An all-inclusive stay in Los Cabos can easily fill a week without leaving the property. The pools are large, the dining is on site and the beach is a few steps away. But the region has a handful of outings that a resort cannot replicate, and knowing which ones fit your dates is worth more than a generic list of forty attractions. This guide covers four that are well documented by tourism and conservation sources, plus the one beach rule that catches first-time visitors off guard.
If you have not yet chosen where to stay, start with our Los Cabos destination page, the list of all-inclusive resorts in Los Cabos and the comparison of Cabo versus Cancun for an all-inclusive.
Land’s End and El Arco
Land’s End sits at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. The stone arch known as El Arco is the landmark, and the rock formations around it include Neptune’s Finger and Pelican Rock. Local guides describe the surrounding coves as including Lover’s Beach and Divorce Beach.
Most visitors reach the area by water taxi, locally called a panga, on a shared boat ride or on a kayak tour. The trip departs from the Cabo San Lucas marina, so it suits a morning or an afternoon rather than a full day. The choice between a shared panga and a kayak is mostly about how much time and effort you want to spend. A panga is quicker and less physical, while a kayak tour gives you more time near the rocks.
The swimming rule to learn before you go
The two sides of Land’s End behave very differently. Operators that run tours in the area, including Cabo Adventures and Cabo Sailing, warn that the Pacific-facing beaches, Divorce Beach included, have steep drop-offs, strong undertows and unpredictable swells, and that swimming there is dangerous. Medano Beach, which sits inside Cabo San Lucas Bay where the rock formations break up the waves, is the beach they describe as suitable for swimming.
This matters for two reasons. A beautiful beach photo does not tell you whether the water is safe, and the stretch of beach at your own resort may face either side. Before you book, check which coast the property is on and whether the resort itself says its beach is swimmable. Visit Los Cabos even has a dedicated category for resorts and hotels with swimmable beaches, which is a useful filter if swimming matters to your group.
Whale watching, December to April
Whale watching is the most time-sensitive outing on the list. According to Visit Los Cabos, whales are present from December through April, January to March is the peak, and February gives the best odds of close encounters. Humpback and gray whales are the species most often seen, with occasional sightings of blue whales, fin whales and orcas.
Tours run from several points, including Land’s End, the Cabo San Lucas marina, Cerritos Beach and Migrino on the Pacific coast, and the San Jose del Cabo estuary and East Cape. The tourism board advises keeping a respectful distance and letting the whales come to you, and it notes that early tours often bring calmer seas. If your trip falls in September, October or May, a whale tour is not the right thing to plan around.
Todos Santos
Todos Santos is a former sugar mill town from the nineteenth century. Today it is known for boutiques, galleries, seafood restaurants and hotels set in historic brick buildings. It is a different pace from the resort corridor and it suits travellers who want a walk, a long lunch and some browsing rather than an activity with a schedule. Allow most of a day, and check current road and tour conditions with your resort or a licensed operator before you set out, since we have not verified transport times or prices.
Cabo Pulmo National Park
Snorkellers and divers should look at Cabo Pulmo, on the east coast of the peninsula, roughly 60 miles north of Cabo San Lucas according to the Smithsonian Ocean site. The reef was decreed a protected area in 1995 and became a national park in 2000. The Smithsonian reports that after 14 years of protection the fish biomass there had risen by 463 percent, and that whale sharks, manta rays, humpback whales and sea turtles have returned to the area.
That conservation record is the reason to go, but it also shapes the visit. It is a protected park, so you should book with a licensed operator, follow the rules on sunscreen and wildlife contact, and treat it as a full-day outing rather than a quick stop. Our guide to snorkeling and diving in the Riviera Maya explains what to look for in a reef tour, and the same questions apply here.
How to choose between them
- Two to three hours free: a Land’s End water taxi from the marina.
- Traveling between December and April: add a whale watching tour, ideally an early one.
- A day for a change of pace: Todos Santos.
- A full day and a snorkel bag: Cabo Pulmo.
Prices, departure times and operators change, so confirm them directly rather than relying on any list, including this one. The whale season dates and the beach warnings above come from the tourism board and from local operators. The Cabo Pulmo details come from the Smithsonian. Nothing here is based on a personal visit, and we have not tested any tour.