Cabo – The Other Side     

Where’s the easiest resort to escape to from San Diego?

Los Cabos – only two hours away on Aeromexico or Alaska. However, if you’re like me and crave peace, quiet and beachside romance on your next getaway, you may consider Cabo just a little too busy. 

I did. I hadn’t been there to stay in nearly five years. I figured it wasn’t really Baja anymore – with its crowds, jet skis, cruise ships, big hotels and chain restaurants. To me Baja is supposed to be remote and peaceful ¼ a place where nature remains dominant.    

Well, I stand corrected. On the northwest side of Cabo San Lucas, light years (and seven minutes by free shuttle) away from everything, is the new Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach. On a private piece of coastline that seems to go on forever, this hotel is terraced down a hillside, in total harmony with the environment. The views are expansive, the rooms luxurious but comfy-casual. Each has marble floors, a private oceanfront patio, TV with all the channels anyone could ever want, oversized shower and mini-bar.  

We flew to Cabo after school got out with two 17-year-old girls. While I’m fine with camping in a tent on a deserted beach, my daughter and her friend have higher standards. They were in vacation heaven. So was I, actually. What I learned is that I’m not above being treated like a queen, and that a suite on a hillside is more romantic than a tent in the sand! 

Guests can walk or hitch a ride on a golf cart down the winding path that leads to the beach, pool and swim-up bar. The pool meanders along the beachfront, its waterfalls and bridges giving it the feel and look of a tropical lagoon. The swim-up bar – instead of just offering underwater barstools – actually has booths, with tile tables above the water and underwater seating. We plopped down and ordered lunch. Best Reuben sandwich I’ve ever had ¼ in Mexico. Go figure. Dinner at La Nao Restaurant (named after a Spanish galleon that traveled from Manila to Acapulco by way of Cabo, from 1565 until 1815) was another treasure. There are two other Pueblo Bonitos in Cabo—the Rosé and the Los Cabos (also known as the Blanco). Both are on Playa Los Medanos, the main beach in town – and between them, they offer every amenity a vacationer could ask for. 

Cabo has grown up. It’s nothing like the rest of the peninsula, but then it doesn’t purport to be. It’s sophisticated  with world-class hotels, food and service. In October, it hosted APEC (the Asia Pacific Economic Conference) with twenty-two presidents in attendance. That’s big.  

But what actually impressed me the most about Cabo were the desalinization and water treatment plants. Every major hotel pumps seawater in, purifies it, pipes it throughout the property, treats wastewater and returns it to the ocean in its original state. That’s huge. 

Check out www.pueblobonito.com