It's almost impossible to be
indolent in lively Los Cabos, one of Mexico's fastest growing tourist
destinations.
"Cabos," as it is affectionately known to visiting golfers, sport
fishermen, water sports lovers and dedicated whale watchers, dominates the tip
of the Baja California Peninsula.
Cabos takes in swinging Cabo San
Lucas, where most of the action is, and laid-back San Jose del Cabo, which
retains its Old Mexico atmosphere.
Virtually everywhere we went on our
late January exploration of Cabos (which means capes), migrating whales were
popping up offshore in the Sea of Cortes and off Baja's Pacific Ocean coastline.
We even watched a couple of them
spouting off in the surf from the balcony of our hotel, the Hacienda del Mar,
which overlooks the Sea of Cortes. At least a dozen more were performing
similarly farther out.
Later, several of the leviathans
were giving whale-watching excursion boat passengers friendly salutes, flipping
their enormous tails as we cruised the Pacific Ocean coastline just off Cabo San
Lucas.
Whales begin arriving from their
Arctic wintering waters in the Bering Sea in late December to breed and raise
their young in the warm, calm waters of Baja's Pacific bays and lagoons north of
Cabo San Lucas.
Aero Calafia of Los Cabos does a
brisk business flying tourists to one of the busier birthing bays where visitors
board small boats to observe the whales. It's not unusual for the whales to swim
over to onlookers for a petting. The $330 tour price covers transportation,
lunch, snacks and drinks -- bottled water, sodas, beer and wine.
Some whales apparently miss the
lagoon turnoffs and travel around the cape to the Sea of Cortes. No matter,
they're homeward bound in late March. They're rarely more than a few days off
schedule.
It was its fabulous sport fishing
that touched off Cabos' tourist invasion. Hollywood's stars, notably John Wayne
and Bing Crosby, as well as author Ernest Hemingway, "discovered" the place in
the '40s and '50s and made it their secret sport-fishing hideaway.
Today, Cabos is considered the
Marlin fishing capital of the world. Its annual Bisbee Black and Blue Marlin
Tournament held in October has paid out more than a $1 million over the past few
years.
The black and blue marlin season
runs June through December. Sailfish season runs April through October.
Cabos waters teem with more than
800 species of gamefish. To get an idea of the great variety of fish caught in
local waters drop by the Cabo San Lucas marina about 2 p.m. when the
sport-fishing boats begin unloading their catches.
Rivaling Cabos' sport fishing in
popularity is golf.
Today, six dramatic championship
golf courses augment the natural beauty of the white sand beaches in the 20-mile
seaside strip, known as The Corridor, between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del
Cabo.
Clustered beside the courses within
The Corridor are the posh resort communities of Cabo del Sol and Cabo Real.
Cabo del Sol, called The Pebble
Beach of Baja, is home to a Jack Nicklaus-designed course situated between the
180-room Hacienda del Mar and the recently opened 278-room Fiesta Americana.
Development of a Tom
Weiskopf-designed 18-hole course is under way in Cabo del Sol, which adjoins
Cabo San Lucas. Eventually, Cabo del Sol will have three championship courses.
A 350-room Ritz-Carlton resort
hotel will open in Cabo del Sol in the fall of 2000.
Golf course designers apparently
are not deterred by Cabos' predominantly desert-like terrain, merely challenged.
A new Jack Nicklaus-designed course
in Cabo Real, the El Dorado, has six holes that skirt the ocean and 12 carved
out of two canyons.
The Robert Trent Jones II-designed
Cabo Real course was created out of the Cabo Desert Mountains with finishing
holes close to the Sea of Cortes.
Cabo Real is home to the Westin
Regina, Melia Cabo Real and Rosewood Las Ventanas hotels.
Spectator sports enthusiasts enjoy
the glass-bottomed boats, based at the Cabo San Lucas marina. They take
passengers out to offshore rock formations with views of a resident sea lion
colony, a pelican rookery and waters swarming with brightly colored tropical
fish.
You'll also get a close up look at
Cabo San Lucas' symbol, El Arco, the familiar arched rock near the harbor
entrance.
Scuba diving is big
Large schools of reef fish and
manta rays can be seen from June through November. Water temperature is 70-75
degrees and at times, visibility is 100 feet.
Cabos also is noted for its
snorkeling, kayaking, waterskiing, windsurfing, yachting and beachfront
horseback riding. Tops among the area's swimming beaches is El Medano at Cabo
San Lucas' doorstep.
The beach also is one of the best
places to rent equipment for outdoor adventures.
Most of Cabos' beaches are safe for
swimming; however, a few have undertows or currents that can be hazardous. Hotel
staff members give advice on where to swim in safety.
Local tour companies offer
all-terrain vehicle trips to La Candelaria, an isolated Indian pueblo in the
mountains north of Cabo San Lucas.
Another ATV excursion goes to Cabo
Falso across towering sand dunes to an old lighthouse that once guided ships
between the West Coast and Panama.
Cabos' weather is warm all year.
Daytime highs are in the 80s -- except in summer when they can top 100 degrees.
Best time for touring is
October-April. You'll need a sweater for January's occasional cool evenings.
San Jose del Cabo, 20 miles
northeast of Cabo San Lucas, is a charming, Colonial-style village. Its central
plaza is flanked by an array of shops and the twin-steepled San Jose Church,
built in 1940 on the site of a Jesuit mission erected in 1730 when the community
was founded.
At the edge of town is El Estero, a
freshwater estuary of the San Jose River. It's a sanctuary for more than 200
species of birds and waterfowl.
If you can tear yourself away from
Cabos, take a side trip to Todos Santos (all saints), 45 miles north of Cabo San
Lucas, via Highway 19.
En route, you'll travel through a
sea of towering cordon cactus beside the Pacific Ocean, which was swarming with
whales on our trip -- or so it seemed.
Founded in 1734 as a mission and
farming center, Todos Santos is now an active artist colony and farming
community. The shopping for all manner of hand-crafted silver and other local
handiwork is worth the trip.
The handsome Iglesia Nuestra Senora
del Pilar, a successor to the original mission, dominates the town plaza area. A
favorite restaurant is the Cafe Santa Fe, which serves Italian cuisine.
If you go ...
Getting there
Los
Cabos International Airport, eight miles north of San Jose del Cabo, is served
by several major airlines. Alaska Airlines has a daily flight between San
Francisco and Los Cabos.
