SAN JOSE del CABO, Baja California Sur, MEXICO

For years, Mexico was our go-to destination when we wanted to escape dreary winter days. Somewhere along the way we abandoned it for Maui, which felt safer and easier.  Now that we find Hawaii more expensive, we're renewing our love for this destination where people look you in the eye, smile and greet you with a warm, "Buenas dias."  We never lost our enthusiasm for this country, its food, people, and climate, warm in every sense of the word.  This is our second visit to Mexico this year, but our first to Los Cabos in over thirty years.

pool at Lomas de la Jolla

We're spending nine days in what is, admittedly, tourist Mexico, where almost everyone speaks English, in a complex of 56 white terraced townhouse-style condos on the side of a hill overlooking the Pacific below, at Lomas de la Jolla.   This visit we are "arm-band free," choosing to cook our own food, mingling with locals and searching out good beaches, on foot and by bus.  We walk to the gigantic supermarket, Chedraui Selecto, a mile away, where there is everything you could want and more to tempt us.  Within the store, you can sit at a bar and drink wine, beer or spirits you've bought, or dine at the restaurant.  Or you can choose your live lobster from a tank and take it home.  We bring home a selection of fresh-baked pastries and bread (whole grain loaves baked in-store for a few pesos,) locally-caught seafood, flavorful pork chops, salad and the makings for Mexican appetizers to enjoy on the patio with sangria or margaritas at sundown.

sunset, looking south, 30 kilometers from Cabo San Lucas

Infinity pool

The beach across from the condos is not a swimming beach due to riptides and undertow, but 15 kilometers away, towards Cabo San Lucas, we have discovered the sheltered Playa Santa Maria where it is not crowded and snorkeling is delightful.  The tour boats bring tourists to snorkel or paddle-board but don't come inside the roped area, and are gone in an hour or so.

Recycling fish at the playa

Playa Santa Maria 

beach cleaners

There's another swimming beach at the marina, in the opposite direction, past the town of San Jose del Cabo, but it's harder to get to without a car.  That didn't stop us walking there, a one-time-only event.  Beer on the beach at the hotel restaurant was about $11Cdn and hamburgers $22.  Another time we might rent a car and explore farther fields, perhaps up to La Paz.

This is a scouting mission to see how we like it, and it looks like a keeper.  There is tennis to be played and more beaches to discover, an Art Walk in Viejo San Jose, and many markets.   For now, it's a short break from dull days and a pick-me-up before the Christmas rush.