Introduction
The Sea of Cortez is the youngest sea formed 3 million years ago. It’s also become a part of the humpback whale migrating grounds adding more to the population. Making it one of the most tourist place, people hoping to see whales and Cabo is know for it’s boat tours/excursions.
Information
The population of Cabo is 202,694 and the main languages are Spanish along with English. The currency is the Peso, US dollar, and credit cards, which are widely accepted in lots of places.
Cabo’s specialty crafts are: Handmade Leather, Tequila, Ceramics, Mexican Vanilla, and Talavera Pottery.
Local foods you can find in Cabo are: Mexican Chocolate Clams, they’re not sweet treat crazy enough. Pitahaya, which can be used for jams, marzipan, and jellied candies. Guacamole. Guemes Tamales, A traditional dish known throughout the Baja peninsula. Comida De Pobres, which translates to “poor man’s food”, a seafood mixed with beans and rice served with flour tortillas, sounds so good right now!
A couple Local Experiences are Seeing sealions, they like bathing in the sun in easy-to-access areas; they are super cute and love posing for pictures. Sealife sightings are very popular and common in Cabo so there are lots of Whale sighting excursions available along with colorful schools of fish, manti-rays, etc. If you’re looking for something to do on land there are lots of places you can go Tequila tasting, and enjoy what the locals offer as entertainment.
What Happened in Cabo?
A thing about Cabo is that cruise ships can’t really dock because it’s too big so the only way to get to shore was by taking a water taxi. You could take the ones the cruise offers or there was also an option to rent out a water taxi that would act as a personal taxi but those cost a pretty penny.
Initially, we didn’t have plans for Cabo besides walking around, but the day before we were supposed to port, my two friends and I decided to see what excursions they had available. Last minute, I know. We didn’t even know if any were left but whole and below there were a couple options.
Excursion
The one that caught all of our eyes was the ‘Discover the Wanders of Cabo by Land & Sea’ excursion. It took 5 hours to do and ended up costing me $74.99, which I think was pretty worth it.
There was a boat that would take you to see the Arches that have formed on the peninsula. The boat we were on was small but not overly crowded. Refreshments were offered while we were cruising on the boat, a selection of soda or juice. The places they take you are beautiful and there is always the possibility to see some wildlife/sealife, sea lions are very common in Cabo and are so freaking cute! They like sunbathing on the rock formations out by the Arches and seagulls tend to be chilling with them as well.
Make sure to bring sunscreen and reapply throughout the day!! Cabo is hot and we were constantly exposed to the sun, I definitely got a little toasty.
On our way to the Arches, we passed by a couple of beaches and they had a funny name and explanation for the name. There was one beach called Divorce Beach because of how rough the waters were and how hard the waves hit the shores; on the other side was a beach called Lovers Beach, which got the name because of how calm the waters were and how soft the beach feels to walk on. The coolest part while going to the arches was seeing little Manti-rays, they were jumping out of the water and it was such an amazing thing to experience.
Sunset Monalisa
After seeing the Arches and getting some splendid pictures, we changed locations. The next stop of the Excursion was on top of Cabo Bello at Sunset Monalisa which gives a cliff-top viewpoint of Cabo. We took a bus to get there after returning to shore, it wasn’t a super long bus ride but those bus seats are uncomfortable! Once we were at Sunset Monalisa everyone on the bus rushed to use the bathrooms, all of us had to go so badly. After using the restroom, I was able to take in the jaw-dropping view of Cabo Bay and the beautiful building of Sunset Monalisa.
Sunset Monalisa was a nice break from the sun and I think it gave everyone a moment to spread out and not be so close to everybody.
Glass Blowing Factory
The next stop on our excursion was to a Glass Blowing Factory where local craftsmen create unique glass pieces daily. Riding to the factory was interesting because I ended up sitting by the boy I was crushing on and I was trying to flirt but not be too obvious, spoiler it didn’t work I was totally obvious. Arriving at the Glass Blowing Factory we noticed that the building was pretty and that the windows had like a stained window vibe.
They guided us around and then led us to where they would make the glass pieces, once we were all seated they started giving a demonstration of making a sea turtle wearing a sombrero and holding a tequila bottle. It was so fascinating watching them make this, it was crazy how they used small bits of colored glass as the turtle spots and it was hard to guess what it was for a while. The demonstration was surprisingly fast, we got time to walk around and see all the glass pieces; I ended up buying glass stir sticks that had sea creatures on top.
Gift Shop & Churros!
The final stop before heading back to the cruise ship was a gallery place with food and gift shops. It was fun seeing all the items that were for sale and I ended up buying shot glasses with my friend. After all of us were done with shopping we decided to all get some churros, they were pretty good and while eating them we got to sit and talk with our tour guide. He was really funny and genuinely seemed like he loves what he does.
Afterwards
Heading back to the cruise ship was a little stressful because our excursion went a little longer and the ship was planned to leave at a set time. Not to worry though because if you book an excursion through the cruise they will make sure they don’t leave without you, that being said if you book an excursion not through the cruise there is no guarantee they will wait for you if it runs longer than planned. I would suggest always booking through the cruise or making sure there is enough time with the possibility that it will run longer through other places besides the cruise.
That night we all ate dinner together and discussed the events of the day, it was a lot of fun telling everyone what we did and hearing what the others did too.
As the night ended, our exhaustion from the day kicked in and we parted ways; I crashed pretty hard that night after a shower and had a really good sleep. This was our last day on the cruise and we would be back in Los Angeles the next day, ending our vacation. But hey this was a really fun experience and I loved every moment!
