It’s so crazy to think it’s already been a whole month since Ryan and I jetted off as newlyweds to our honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. If you’ve been following along since the trip, you may know that our honeymoon included several different parts. We went from Cabo San Lucas, to San Jose del Cabo, and then bounced around from San Diego to Big Bear, and then over to Joshua Tree before heading back home. I have recaps coming on all legs of our trip, but I figured I would start at the beginning and share our experience in Cabo San Lucas!
where we stayed & ate
For the first part of our honeymoon, we decided to stay at a very typical “honeymoon-style” resort. We researched several all-inclusive resorts that are on the beach and ended up selecting one that was reasonably priced (considering we had a two week honeymoon ahead of us). We spent two nights at the Riu Palace Hotel – and while it was very nice and luxurious, I do have mixed reviews.
The hotel is located about a 30 minute cab ride from the airport and about 20 minutes from the “downtown” and marina area. I’d say it’s in a fairly central location and easy to access anywhere you’d like. The resort itself is beautiful – in a very traditional resort sense. Ryan and I typically select boutique style resorts, so I won’t say it was necessarily our style, but it was very luxurious. There was an open bar or restaurant around every corner and a swim up bar or two at every pool. This place is definitely made for indulgence!
There are at least five restaurants that are a part of the resort – there are more traditional buffet ones, a steakhouse, and an Indian restaurant. We gave almost all of them a try, and while the food was good, it was difficult to find a variety of things to eat as a vegetarian. The breakfast buffets were amazing, but I had salads for most of my lunches and dinners. The food is definitely more catered towards those who enjoy endless selections of meat… aka Ryan 🙂
The Riu Palace offers a few different room styles. The more “exclusive” ones offer a swim up pool, or a the sea view suite – which was the one we picked. Our room had an in room jacuzzi tub, as well as a private jacuzzi tub on the porch (neither of which we ended up using). I will say this was one of my biggest disappointments of the trip. This was my expectation of a sea view room, but our room actually faced one part ocean, and on the other corner was the beach. It was still beautiful, but if you consider booking this style room, know it may not look like the photo on the hotel website.
Overall we had a nice experience at the Riu Palace, but I don’t know that we would go back. It just wasn’t quite our speed, and after two days of indulgence, we were ready to head to our next resort in San Jose del Cabo.
what we did
To be completely honest, we barely left our hotel. After a long travel day, we were happy to be lazy by the pool and soak in the sun. We had a sunset sail scheduled our second day there, and that was the only time we ventured out. We booked our sunset sail in advance through Cabo Sails and we were SO impressed with them!
Our captains were amazing, and we were served drinks and delicious food throughout the entire sail. They took us past the famous arch and Lover’s Beach, and then around to the private residences of Cabo, and we turned around just as the sun hit the horizon. As we sailed back in, we saw all the lights twinkling on the shore – it was magical! This was probably one of the most memorable experiences of my life. We also took some time to walk around the marina and the local shops before our sail. They are very touristy, but it’s cool to interact with some of the locals and experience the culture.
things to know
After only a week in Cabo, I wouldn’t consider us experts by any means, but we did encounter a couple of unexpected things along the way that may be helpful travel tips!
Taxis at the Airport: We didn’t book transportation through our resort at the airport – which in hindsight I wish we had. We spent about an hour trying to figure out the taxi system! As soon as you grab your luggage at the airport, you are immediately bombarded with taxi companies offering you a ride. It was a little overwhelming to be honest. We called our hotel, and they recommended using Super Shuttle (which you have to schedule in advance), or “any of the guys in green shirts.” Looking back now, I was being very skeptical of which taxi company to pick – we learned later in our travels that they are all pretty legit and super nice. Our ride from the airport to our resort was about $80 for a thirty minute ride.
Taxis in General: Be prepared for cab rides to be expensive! We took out about $300 in Pesos when we arrived, and it didn’t end up being enough to cover just taxi rides. For instance, we took a cab literally three minutes up the road (our hotel concierge didn’t recommend walking), and it was $20. At our second place we stayed, we had to take a five minute drive into town to get to a bank, and it was $40. Just a heads up!
The Locals: This was the best part of our trip! We were so surprised at how friendly everyone was. I’m a very skeptical traveler and assume that in touristy locations, lots of people are just trying to rip you off, but that didn’t feel like the case here. If you take the time to talk to the locals, you’ll realize they are all so nice and just want to be helpful. When we first arrived in town and couldn’t find our check in location for our sunset sail, a guy stopped what he was doing and walked us over to where we needed to be. Everyone was that nice!
Public Restrooms: If you head into town, bring a pack of tissues with you. The bathrooms (in the marina area at least) expect you to pay for toilet paper and hand towels. To be honest though, I didn’t mind paying. The girl at the door was so nice and handed you a towel as soon as you were done washing your hands. However, it’s nice to be prepared incase there isn’t someone working to provide you with the tissue.