This may come as a shock, but I am not a fancy man. Ok, that’s probably not going to surprise anyone. But when it came to this visit to Cabo, fancy was the name of the game. Hyatt had just opened the brand new Park Hyatt in the Cabo del Sol development, and as a partner at Cranky Concierge, I was offered two nights at no charge to come and experience the hotel in its first month. I’m glad I did, but then after, I went to La Paz for a night. This part of the journey really made me realize how different places that are so close to each can be. And how much more I prefer one than the other.
- Introduction to Cranky’s Mexican Adventure
- Cross Border Express is Great, But It Can Be Tricky
- Viva Kicks the Trip Off the Right Way
- Mexicana is Weird, But the E2 is a Delight
- The Spectacular But Distant AIFA Airport
- Mexico City is More Than Worth the Visit
- Aeromexico Does It Right in the Air but Not on the Ground
- Señor Air Has the Best Name and an Experience to Match
- Los Cabos and La Paz Couldn’t Be More Different
- TAR Was a Wild Ride
- Volaris, the Purest ULCC
I will gladly admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Los Cabos. Cabo San Lucas itself is a small town that has been built up mostly to serve the tourist market. Further east, San José del Cabo has more of a sense of place with locals, but it’s also not where most tourists spend their time. When this area developed into a tourism hub just a two hour flight from Los Angeles, hotels were built along the ocean shores, usually nowhere near town at all. The “Corridor” is exactly that. Between the two towns, there isn’t much other than resorts catering primarily to foreigners, and most of them don’t even have swimmable beaches.
Even in the towns, Americans never need to speak a word of Spanish or even exchange their dollars into pesos. It might as well be the US. If I’m going to another country, I don’t want a carbon copy of what I already live every day.
This isn’t to say that the Park Hyatt wasn’t spectacular. It absolutely was. And I can imagine a lot of travelers falling in love with the place.
My wife flew down for this part of the trip to meet me, and she really liked what she saw. We spent most of the days by the pool watching what looked like a literal playground for whales. We took a class in the kitchen making tortillas out of masa. And I have to say I looked amazing wearing that hat around that they provided in the room.
This is the luxury version of visiting another country, but it certainly sanitizes the experience. For some, this is the right balance. For me, I was ready to move on.
My wife hopped on a plane back home, but I got in a bus for the three-hour drive up to La Paz. La Paz sits on the Sea of Cortés, but it is north-facing in a protected bay with several islands ringing the area.
The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that there was an actual sense of place in La Paz. This was a city, a city where people worked and lived. It’s also a city where I could wander freely and not feel any safety concerns.
I stayed at a one La Paz, the lowest rung on the food chain of the Fiesta Americana brand. It promises (and delivers) spartan but clean accommodations with free breakfast and a good price. I got a travel agent rate of $65, and I was happy enough.
After wandering from the bus depot to the hotel and dropping my bags, I immediately walked back toward the water, because… isn’t that what you do? And La Paz has a sizable and bustling malecón that stretches all along the bay.
What’s more, they have created several art installations ranging from old statues…
… to more modern endeavors.
There were a couple of piers, one for transport and another ostensibly for fishing though I saw nobody actually doing that. Along that main street, there were several restaurants and hotels. Some were very touristy and completely unappealing while others seemed to hold a story from the past that I would have liked to learn.
When it was time for dinner, I followed the advice of the Park Hyatt. Ok, so it wasn’t the hotel itself, but it was the advice of two of the bellmen who suggested I get some lobster at Bismarckcito. This looked pretty touristy in its own right, but I had a solid lobster fettucine, and really, can you go wrong with a view like this? (If you read TripAdvisor, apparently you can.)
After, I strolled the streets and did a little shopping to bring something back to the kids. Then, I found something so rare, most of you have probably never even heard of it…
I didn’t actually go into Sears at all, but I did like going into some of the local shops and puttering around town with nothing pushing me in any particular direction. People were out and enjoying themselves.
It is impossible to compare La Paz to Cabo San Lucas since they couldn’t be more different. La Paz and San José share more similarities, but San José is still much more tourism-focused while La Paz is certainly not.
In Los Cabos, it’s fun to go and sit on the beach, even if many aren’t swimmable due to strong current. I don’t ever think about wanting to go back there. In La Paz, I’d like to go back and explore a lot more. This visit was just an introductory taste. I didn’t get to any of the islands or explore the areas outside of town. It looks like there is a lot to see, and with Alaska flying there now, it is probably worth a return visit.
19 responses to “Los Cabos and La Paz Couldn’t Be More Different (Travelogue)”
What exactly does this mean?
It’s also a city where I could wander freely and feel any safety concerns
Do you really want to “feel any safety concerns”? Suggest revising and proofreading before publishing. Many such errors undermine an other worthy commentary.
This shows the importance of leaving out one word, in this case “not”. It’s like the famous Bible from 1631 where the Seventh Commandment read “Thou shalt commit adultery”.
An other worthy commentary. What exactly does this mean?
Maybe next should be St Thomas USVI to continue the tour of classic department stores in paradise and visit KMart?
A Sears…with a Chanel counter! You WERE in a foreign land.
(Also, I think you mean you were wearing a hat around the Park Hyatt, not a hate.)
You see other old brand stores in other countries: Queenstown, New Zealand has a Kmart and a Woolworths (now a grocery chain and drug store) – both northeast of the airport.
I believe the US-based Woolworths that is no longer around in the US and the Aus/NZ Woolworths are separate founding stories.
You hit the nail on the head. I’ve been going to Mexico for about 50 years, and, as a retired airline guy, been everywhere. I do not want to go to a sanitized Americanized bland “safe” place. I want actual culture, I’ll learn and speak the language, (Lo Intento) I want to go somewhere where people live. We have been looking at Loreto and La Paz to go to using some AA money we have, not deterred by a bus ride to LAP from SJD. We frequent what used to be the small town of Puerto Penasco and the much smaller El Golfo. We just want to relax, have good food, be surrounded by great people, and leave all the resort BS to the people who need that sort of thing. Thanks for this report, my wife is currently pulling up properties for a week’s trip at a great cost.
Check out Loreto. We spent a week there a few years ago and loved it.
There are also many American ex pats who live around La Paz, a family member of mine moved there a few years ago. Very cheap and safe.
Used to go to Cabo a lot growing up…. on America West… as we had timeshares at the Westin back when it was new. The taxis at that time were all tricked out conversion vans.
San Jose del Cabo definitely more of a “I’m in Mexico” good feel to it though it seems to now be the boutique/upscale/highly curated experience location.
I have loved La Paz ever since taking a tour there 25 years ago. At the time unless you flew Aero California or another Mexican carrier, you couldn’t fly there. It’s a nice, clean, safe, normal city which is just as much fun as somewhere beach-y.
The picture with the letter “P” for Parking seems odd for Mexico. I thought the sign would be an “E”. At least that’s what I remember from walking around Argentina.
What was the bus ride like and how were the roads? Would you consider visiting Loreto in the future?
Dale – The roads were great, probably recently repaved or built. The bus was fine. It wasn’t a luxury coach as you can sometimes fine. It was a minibus with perfectly fine leather seats but not a lot of legroom. That wasn’t an issue since I had nobody next to me. We did stop a couple times, including once just to get ice cream from a guy on the side of the road.
Interesting that there would be a Sears in Mexico. Seeing that evoked memories. During my trucking days, when I drove for Schneider, I would sometimes get dispatched to the Sears Distribution Centre in Delano, California to pick up a trailer full of merchandise to deliver to Sears stores. They are finally getting around to demolishing the Sears in Buena Park.
My sister-in-law is a former Sears buyer (even worked in the Sears Tower!) and appreciated that photo!
One of my most disappointing trips was a cruise we took with stops in Costa Rica, Belize and two Mexico ports. What a disappointment. The Belize stop was an island-themed Disney-like attraction owned by the cruise company. The Mexico ports were all oriented towards the cruise industry with lots of junk for sale and zero character. Costa Rica was somewhat better, but still not ideal. This was a family trip sponsored by my in-laws and they were trying to accommodate a big family, which I appreciate, but it definitely confirmed for me I’m more of a La Paz type of traveler! At least cruising out of Tampa I could be home in 45 minutes.
If you return to Costa Rica, check out the little town of Dominical. Its kind of a surfers area, they have a few ok beaches, but there are some good ones in Uvita and Playa Linda, and you are a short drive away from Manuel Antonio Park. Very chill, low key and beautiful. I have a friend who lives up in the hills from there in Tinamastes. My wife and I have no desire to do any cruises, no Disney stuff, no concrete Vegas recreations of other places. I get that some people love that stuff, I’d rather go to a city, walk around, use local transport and see things like the people who live there see it.
My only trip to Mexico was literally this itinerary – fly into Cabo for a few nights, drive up to La Paz for a few nights, fly back from Cabo. La Paz was the best part of the trip, although as an Australian, American tourist spots are still somewhat exotic. Great food, great people, 10/10 would visit again.
Glad you got to visit the Park Hyatt! I was fortunate enough to spend four nights there in February in a plunge pool suite. The Globalist breakfast was fantastic, the cocktails were great, and — since it was operating at around 33% capacity — it felt so private. Another cool experience was being able to watch the Super Bowl at the beach club.
Not much of a fan of Cabo San Lucas, though San Jose is pretty cute and has some cool dining experiences.