressive black skipjack and of course the ever present sea lions can be a factor as well.

Not all that much action reported off the bottom structure, a few leopard grouper, amberjack, yellow snapper and barred pargo, more triggerfish than anything else, a few pushing up to 8 lb. Inshore the hot roosterfish action tapered way down, but we should see it redevelop on any given day, also sierra are still patrolling the shore, now in the later part of their preferred winter colder water season.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 59 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 striped marlin, 1 wahoo, 96 yellowfin tuna, 5 amberjack, 13 yellow snapper, 8 barred pargo, 10 leopard grouper, 3 island jack, 8 huachinango, 1 dogtooth snapper, 1 surgeonfish,18 roosterfish, 38 sierra and 80 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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – May 7, 2017

May 7, 2017

New month, this week we have the traditional holiday of Cinco de Mayo, not really a day they celebrate much in Baja, though local schools were out for the day, Southern California is the place that take this day seriously. Anyway, crowds of tourists were moderate, weather continues to warm up and most of the windy days are now past. Ocean conditions were very pleasant, southern swells were starting to increase, as they normally do this time of year. Water temperatures are averaging 75 degrees or more in the direction of San Jose del Cabo, while the Pacific remains cooler.

Supplies of sardinas off of the north side of the marina jetty are starting to thin out, also higher surf made it trickier for the netters. This is now the normal time when sardinas start to vanish and we see larger baitfish move in, such as moonfish, mullet and caballito, also should start to find bolito and more skipjack appearing on the offshore fishing grounds. Still in the midst of transition period, moving from spring to summer. Dictated by weather patterns, a lot can happen from day to day, week to week during this month.

Last week the exciting new action that developed was for roosterfish, fish to 30 lb. were found schooling off local beach stretches and were readily striking on slowly trolled baitfish. This was during a time when it was a bit windy out of the south and that made offshore opportunities tough, so it was good timing. Of course many people and charter operators themselves are killing way too many of these roosterfish, instead of practicing catch and release, this species is not known for their eating qualities, but instead for their beauty and fighting stamina, please remember to try and release them unharmed when you do have the opportunity. By this week this action had tapered way off, but surely should rebound as we near the month of June, which is peak season for roosterfish in our area.

Offshore billfish remained very spotty, though a few striped marlin are being found, also a handful of stories about blue marlin strikes being lost. This is the month when we normally see wide open action for striped marlin, so we are anticipating for this bite to improve very soon. A few stray wahoo were hooked into offshore on the marlin grounds, also at least one dorado we saw landed, so hopefully this is a sign that we will see more pelagic species arriving with the warming currents.

The yellowfin tuna action had faded out, but this week this action once again rebounded off of the northern grounds near Vinorama, within a mile or two of shore, drift fishing with sardinas was the most productive method, we did hear of some fish also taken on strips of squid. The bite was not off the map, but decent for this time of year, we saw boats catch from one or two yellowfin, up to ten fish per morning, sizes ranged from smaller footballs, up to over 40 lb., a lot of fish in the 30 lb. class. The problem towards the later part of the week was finding enough of the live sardinas to supply the entire fleet, the word had gotten out and everyone wanted to chase these tuna, since offshore was not all that productive.

Bottom action produced a mix of snapper, pargo, bonito, cabrilla and some amberjack to 30 lb., using both bait and yo-yo or butterfly type jigs, not huge numbers, but a few nice eating fish accounted for. Of course there were more triggerfish than anything else off of the shallow water rock piles, though we did have a few exotics, African pompano and island jack, which are some of the best eating fish available in these parts.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 78 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 3 wahoo, 1 dorado, 210 yellowfin tuna, 15 amberjack, 26 yellow snapper, 5 barred pargo, 18 leopard grouper, 9 island jack, 4 African pompano, 18 huachinango, 130 roosterfish, 35 sierra, 12 bonito and 150 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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – April 30, 2017

April 30, 2017

Moderate crowds now that spring break has passed, this week the annual event of the Norra 1000 off road rally race celebrating their 50 th  anniversary of running, arrived at their final destination of San Jose del Cabo on Thursday afternoon after five action packed stages, starting last Sunday from Ensenada, this was a fun event for everyone involved. Weather patterns are feeling more like summer in recent days, though early in the week there was some heavy fog marine layer to deal with for offshore operators, also later in the week there were swirling gusty winds pushing in from the Pacific Ocean water temperatures varied from up to 76 degree in the direction towards Vinorama and as chilly as 66 degrees on the Pacific. Still definitely in the midst of transition period.

Last week the main highlight for fishing action was the yellowfin tuna, which were striking on sardinas from the Iman to San Luis Banks. Now that action has slowed way down, problems with jack crevalle moving in, to many skipjack and wind chop that picked up early, at times lots of yellowfin were seen, but were finicky to strike, also diminishing supplies of sardinas. Still a chance at catching a couple of tuna in the 20 to 40 lb. class, though very spotty in recent days.

Striped marlin bite improved offshore of Palmilla, in the vicinity of the 1150 spot, some 15 plus miles offshore. Many charters were reported multiple chances for marlin, while trolling lures and rigged ballyhoo, there was a lack of live bait to help offshore now, no caballito to be found, that should improve soon. We should also start to see maybe some moonfish and mullet schools appearing in the marina area, which would help open up more baitfish options. No dorado or wahoo reported, though if weather does stabilize soon and more warm water pushes back in, anything could happen.

Snapper bite faded out, lack of red crabs for bait, a few cabrilla, amberjack, pompano, bonito and triggerfish were accounted for off the bottom, using yo-yo jigs and various available baits, had to work hard for handful of fish. Once again, we do expect this lull in activity to pick up soon as we get more consistent warmer weather conditions. This time of year can typically be like this, changing week to week, what is hot and what is not.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 60 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 9 striped marlin, 29 yellowfin tuna, 11 amberjack, 14 yellow snapper, 8 barred pargo, 16 leopard grouper, 5 pompano, 22 huachinango, 14 roosterfish, 19 sierra, 8 bonito and 210 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

Los Cabos Infrastructure Improvements Pave Way for Rapid Growth

Few places on earth have experienced as radical and overwhelming a transformation as Los Cabos, growing from a small municipality of 10,000 inhabitants in 1970 to a cosmopolitan international travel destination with over 280,000 permanent residents by 2015. The makeover has been remarkable, and would have been unthinkable without periodic, graduated improvements in both support services and infrastructure.

The first travel boom occurred in the early 1970s, thanks to major infrastructure upgrades: most notably the completion of the 1,000 mile Transpeninsular Highway from Tijuana to Los Cabos in 1973, and the inauguration of the international airport in San Jose del Cabo in 1977. Dredging also began on the Cabo San Lucas Marina in 1973, but was not completed until the mid 1980s, setting the stage for yet another growth spurt.

The third major infrastructure stage is underway now, with enhancements and advancements of airports, roads and marinas a seemingly necessary step to keep pace with an unprecedented explosion of high-end hotels and resorts. From Hurricane Odile in 2014 to the end of 2018, some 4,000 new hotel rooms will come online in Los Cabos, a 22% increase that will bring total room availability to over 18,000.

Airports

Improvements to the Los Cabos International Airport were in large part responsible for the record 4.2 million passengers in 2016. These enhancements include a new international terminal and a new FBO (fixed-base operator) for private jets. The smaller airport in Cabo San Lucas – traditionally the more popular landing spot for personal and corporate aircraft – has also seen upgrades, including the lengthening of the runway to 7,000 feet, and new navigational aids and air traffic control equipment.

Roads

In November of 2015, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto flew in to inaugurate a new 45 kilometer long toll road from the Los Cabos International Airport in San Jose del Cabo to central Cabo San Lucas. The new thruway alleviates traffic congestion along the Tourist Corridor highway that traditionally connects the cape cities, and significantly shortens the driving time between San Jose and the Pacific Coast pueblo magico of Todos Santos.

Marinas

The projected 2o18 opening of the Four Seasons Los Cabos on the region’s scenic East Cape will be accompanied by the unveiling of yet another marina, adding to a collection that already includes world-class, mega yacht accessible nautical facilities in Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Los Cabos (a luxury development located just outside San Jose del Cabo, and the site of the area’s first Ritz-Carlton).

Event Centers

The proliferation of high-profile special events in recent years was made possible by two new state-of-the-art facilities:  the Convention Center in San Jose, built to house the G-20 economic summit of world leaders in 2012; and the Pabellon Cultural de la Republica in San Lucas, which premiered in 2010 and now showcases the annual red carpet opening of the Los Cabos International Film Festival. The former hosted U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the latter Star Wars alumni Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, among other Hollywood luminaries.

Photo courtesy of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico.

Los Cabos Fishing Report – April 23, 2017

April 23, 2017

Easter week is now past, businesses are back in operation after extended weekend break, though local schools still have this week off, will be returning Monday for classes. Spring break rush of tourists has tapered off and crowds are moderate now. Weather is ideal, clear sunny skies, high temperatures of about 85 degrees and winds have been light. Ocean water temperatures are ranging 72 to 75 degrees, areas of blotchy greenish water closer to shore, though north of Punta Gorda to Vinorama the clarity has been much improved.

The highlight this week was the yellowfin tuna action, fish in the 20 to 40 lb. class started to bite near Vinorama, about one mile offshore. Angers were using live sardinas, which in recent days were found schooling near the Puerto Los Cabos Marina jetties. Drift fishing and slow trolling baits worked, average catches ranged from 2 to 6 per tuna boat, good action considering this is early in the season for yellowfin.

The snapper action continued on the Gordo Banks and on other high spots, the key was obtaining red crabs for bait, also the drift was very swift at times, which made this style of fishing tougher. Still a great option to have, as these snapper are ranging from 4 to 12 lb. and are excellent eating. In recent days more boats were trying for the tuna action, since it had just developed again. Other rock piles such as Palmilla Point, Iman Bank. La Fortuna and San Luis Bank produced various numbers of amberjack, bonito, pargo and cabrilla, anglers working hard with yo-yo jigs were rewarded with an occasional amberjack up to 30 lb., but overall the numbers were limited.

The way the weather patterns are now, continuing warming trend, anything can happen on any given day, this week it was the yellowfin tuna, next week possibly striped marlin, wahoo or larger amberjack could appear. Things can change fast as we progress towards summer.

Heard of a couple of snook taken by shore anglers, also a few roosterfish taken by slow trolling baits near shore, one in the 25 lb. range. With more baitfish appearing along the beach stretches we should start to see increased activity.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 66 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 165 yellowfin tuna, 13 amberjack, 19 yellow snapper, 13 leopard grouper, 4 pompano, 6 roosterfish, 180 huachinango, 14 sierra, 14 bonito and 70 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

What Do The Masters Golf Tournament and Los Cabos Have in Common?

Sunday saw the concluding round of The Masters tournament, one of the golf’s four major competitions, and an annual rite of spring for North American sports viewers. Spain’s Sergio Garcia won in a playoff, but Fred Couples once again made a strong showing, as the 57-year-old showed flashes of the form that earned him the coveted green jacket at Augusta National back in 1992.

Couples has also been in the news for another reason:  the start of construction on the Twin Dolphin Golf Club in Los Cabos. The 64-time professional winner is working with Todd Eckenrode of Origins Golf Design on the course layout, which is expected to be ready for play by late 2018. “We want this to be a course that all players can enjoy,” Couples said.  “With its multiple sets of tees, it will vary in length and will feature undulating greens, dramatic elevation changes, impeccable fairways and natural bunkering.”

Named for an iconic Los Cabos resort that was open for decades on the same site, the Twin Dolphin Golf Club is set above scenic Santa Maria Bay, about six miles from Land’s End in the tourist corridor than connects cape cities Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.

The March 28 announcement that ground had broken on this high-profile project added even more luster to an already unparalleled region for golf. Three of Los Cabos’ 15 operating courses are currently ranked among the top 100 in the world.  Six were designed by Jack Nicklaus, who holds the all-time record for major championships with 18; two more were designed by Tiger Woods, who is second on that list; and one each was designed by major champions Greg Norman, Davis Love III and Tom Weiskopf. Woods, Norman and now Couples are all currently at work on new layouts.

In addition to the championship level 18-hole golf course, which is set within a larger 1,400 acre hotel and residential development, Twin Dolphin Golf Club will also include a full practice range, short-game practice chipping areas, practice putting greens, a full-service clubhouse, on-course amenities and service staff, and of course, as befits a former Masters champion’s signature design, caddies.

Want to tee it up in Los Cabos? Contact Los Cabos Vacation Rentals for info on luxurious but affordably priced villa accommodations and custom tailored “stay and play” golf packages.

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Los Cabos Golf

Photo courtesy of Flickr user SN#1.

 

Semana Santa and Mexican Spring Break

Spring Break in Cabo San Lucas is like a series of waves:  first come the college students from Canada, then from the U.S., and finally from Mexico itself. The latter phenomenon is typically contemporaneous with Semana Santa – Holy Week, the week before Easter in the Catholic Church – a period in which not only students on mid-semester break, but often entire families take advantage of the holiday period to travel to popular beach destinations around the country.

For U.S and Canadian travelers, the important things to note about Semana Santa are the week-long closure of most banks and virtually all government offices, and of course the increased competition for accommodations of all kinds. Beaches are also much busier than usual. On the plus side, Semana Santa offers an interesting glimpse into the Catholic core of Mexican culture, and provides another good reason to visit the Los Cabos region’s lovely, historic churches.

Parroquia San Lucas Evangelista is the oldest church in Cabo San Lucas, dating to 1950, when a local school teacher named Amelia Wilkes – namesake of the plaza across the street – donated the land upon which it is constructed. There are several interesting features of this church. The bell in the bell tower dates to 1746, when it was consecrated to San Ignacio, and historical documents were placed in a bottle and built into one of the columns at the main entrance.

Parroquia San José has a much older history, its roots in the Jesuit mission built at what is now Plaza Misión (where the site is marked by a plaque) by Fr. Nicolas Tamaral in 1730. Tamaral was killed by the region’s indigenous inhabitants, the Pericú, after an ill-fated ban on polygamy in 1734. The mission closed in the 19th century, and Parroquia San José was built in 1840. Eight years later it played an integral role in the Siege of San José del Cabo during the Mexican-American War. A hurricane badly damaged the church in 1918, and it was not fully restored until 1940. Among its most famous features is the tile mosaic above the main entrance depicting the death of Tamaral.

This year, Semana Santa begins on Sunday, April 9, and culminates with Easter Sunday the following week, on April 16. Both Parroquia San Lucas Evangelista and Parroquia San José offer bilingual masses at noon on each of these Sundays.

Photo of Parroquia San José courtesy of Thelmadatter.

 

 

 

Cheese and Wine Festival Benefits Local Children

Los Cabos has burnished its wining and dining reputation in recent years with an ever increasing series of spectacular culinary themed events, from the enormous annual Sabor a Cabo festival – which features upwards of 50 top local chefs – to chic tasting affairs like ultra-luxury property The Resort at Pedregal’s summertime Art of Taste.

For connoisseurs of cultured milk products and fermented grape juice, however, the standard setter remains the yearly Cheese & Wine Festival, the 5th edition of which takes place this Saturday, March 25, from 6 to 10 p.m.

Proceeds from the high-end foodie fete, as always, go to benefit the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation, which for the past 13 years has been working to provide access to pediatric oncology, cardiology and intensive care programs to local children with serious medical issues.

The backdrop for this gustatory celebration will also be familiar to attendees of earlier incarnations:  the elegant and expansive Salon Hacienda ballroom at Sheraton’s 270-room showpiece resort in the Cabo del Sol development at Punta Ballena, a whale-shaped point overlooking the Sea of Cortez between cape cities Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.

Sheraton’s Hacienda del Mar property has long been famed as a special events destination (Hacienda del Mar hosted each of the previous four Cheese & Wine Festivals, and also welcomes participants and guests for both the Los Cabos International Film Festival and the Los Cabos Pro-Am Golf Tournament); as well as for its numerous excellent onsite restaurants, which include Pitahayas (whose chef, Volker Romeike, pioneered pan-Asian fusion cuisine in Los Cabos), De Cortez Grill (home to superb steaks and seafood) and Girasoles (lauded for its traditional Mexican specialty dishes).

For tickets or additional information about the 5th annual Cheese and Wine Festival, visit www.sheratonhaciendadelmar.com, email hacienda.delmar@ sheraton.com, or call (624) 145-8000.

 

Photo courtesy of Sheraton Grand Los Cabos Hacienda del Mar.