November 28, 2013  San Jose del Los Cabos

 

Well, we have gone from one extreme to another in the last week.  We spent a few days in two small, remote villages then had another long 30 hour passage to reach the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula and arrived at Cabo San Lucas on Monday afternoon. 

 

Sunset the night before arriving at Cabo San Lucas

Sweeping clouds above a beachfront resort just west of Cabo San Lucas



A densely populated hillside outside of Cabo



From plywood shacks one day to massive
single family homes the next day

 

Talk about culture shock, even before we went to the marina!  We decided to anchor off of the beach for the night and rest up from our long passage. 

Los Arches with a cruise ship anchored in the background

Los Arches with charter sailboat in the foreground

Cruise ship answered next to us

 Little did we know that we had anchored directly in front of a beachfront sports bar with a loud speaker system where the MC announced various drinking contests all day when he wasn’t playing really cheesy 70’s and 80’s songs.  But it gets better…there were two beach bars next to each other competing for business and the other one also had a loud speaker and MC! 

As Cabo San Lucas is on the cruise ship circuit there was a large cruise ship anchored not too far away with tenders taking passengers into Cabo San Lucas Marina constantly.  Then there were the para glider power boats, seadoos and jetskis, paddle boarders, pangas, charter catamarans and sailboats as well as sports fishing charters everywhere all afternoon. We had hopes that the seas would calm down during the night but they didn’t.  Fortunately the bar closed down about 10:00 p.m. so the noise stopped at least.  We tried to sleep but before morning the wind had shifted so that we were sitting in beam seas, which meant we basically rolled from port to starboard and back to port again.  We got up before 5:30 a.m. because of the uncomfortable motion of the boat and waited for dawn to arrive so that we could head into the marina where we had reserved a slip for one night.



Falcon surrounded by mega yachts and luxury stores



Super busy, expensive Marina Cabo San Lucas

Marina Cabo San Lucas was expensive at $85.47 a night US funds but we had a few errands to do, to check in with the Port Captain and provision, hence our decision to put the money out on moorage.  The marina itself was packed with sports fishing boats, tour boats, tour sailboats and pangas racing around. 

The malacon wove around the marina and, on one side, it was lined with restaurants and high end luxury stores, a six theatre movie complex and high end mall.  On the other side, closer to our docks, was a half-finished condo project long since shut down.  Enterprising Mexicans had set up tiny stalls beside the desolate construction site to sell tee shirts, trinkets, purses, blankets, etc. 

Morning sun on surrounding complexes

 

Long shut down condo construction site



One of the hundreds of stalls near the marina

 

Thousands of tourists from close by resorts and cruise ships were everywhere every day so their luck at making a living was better than in many other locations.

Closer to noon the heat was almost intolerable at the docks for us as we have not adjusted yet.  We left Falcon and walked a half hour in the midday sun to Walmart and brought groceries then took a taxi back with our many bags of provisions.  In the evening we got away from the tourist area and found really good fish tacos in a small out of the way restaurante then meandered around for a good hour in the cool of the evening.  No matter where we were, day or night, we were approached by locals trying to lure us into their shops, sell us trinkets, entice us to enter their restaurants or night clubs, sell us a time share or try to interest us in a golf package. 

Beachfront hotels and resorts in front of Falcon VII

As this was a cruiseship haven the Mexicans all spoke adequate to very good English.  We got used to saying ‘no, gracias’ and not stopping or we would never get anywhere.   The interesting thing was we never felt they were upset about our ‘no, gracias’, but quite the opposite.  In most cases they said ‘have a nice day’ or ‘ok’ or something similar.  If we had a map out someone often asked if we needed help finding something.   They were not after tips – just being helpful.  The next day we completed our errands and washed Falcon’s caked on salt spray off before leaving the marina mid-afternoon.  Getting out of the marina was like gridlock in rush hour traffic with sports fishing charters returning from their half day trips and smaller pangas weaving all over the place.  What a zoo!!!!!

There was nowhere to anchor at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula due to open beaches and surf so our next port was Los Cabos Marina only 15 miles away and we made it in just before dark.  The autohelm was acting up again but Jim sleuthed out the problem and corrected it, thank goodness!  As we arrived at our docks friends on another boat called out a welcome, which was great.  We chatted with neighbours Steve and Tricia on an older 47’ Waterline Yacht called Kuyima that was built in the 90’s (Jim used to work for them) so there was a common bond right away.  The evening was thankfully quiet except for a single band playing at a bar across the harbour and we were delighted when they stopped near 10:00 p.m. so we could get some sleep.  The days are hot now and the evenings are not cooling down, which also takes some getting used to.

The Marina Puerto Los Cabos was part of a bigger planned development with hotels, restaurants, swimming pool, condos, houses and golf courses that did not happen.  The main roadway leading to the resort area and marina was nicely landscaped, lined with tall palm trees and squat spiney cacti but as you approached the marina only a few areas and paths were landscaped and others building sights were still just acres of  dirt.


The undeveloped walkway



Turn around and you have the developed walkway

Over a dozen sculptures lined the marina walkway

Parts of the actual marina were finished and parts were not. And yet only a couple of miles away, on the western beachfront, half a dozen upscale hotels were built and open.  I guess the developers missed the boom.    We had nice showers and washrooms near our docks but that was all.  However, the facilities they do have were clean and the marina staff were very helpful.

We took a cab into San Jose del Cabo and spent the morning getting cleared in by the Port Capitan and walking around their town square, which was in the process of being decorated for Christmas.  Like Ensenada there was a section clearly laid out for touristas then other areas definitely not frequented by tourists. 

No real Christmas trees at San Jose del Cabo's local square

We hiked all over the place and were saddened to see a number of empty storefronts.  We walked by a little boy happy as couldn’t be happier playing with his little dinky toy car and using an old piece of drywall as a ramp for it. So simple.  No devices or expensive toys, just a little car.  Further on, a shopkeeper told me that she was concerned because it was US Thanksgiving weekend and there were few tourists.  This was the start of their busy season and she said she would simply have to work longer hours to make ends meet.  I wished her luck as I departed with my purchase. 

A roadway away from the tourista area where many stores were vacant

All in all San Jose del Cabo was a pleasant change from the circus at Cabo San Lucas and we were glad to take a few hours off and enjoy ourselves. The next day we scheduled boat projects but we made sure to take time off at noon for a swim in the ocean.  It was glorious! We had been waiting literally years for that opportunity and we are excited to know that we will get in more swimming in warm waters finally.  The beach area was only a short walk from the marina and we ventured back for a sunset full of pink and purple, mauve and peach.  We had a great meal of fish tacos at a little restaurant across from our docks and had a great conversation with the young waitress, Alahandra.  She was originally from Mexico City and spoke exceptional English.  She gave me a hug when we left and shook Jim’s hand before waving good bye to us.

We enjoyed the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula but will now head north again.  We can finally slow down and take day hops, spend a few nights at anchor at a time and work our way towards La Paz, arriving just before Christmas.  I’ll probably get one more update done between now and then.  We love our cruising life and, though we miss family and friends, we are happy and healthy.  All is well on Falcon VII…..