Los Cabos is two towns, and they have nothing in common
At the tip of Baja California, where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific, there are two towns 33 kilometers apart with a corridor of resorts strung between them. Cabo San Lucas is loud, has the marina and the Arch, and never sleeps. San José del Cabo is a colonial town with an art district and a square. Booking the wrong one is the most common mistake here, and the beaches come with a warning most brochures leave out.
The three places called Los Cabos
The airport is at San José, so the transfer times run against Cabo San Lucas: 10 km to San José, 18 to the middle of the corridor, 33 to Cabo San Lucas.
San José del Cabo · 10 km
The older town. A colonial square, a church, a Thursday-night art walk in the Gallery District, and restaurants that are not aimed at a cruise crowd. Quieter, and the beach in front of it is not for swimming.
The Tourist Corridor · 18 km
The highway between the two, lined with the big resorts and the golf courses. This is where most rooms are, and where the two swimmable beaches are.
Cabo San Lucas · 33 km
The marina, the Arch, the sport fishing fleet, Medano beach and the nightlife. Busy, expensive and the reason most people come.
The part the brochures skip
Most beaches in Los Cabos are not swimmable. The Pacific side and much of the eastern coast have shore breaks, undertow and no protection, and drownings happen every year. Red and black flags here are not a formality.
Playa Médano
Cabo San Lucas’s town beach, inside the bay and genuinely calm. Loungers, restaurants, vendors, and busy.
Playa Chileno and Playa Santa María
On the corridor, both sheltered coves with reef and decent snorkelling. The two beaches everyone recommends, and for good reason.
Lover’s Beach
At the Arch, reachable only by water taxi from the marina. The Sea of Cortez side is swimmable; the Pacific side a few meters away, Divorce Beach, is lethal.
Playa Palmilla
Near San José, protected and shallow — the family choice at that end.
Whales, heat and the two seas
Gray and humpback whales come into these waters from roughly December to April, and from Cabo they are close enough to see from a small boat in a morning. That season overlaps with the best weather: dry, warm, and expensive.
Summer is very hot and it is hurricane season from June to November. The water is warmest and the diving best in late summer and autumn, which is the trade.
What there is beyond the beach
The Arch and the sea lions
A twenty-minute panga ride from the marina, and it is worth doing once even though everyone does it.
Sport fishing
The reason Cabo exists as a destination. Charters go out from the marina daily.
Todos Santos
An hour north on the Pacific, a proper town with galleries and surf. The best day out from either end.
The art walk
San José’s Gallery District, Thursday evenings in season.
Keep planning
Los Cabos · Cabo San Lucas · San Jose del Cabo
Traveler questions
Cabo San Lucas or San José del Cabo?
Can you swim at Los Cabos beaches?
How far is the airport?
When can I see whales?
Do I need a car?
Sources
- Los Cabos Tourism Boardvisitloscabos.travel · checked 2026-09-25
