A romantic 8-day itinerary for a couple’s trip to San José del Cabo
I adore Mexico! The weather…the beaches…the tacos…the margaritas. We’ve traveled many times to the Caribbean side and loved it. This was our first trip to the Pacific side of Mexico. It didn’t disappoint! We were there in October, and it was very hot. It isn’t humid, but the heat was overwhelming at times. We were careful to stay hydrated and always had water with us. It does cool down quite a bit when the sun goes down, but I only needed a light sweater. We were able to eat outside every day, which was lovely; rain was not a concern.
This region of Mexico consists of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. According to Google: While Cabo San Lucas is the more popular city with exciting nightlife and a bustling downtown, San Jose del Cabo is a quieter destination with traditional Mexican charm. We opted to stay at the Cabo Azul Resort in San Jose del Cabo. Geographically these two areas are not far apart, and there is ready access to cabs. However, there is only one road between the two, and traffic can be heavy (accidents cause massive delays). You’ll want to stay where you have most of your plans.
We found that almost everyone speaks adequate English. We didn’t have any problems communicating.
The Hubs and I enjoyed cocktails and dinner by the pool on our first day. Bliss!
When The Hubs and I travel just the two of us, he always gets me a coffee when we first wake up. It’s a fun tradition, and even after many trips over our 25 years together, he is always anxious about getting it right. During this trip, he also selected my breakfast pastry from the hotel café. Oh, how he fretted! We enjoyed breakfast on our balcony most mornings—what a lovely start to our day.
We walked into San Jose del Cabo town for our first full day. It was a Sunday, so the morning was quiet, but the town perked up as the day went on with an art festival and a skateboarding competition. I love exploring a walkable town or city with a food and cocktail tour. Not only did we experience the sights of San Jose del Cabo, but there was no food FOMO for us. We had a drink and a snack at all the places on my list!
Habanero’s - frazzled shrimp with a margarita
The shrimp and marg were on point.
Shooters Sports Bar - chips, salsa, queso & guacamole with a beer
We added this stop to our day so The Hubs could watch football. It has a rooftop bar, but it’s nothing special. If you don’t have sports to watch, I’d skip it.
La Lupita Taco & Mezcal - suckling pick taco & cheese crust pastor taco with a mezcal sampling
The cheese crust pastor taco was, without question, the hands-down star taco of the trip. The Hubs still talks about it as one of the best things he’s ever eaten!
Mi Cocina- ceviche with a sangria
This place had lovely outdoor seating, and the food was delicious.
La Revolución - oysters with the house cocktail for me and a couple of fingers of traditional Venom Sotol for The Hubs.
Both San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas are typically pretty casual. We were casually dressed and felt comfortable even though this place was fancier than other places on our food tour.
We saw snakes in jars a lot that day. We got the history of “Mexican Moonshine” here. To make venom-infused sotol (a desert plant distilled similarly to agave), a diamondback rattlesnake is milked into the sotol, and the mixture is aged with the dead snake inside (the alcohol denatures the venom.) Traditionally, it was used as a tonic, and snake venom was said to give the spirit medicinal properties.
The Hubs found it similar to tequila.
For day two, we went into Cabo San Lucas for the day. We walked around the lively marina. Be prepared for very persistent shopkeepers and vendors. It can be overwhelming, be firm yet polite, and don’t engage. There are shops to explore, yachts to dream about, and sea lions to watch frolic. We had lunch at Baja Cantina. I highly recommend tacos Gobernador and a tangerine margarita. After we walked through the marina, we walked along Playa El Medano. Here, the difference between the quiet of San Jose del Cabo and the bustle of Cabo San Lucas was evident. Before returning to our hotel, we stopped and had a drink and THE BEST churros at Hacienda Cocina. We spent the evening by the pool. For dinner, we ate at La Forchetta, an Italian restaurant across the street from our hotel. The Hubs and I shared a flavorful Italian-style pizza and Fettucine Diavolo.
We spent the next day at Wild Canyon Adventure Park. We purchased a park pass that included unlimited access to much of the park and limited available activities (we selected a UTV tour and a camel ride, and The Hubs did ziplining). A guided animal sanctuary tour is available, with the opportunity to hold many regional animals. While the camel ride is relatively brief, there is an interactive presentation after. The UTV ride covers much of the park and finishes with a bridge across the canyon (I didn’t love that part!) The package included transportation and a free beer at the restaurant, where we also had light lunch. We added the photo package as well and got some great pictures. We enjoyed ourselves. This place would be fun for all ages.
For dinner that evening, we walked across the street to Latino8. We sat outside and enjoyed delicious cocktails and shared a few yummy appetizers. I’m a big fan of small plates or making a meal of appetizers.
The next day we planned a big breakfast to fuel us until dinner. We headed to La Mexicana Restaurant y Cantina, across from our hotel. I had the molletes with chorizo, and The Hubs had the ranch eggs. Both were very tasty. After breakfast, we walked along the Estero San José del Cabo. The path was somewhat hit or miss, but it was a lovely walk, and we saw many birds.
We went to Sunset Mona Lisa for a sunset 7-course (8 including the amuse-bouche) tasting experience. A meal at Sunset Mona Lisa is an extravagance, but I highly recommend visiting for the sunset ceremony, if only for a drink. This was such a wonderful evening…stunning cliffside ocean views, marvelous sunset, romantic atmosphere, and divine food and drink! Swoon…
You’ll want to make reservations as soon as they open.
We spent the next day reading, napping, and enjoying drinks and snacks by the pool. Not a bad way to spend a day!
We ventured back into Cabo San Lucas for dinner at La Botica Speakeasy. The bar is located within the stunning Las Ventanas al Paraiso Resort. The drinks were exquisite in presentation and taste, but they were expensive. We shared some delicious small plates. And in proper prohibition form, there was a secret entrance and hidden bar. The cab ride back to our hotel took hours due to an accident.
On our last day, we took a kayak tour to the distinctive landmark, El Arco or Land's End. The rock formation is the tip of the Baja Peninsula, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. The tour included transportation and, lucky for us, ended up as a private tour. It’s an easy ride out and back. Our time had a stop at Lover’s Beach for some snorkeling. The water was beautiful, although it was pretty crowded.
We wrapped up our trip with a lovely authentic Mexican dinner back in San Jose del Cabo at Cuervo's House. We asked the owner for the house specialty and he brought us carne en su jugo and a cantarito. Both were tasty. The family makes their own tequila, and we thought a bottle would be a perfect souvenir our our trip.
We were there for sea turtle hatching season—many turtles nest along the beaches of San Jose del Cabo. I was desperate to see the hatchlings make their way to the sea. There are tours, but The Hubs and I just took sunset and sunrise walks daily. Our persistence paid off!
I hope this motivates you to travel, eat…and return and share my journey through 7 continents and infinite foods.
8 days/7 nights
Day 1
hotel pool/dinner
Day 2
San Jose del Cabo
Food/Cocktail tour
Habanero’s (takes reservations, but we didn’t make one)
La Lupita Taco & Mezcal (takes reservations, but we didn’t make one)
Mi Cocina (takes reservations, but we didn’t make one)
La Revolución (takes reservations, but we didn’t make one)
Day 3
Cabo San Lucas
Walk the marina
Baja Cantina (takes reservations, but we didn’t make one)
Hacienda Cocina (takes reservations, but we didn’t make one)
Playa El Medano
La Forchetta (takes reservations, but we didn’t make one)
Day 4
Latino8 (takes reservations)
Day 5
Estero San José del Cabo
Sunset Mona Lisa (takes reservations one month out)
Day 6
hotel pool
Day 7
Cuervo's House (takes reservations, but we didn’t make one)
Day 8
out
**I would highly recommend that you make reservations in advance when available. I always book scheduled activities and typically make dinner reservations in advance. I’ve indicated with a parenthetical any restaurants that take reservations.