The majority of the west coast of Baja is largely undeveloped. Once past Tijuana and Ensenada in the extreme north, the coastline is dotted with fish camps and villages, with the occasional small town sprinkled in.
That changes at the southern tip of Baja, where the twin towns of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo have grown to form a major tourist destination. The change is evident even before turning the corner around the iconic Cabo arch – large sportfishing boats start zipping around, and the lights of town are visible from 20 or 30 miles out at sea.
Anchoring is marginal in Cabo – strong currents, steady wind, and plenty of wave action combine to make a marina slip the best option. There are marinas in both towns; Cabo San Lucas is the better known and more touristy of the two, so we chose to park the boat in Puerto del Cabo Marina in San José del Cabo.
The marina itself is fairly new with well kept concrete docks, good water pressure, and bathrooms with showers at the top of the ramp to the docks. This is still Baja, though – the hot water in the shower worked unpredictably, and the shower drains sometimes wouldn’t drain.
But we were happy to be tied up to a dock for a change, and we took advantage of the fresh water by scrubbing 6 weeks of Baja dust & grime off the boat, and then washing Madrone again each of the next two days for good measure!
