I’ve had mixed feelings about traveling to a Mexican resort town for a long time.  On one hand, the allure of spending a week under the blazing sun beside the azure sea is hard to resist – especially when spring weather in Seattle can be borderline disgusting.  On the other hand, I feel the same way about resort towns as I do about the cruise ship industry: even though you’re in the most gorgeous place in the world, the isolated self-contained attitude is a Disneyfication of the real world.  My apologies to those who love Disneyland, but let’s be honest, the place is all smoke and mirrors.

Amanda and I needed a quick (and warm) getaway for our anniversary this May.  After our icy trip to Sweden in February, we promised ourselves that a hot beach destination was in order the next time we went abroad.  Frequent flyer miles and a friends’ condo later, and boom – you have the makings for my first time in a Mexican resort town.

I’ve tried to keep an open mind.  After all, who wants to go on vacation and gripe about it the entire time?  After our 4 day stint, here are my impressions – both the good and the bad.

The Good

–       It’s clean.  Town leaders have done a good job keeping the streets, beaches and buildings free of trash – at least in the tourist areas.  Plastic is the bane of the developing world, and yet, we’ve seen surprisingly little of it floating around.

–       My huge fear is that Cabo would be full of gigantic all-inclusive resorts.  All inclusive’s are horrible for local economies, because they funnel all that tourist money overseas, leaving locals the low paying jobs and little opportunity to improve their lot in life. It’s true Cabo has big hotels with everything you’d need within their confines.  Yet the town is safe enough that most visitors do leave their hotels and walk around town shopping in local stores, eating in local restaurants and paying for things that locals operate, such as water taxis.

–       Surprisingly few touts (pushy people trying to sell you stuff).  Sure they’re around (hey, it’s still Mexico!) but they’re not super aggressive, and very few vendors bug you on the beach.  Just ignore them or politely tell them, “No thanks.”

–  The weather and location are amazing.  A desert climate at the tip of the Baja Peninsula is a recipe for sun worshipping and a myriad of costal activities (diving, fishing, parasailing, dune buggies, etc.) will keep even your ADD kids well entertained.  If all you want to do is sit on the beach, you can find that.  If you want to pack your week with a new adventure every day, there are plenty of people lined up to take your money.

–   Every third store in town is a pharmacy.  And none of them require pesky prescriptions for the likes of Valium, Vicodin, or Viagara.

The Bad

–       There’s very little authentic about it.  If you were transported to Cabo without knowing where you were, you might think you were in southern California.  You can literally go days without speaking Spanish or handling a Peso.

–       Prices for food are outrageous.  Your typical restaurant is actually more expensive than a similar meal in the US.  Prices are usually listed in Pesos to fool stupid tourists who can’t figure out the exchange rate.  A dinner that would cost $13 at your average Azteca would be $25 in Cabo.

–       One of the great joys of traveling in the developing world is sampling delicious (and cheap) street food, but there are surprisingly few opportunities in Cabo.  In most poor countries, there would be a food stall on every block.  In Cabo you have to hunt them out.

–       The average visitor is immensely overweight American with a scathing red sunburn, whose conversation around the pool is about work, work and work.

–       There’s no swimming allowed on the pacific side of the peninsula (too rough).  Swimming beaches in the bay are jammed with noisy tourists and the water is take-your-breath-away cold.   Better to stick to the pool.

Will We Go Back?

Absolutely – for the ease of getting there and sunny weather, you can’t beat it.  But if we feel like “traveling?”  Well… Mexico is a big country.

Up Next: Diving in Cabo:  The place Jaques Cousteau called it “The Worlds’ Aquarium.”