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But as captivating as this strange and beautiful area is, virtually
everyone agrees that the region’s most spectacular natural features
lie just beyond its Land’s End promontory, where sparkling azure
waters fan out from the peninsula’s southern tip.
MARLIN CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
Cabo San Lucas’ tourism industry was built on fishing. During the
first half of the 20th century, when the town’s population numbered
about 300 people, its cannery was one of the most productive in Latin
America. By the 1960s, resorts were popping up along the coastline
between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, soon to be the twin
hubs of the Los Cabos municipality. There was no highway at the time,
and little in the way of service and amenities, but fishermen heard the
rumors about big catches and soon arrived.
The area’s overwhelming abundance of billfish, marlin in partic-
ular, has earned Cabo San Lucas its nickname, The Marlin Capital
of the World, and birthed both a fishing fleet and a host of high-profile
fishing tournaments. The most famous of these competitions by
far is Bisbee’s Black & Blue — aka the Super Bowl of Sport Fishing —
which takes place in October and has been turning fishermen into
millionaires for over three decades. The tournament’s 2006 cash payout
of more than $4 million remains the largest in
sport fishing history.
Conservation efforts and catch-and-
release policies have kept the Cabo San
Lucas fishing industry strong, and today,
visiting anglers can still strap themselves
into a fighting chair on the aft deck of a cabin
cruiser and battle marlin, sailfish, and tuna
the size of small cars. What has changed
are the variety of charter options and the
introduction of some rather posh amenities.
Blue Sky Cabo, for example, offers
ground transportation (including limousine
upgrades) for guests, a fishing fleet that
includes an elegantly appointed 60-foot Bertram yacht, and VIP
extras that range from mixology to meal service. Blue Sky also
welcomes women, a shift in marketing focus that’s on the rise
in Cabo’s traditionally male-dominated fishing industry. During the
summer of 2017, a tournament exclusively for women, the Señoritas
Blue Water Classic, premiered on the Los Cabos municipality’s beau-
tiful East Cape.
FEROCIOUS WITH LIFE
Nobel Prize–winning novelist John Steinbeck, on a specimen-
collection expedition in 1940 with marine biologist friend Ed Ricketts —
the inspiration for the character Doc in
Cannery Row
— memorably
described the Sea of Cortez as “ferocious with life.” It’s an apt descrip-
tion for a body of water with some 875 species of fish, and myriad
other forms of marine life.
On the East Cape, the offshore government-protected sanctuary
of Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park boasts the single-highest con-
centration of fish in this remarkable sea and, as such, is the region’s
premier snorkeling and scuba diving site. Cabo San Lucas companies
Cabo Adventures and Cabo Expeditions both offer regularly sched-
uled dive trips to the marine sanctuary, which also claims one of the
oldest and largest living coral reefs in the Western Hemisphere.
Cabo San Lucas–based tour operators more commonly offer
snorkel trips to pristine sites in the Chileno and Santa María bays,
which are located much closer to Land’s End, along the corridor that
connects the cape cities. Land’s End itself is also a snorkel and dive
destination of note, thanks to an upwelling effect from the confluence
of the Sea of Cortez and Pacific Ocean that produces particularly fish-
friendly conditions at sites like Pelican Rock and The Point.
In 2014, Hurricane Odile uncovered a previously buried ship-
wreck near Land’s End, the
S.S. Harry Lundeberg
, a cargo ship
that sailed to its doom in 1954, adding a newly formed artificial reef
to the list of spectacular dive sites.
THE BIGGEST CREATURES IN THE SEA
Los Cabos is famous for its whale-watching. Every year, 5,000 to
10,000 whales leave their arctic feeding grounds for winter in warmer
waters, while females birth calves in shallow-water inlets and coves
around Baja California Sur. Humpbacks and grays are the most fre-
quently sighted whales, but fin and sperm whales, and even orcas
and blue whales (the largest mammal ever to have lived on earth), can
occasionally be spied from local resorts, golf courses, and tour boats.
And whales aren’t the only leviathans cruising the local waters.
Whale sharks, the largest fish in the world — which reach up to 40
feet in length, and weigh as much as 47,000 pounds — also enjoy
the temperate conditions, typically taking up residence around La
Paz between the months of August and May. Vacationers can swim
with these gentle giants, that subsist solely on plankton. Round-trip
transportation from Los Cabos is provided by several well-respected
operators, including Cabo Adventures and Cabo Expeditions.
RED SAILS AT SUNSET
Known for excellent sailing beyond its protected bay, Cabo San
Lucas hosted the 2017 finals of the Extreme Sailing Series, a global
racing competition between high-tech, carbon fiber yachts capable
of speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour.
More leisurely excursions are available from a variety of local
companies, including Cabo Sails and Cabo Sailing, both of which
feature romantic sunset cruises. Cabo Adventures offers the most
upscale tours in the area, luxurious day-trip sails aboard its splen-
didly outfitted French-built yachts. Guests cruise the coast, then
drop anchor in a protected cove for a bit of snorkeling or paddle-
boarding before lunch and cocktails.
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Issue XXX, 2018
53
ferrantraite/Getty Images; Blue Sky Cabo; Blue Sky Cabo; Douglas Peebles
Photography/Alamy Stock Photo; Cabo Adventures
LEFT: Prolific seas and expert charter crews
make Cabo’s sport fishing excursions some of
the best in the world.
ABOVE: Casual alfresco dining is the standard at Playa El Médano,
where fresh ceviches taste as good as they look. RIGHT: Snorkel the
reefs at Cabo Pulmo National Park for face-to-face time with sea
turtles and an abundance of other marine life.
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Issue 1, 2018
PLAYA EL MÉDANO