Layout of Cabo San Lucas
Cabo San Lucas stands on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, at the point where the Pacific meets the Gulf of California. The town wraps around a natural harbour. The marina fills the inner basin, with Boulevard Marina running round it past the cruise tender pier and the sportfishing docks. Downtown climbs the slope north of the water around Plaza Amelia Wilkes, and that is where the market, the bus terminal and most of the year-round population are. Boulevard Lázaro Cárdenas is the through road: Highway 1, the Transpeninsular, arrives from the east, and Highway 19 comes down the Pacific side from Todos Santos, the two meeting at the northern edge of town.
East of the marina, Playa El Médano runs about 3 km along the bay and carries the beach clubs and most of the hotels. West of the harbour mouth the ground rises into the Pedregal, a residential hillside, and ends at Land's End — the granite headland pierced by El Arco. Cabo San Lucas has no airport of its own; Los Cabos International (SJD) is about 50 km east. Cruise ships anchor out in the bay and tender their passengers into the marina; there is no cruise berth. The town and San José del Cabo share one municipality, Los Cabos, which had 351,111 residents in 2020; about 202,700 of them live in Cabo San Lucas itself.
Distances from Cabo San Lucas
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| San José del Cabo | 33 | 35 min | Hwy 1, the Corridor |
| Los Cabos airport (SJD) | 50 | 45 min | Hwy 1, shuttle or bus |
| Todos Santos | 80 | 1 h | Hwy 19, Pacific side |
| Cabo Pulmo reef | 105 | 2 h | Hwy 1, then graded road |
| La Paz (state capital) | 160 | 2 h 15 | Hwy 19 via Todos Santos |
| Loreto | 510 | 6 h 30 | Hwy 1 north |
| Guerrero Negro | 1,080 | 13 h | Hwy 1, state line |
| Ensenada | 1,590 | 20 h | Hwy 1 |
| Tijuana | 1,700 | 22 h | Hwy 1, the whole peninsula |
| Mazatlán | 400 | 12 h | Ferry from La Paz (Pichilingue) |
Beaches and the Corridor
Playa El Médano is the one long beach in Cabo San Lucas where swimming is normally safe: it faces east into the bay and is sheltered by the headland. The Pacific-facing beaches on the other side of the point — Playa Solmar and Playa del Divorcio, Divorce Beach — have a heavy shore break and a strong undertow, and are not swimming beaches. Playa del Amor, Lover's Beach, lies on the Gulf side of the same neck of sand at Land's End; it is calm, and is reached only by water taxi from the marina, a crossing of about ten minutes. El Arco stands a few hundred metres beyond it, and sea lions haul out on the rocks at the point all year.
The 33 km of Highway 1 between the two cape towns is known as the Corridor (Corredor Turístico), a line of resorts, golf courses and rocky coves. Playa Santa María and Playa Chileno, roughly at its midpoint, are the two coves with reef and are the usual snorkelling stops. Sportfishing is the town's oldest visitor industry — striped marlin, dorado and tuna — with the largest tournaments held in October. Humpback whales enter the bay from December to April, and the drop-off just outside the harbour mouth means they are often visible from the beach rather than only from a boat. The beaches map sets the cape beaches against the Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
Inland the cape is desert, but the Sierra de la Laguna rises to about 2,090 m some 40 km north and is the only part of the region with oak and pine forest; it is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Todos Santos, 80 km up Highway 19, is the nearest town of any size on the Pacific coast, and La Paz, the state capital and the ferry port for the mainland, is 160 km by the same road. Highway 1 continues north from La Paz for another 1,500 km to the US border, making Cabo San Lucas the far end of the longest single road journey in Mexico. The whole cape lies in the hurricane belt, with a season running June to November; Odile, in September 2014, was the most damaging storm recorded here. See the climate map for the season by coast.
Questions about Cabo San Lucas
Where is Cabo San Lucas on the map of Mexico?
At the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, in the state of Baja California Sur, 22.89° N 109.92° W. It is the last town on Highway 1, about 1,700 km south of the US border at Tijuana and roughly a 2 h 30 flight from Los Angeles.
How far is Cabo San Lucas from the airport?
Los Cabos International (SJD) is about 50 km east of Cabo San Lucas, on the far side of San José del Cabo. The drive along Highway 1 takes about 45 minutes; shared shuttles, taxis and a scheduled bus all run the route.
What is the difference between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo?
Cabo San Lucas is the larger, newer and busier of the two, built around a marina at Land's End. San José del Cabo, 33 km east, is the 1730 mission town, quieter, and sits next to the airport. The 33 km of coast between them is called the Corridor.
When can you see whales in Cabo San Lucas?
Humpback whales are in the bay from December to April, with the peak in January and February. Grey whales calve on the Pacific side of the peninsula further north, at Bahía Magdalena and the lagoons near Guerrero Negro.