Pacific Coast - Baja Bound: Cabo – a world of contrasts

Cabo San Lucas

Disney Cruise Ship at Cabo

Glitzy Hotels in Cabo

After arriving in Cabo San Lucas in the wee hours of the morning, we anchored in the bay just off the beach awaiting our turn for an assigned slip at the marina. The bay was alive with a variety of activity including parasailing, paddle boarders, and water taxis. A major Fishing Derby was taking place so sport fishing boats were coming and going from the marina like bees to honey. Soon the Disney Cruise Ship pulled into the bay and lowered her anchor taking up a good share of the anchorage. The organizer of the Baja Ha Ha Rally was assigning spaces at the marina (based on the date of registration for the event) and it became clear that some boats would need to anchor out due to the extra demand for boat slips. We decided to up anchor and motored to San Jose del Cabo about 30 miles away and stayed at this more secluded and quiet marina. Not wanting to miss the Ha Ha celebration, we rented a car and drove into Cabo San Lucas to attend the “we cheated death once again” party. We spent some time before the party exploring Cabo and found a striking contrast between the upscale shops and hotels along the beaches vs. the town itself, which would be considered ordinary without the glitzy beachfront developments. The Ha Ha celebration was held at the marina in Cabo surrounded by upscale shopping and mega yachts. It was a casual event held outside in the warm evening air with lots of seating and plenty of drinks to go around. Everyone was declared a winner and presented with a ribbon and certificate, Got d’ Fever now proudly displays her certificate in the pilothouse. We really enjoyed our stay at San Jose del Cabo, a more authentic Mexican town with narrow paved streets and adorable shops and cafes catering to both locals and tourists alike. San Jose is where we began to learn how things are done differently in Mexico and started to shed our preconceived American way of doing things. I had planned to take our sheets into the lavanderia (laundry) to have them washed, expecting to have the task completed in a couple of hours. After walking through the streets in the hot sun, occasionally stopping to ask for directions, we finally found the laundry shop. The attendant saw my bag of laundry and said “no agua;” she pointed to the two large 300 gallon water tanks and said “manana.” It was clear that she had run out of water for the day and that we would have to come back again tomorrow. I should have used the drop-off and pick-up laundry service offered by our marina, which is exactly what I did the following day. During our stay in San Jose del Cabo, we visited an outdoor market held in the mangroves accessed by a non-descript dirt road. A variety of unique arts and crafts were available for purchase; I bought a turtle necklace carved from bone, and my friend Pam purchased a hand-embroidered blouse. Our friends Pam and Bruce had flown into Cabo to join us for our cruise to La Paz. The evening before our departure, our friends treated us to a wonderful dinner in San Jose and we walked the town square observing local families enjoying the cooler evening air. It seemed rather active even for a Monday and we were told that the town square becomes quite a social scene on weekends. We said goodbye to this adorable town and settled in for the rest of the evening back at the boat - we would be departing mid-morning for the next night's anchorage at Los Frailes.