Cabo San Lucas June 2016
Cabo San Lucas - my wife and I were here about 9 years prior on a cruise, and it reminded me of Santa Cruz. But beyond that, it didn't leave me much of an impression, mainly because cruises just make you go crazy over expensive jewelry and hunting for freebies at jewelry stores. But this was different - we stayed at a resot for 7 days and got to enjoy the destination at our own pace. Plus, we had the extended family with us.
The Villa del Palmar (see my review on TripAdvisor) is a combination of 3 resorts (Villa del Palmar, La Estancia, Villa del Arco) located less than 10 minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas. At this group of resorts, there are trolleys modeled after the ones in San Francisco that take guests between Palmar and Arco. Unlike the world just outside the walls, there are manicured lawns and endless lounge chairs which in turn face the many different pools with waiters buzzing around.
Below are a quick summary of our fun week in Cabo San Lucas.
Day 1
We spent the evening at the restaurant overlooking the beach and the famous arch as the backdrop. We chased the waves in the beach as the sun set.
Day 2
We spent our first full day on the beach and in the pool. Every 10 waves or so, a big one came up and pulled the younger, lighter people with the strong undertow.Our daughter had the occasional wipe outs, but she kept going back for more. Our son was less adventurous but was happy to play in the sand and in the kiddie pool.
The evening consisted of the Fiesta Night at the hotel.
Day 3
My wife and daughter went horseback riding in the morning (Rancho Carisuva). Meanwhile, my father in law and I walked over to Villa del Arco to go parasailing (Baja’s).
We took the local bus and took about a 15 minute ride into the harbor. Here, the Cabo Legend and the Buccaneer Queen (the two pirate ships) battle it out in the open waters, complete with sword fights and cheesy dialogue, while the passengers drank their way through the excursion and ate dinner in the open waters.
Day 4
Our daughter and I went to swim with the Dolphins today - it's about maybe half an hour drive into San Jose Del Cabo. This one in particular, Dolphin Discovery, was done in the ocean waters near the harbor. Our dolphin's name was Audrey, a relatively young dolphin.
Day 5
My wife, her brother and I went on the ATV in the desert and along the beach. We raced through the sand in a fast but surprisingly orderly manner and even learned about the vegetation and local wildlife at one of our stops.
Our dinner was at Ruth's Chris in downtown where the in laws celebrated a major anniversary, complete which an impressive mariachi band.
Day 6
We took the bus back to downtown again for some souvenir shopping. We also are at Pocho's, a restaurant at the harbor. A nice way to re-energize after walking in the hot sun.
In the afternoon, our daughter hung around with the family while our son and I took a trolley over to Villa Del Arco (VDA). The centerpiece here is the Bucanero, which is a restaurant shaped as a pirate ship in the middle of the pool, which my son absolutely loved.
Our son and I took the trolley once more to VDA. We ate breakfast there and pretended to be pirates on the Bucanero. Bucanero (a restaurant in the evening) is not open for breakfast, so we had the run of the place.
Note my promotion of Vector Unit's Beach Buggy Blitz
Thus ended another great vacation.
