My husband and I have been wanting to travel internationally, since that has been on a pause since the start of the pandemic. As numbers have started to decrease, we thought it was a good time to give it a go with our first trip to Mexico. If you've been following along our travel journey, you're probably thinking, "Well, what about that cruise to Ensenada?" While we did de-board the ship for a few hours, it wasn't really a true "trip" into Mexico.
Given that we would be going on a short 5 day trip and we needed some time to relax and unwind after a long year working in healthcare during COVID times, we easily decided that Cabo would be a nice, safe place to explore and try out what a resort is like.
Our Itinerary
Day 1
- Flight to Los Cabos International Airport (SJD)
Our flight to Los Cabos International Airport was with Southwest Airlines (our favorite!). We arrived to Los Cabos in the early afternoon. Since this was my first time in Mexico (aside from our cruise to Ensenada), so I was definitely excited! It was also my first time staying at a resort and at a Waldorf-Astoria hotel. If you have no idea what Waldorf-Astoria is, here's a quick wikipedia article about it. Our stay at the Waldorf was from points we have saved up.
Upon landing, there was an area where there were several booths with people trying to sell us taxi tickets and tour packages. We ended up booking just the taxi service with them, but they were kind of pushy with buying tour packages.
- Where we stayed: Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal
So, if you didn't read about two sentences and/or the line above, then you're probably wondering where we stayed. We stayed 3 days and 2 nights at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal.
Staying at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal was a magical experience and by far the best hotel experience my husband and I have had thus far. The staff were very courteous and even went so far as to remembering our preferences at breakfast. The amenities there were truly top-notch. The views and access to the beach were so easy. Walking through the resort itself was its own adventure.
- Dinner from Restaurante El Coral
My husband had bookmarked Restaurants El Coral because of the raving Google reviews of this place. We had ordered their seafood platter, in hopes of getting a taste of the seafood local to the area. The restaurant had quite a few diners eating in, and a small outdoor dining area. My husband and I decided to get our food to-go.
Our food took some time to make, which was a promising sign that the food was made fresh to order. We carried the food back to our hotel room to eat on the balcony. We opened the styrofoam boxes to find food that look like that you would find with a standard American chain restaurant like Red Lobster. The taste of the food was equally bland and reminiscent of American food. There was nothing unique or special about it. The seafood did taste fresh though, I'll give them that.
Overall, we recommend going there to try the food if you want a taste of a tourist trap or for convenience. Otherwise, we recommend heading over to another restaurant.
- Night time walk exploring resort grounds
It was getting late and dark out after we finished eating. We figured we would explore the resort grounds and catch some nighttime views.
We walked the resort end to end, and the resort's warm, yellow lighting added a nice ambience to our night walk. On the one end, we reached a restaurant at the resort, where diners wore semiformal. We also caught some views of the fireworks on display near the restaurant.
On the opposite end of the hotel, we accessed the beach front. We didn't walk too close to the ocean since the waves were marked as dangerous, but we were able to enjoy the fresh air and the sounds of the ocean waves crashing.
Day 2
- Exploring El Arco on boat
Our next adventure the following day was exploring the famous arc El Arco via boat. There were several boat shops along the pier, and a lot of people approached us offering us their tour packages and boat services. Services. We ended up going with one of the stalls located further on the pier. Their boat ride services included a short tour, one single stop of our choosing, as well as transportation back to the pier. The best part was that, because the boat was not busy, the ride ended up being private with just my husband, myself, and the boat operator. The boat operator helped us snap some photos with the arc when the water was calmer.
We decided to stop at Lovers Beach. The beachfront was filled with many people, some sun tanning and some playing in the water. My husband and I walked from one side of the beach to the other where divorce Beach was located. We didn't particularly prepare for any water activities, so we just enjoyed people watching. Afterwards, we waited for our boat to return for our pickup.
- Eating at Mariscos La Palmita
Our next stop was for lunch at a local eatery Mariscos La Palmita. My husband and particularly enjoyed their ceviche and flan. We found the ceviche to be very fresh, and one of the best we've ever had. The flan was perfectly creamy with a light, semi-sweet dark caramel sauce.
- Night time walk along the beach to catch the sunset
Our nighttime walk the previous night happened to be after sunset, so this time, we aimed to catch the sunset as we did our nighttime walk. The sunset at Cabo is truly a sight to see. Unlike the sunset along the California coast, the sunset at Cabo was less hindered or covered by clouds, and the colors were so much more vibrant, boasting pinkish orange hues.
Day 3
- Day time walk along the beach to catch sunrise
Similar to our nighttime walk, we decided to start the day with a walk around the resort grounds to catch the sunrise. The sunrise looked absolutely beautiful from the resort, since there weren't any buildings or anything in the way. It looked like the sunrise was coming up seamlessly from where the ocean meets the sky.
- Waldorf continental breakfast
After our morning walk, we continued with breakfast at the Waldorf. The food at the Waldorf was very fresh, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the staff remembered something so minuscule like our drink preferences. Overall, the continental breakfast consisted of most of the usual foods you would find at the continental breakfasts out in the United States. The difference is really in the service and the option for ranchero style, eggs and a side of tortillas.
- Off to our next resort: Hyatt Ziva
We enjoyed our stay so much at the Waldorf that we were curious to see how our stay at Hyatt Ziva would be. We were impressed by how large the Hyatt Ziva resort grounds were. There was also all you can eat options that can be ordered via room service. Literally most, if not all, of our meals for the rest of the stay was from room service at Hyatt Ziva. The food options were pretty solid, and we found ourselves ordering the skirt steak as well as the flan for the majority of our meals.
- Exploring the resort
Now that we were in a new and seemingly larger resort, it was time for us to explore again. We visited the different lobby/common area floors and the different restaurants at the resort. We stopped by the different pool areas and the medical clinic as well (exploring where the medical clinic was more just for fun).
Day 4
- Going into town to explore
We decided to spend the day going into town, albeit the relatively safer area, to explore. We walked around some local streets lined with small shops, reminiscent of being in a Chinatown of sorts. It was one of those days that we spent people watching, as people made their way here and there.
My husband and I were delighted to find an ice cream shop while walking around the city. The bright colors of the shop caught our eye, and we were pleasantly surprised by the ice cream and fruit popsicle options. There were all kinds of fruit popsicles, each with pulp or seeds from the fruit. Some of the popsicles even had some pieces of fruit in them. I went with a more exotic fruit (passionfruit), and my husband went with the classic strawberry.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that our popsicles were so fresh. It felt as if we were eating the fruit itself, especially so with the fruit and seed bits. The popsicles were not overly sugary, and did not taste like it was made from fruit juice. We definitely wanted to try some of the other flavors and fruits the shop offered, but we also wanted to save room in our stomachs for more delicious food. The popsicles were definitely refreshing for the warm day, and something we highly recommend trying if you're visiting Mexico.
- Resort night entertainment ~ Grease
On what became our nightly walk around the resort, we had found out that there was a "Grease" live show. We stopped by to watch the show and found the synchronized dancing and acrobatic moves of the performers to be entertaining. They played the classic songs and scenes from the Grease movie.
Day 5
- Day time walk along the beach to catch sunrise
Because Hyatt Ziva is in a different part of town than the Waldorf, we decided to try to see what sunrise looked like from here. We were pleasantly surprised to find that there was no one out poolside, granted most people were probably partying the night before. Before. We were able to get a lot of great shots of the sunrise as it glimmered along the pool and lighted the beachfront with warm yellow hues.
- Return flight to Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)
Our return flight to San Jose was pretty smooth without any delays, and we returned with our favorite Southwest Airlines. We had to make a pit stop in Arizona, but it wasn't too much of a damper on our trip. Unlike our prior international trips, this one felt like it came and went too quickly, although the time spent was enough for a little getaway and change of pace.
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We felt that our trip itinerary was "just right" -- not overly full with activities, yet enough activities to leave time to relax and enjoy that resort life. The "all inclusive" food, activities, and events was an added bonus since we didn't have to go out into town when it was late or put ourselves in any unsafe situation.
For anyone who has been to Cabo before, what did you find to be the most fun activity? Did you venture into town to explore?
Nicole G.
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