5 Must-Do Excursions
in Los Cabos

El Arco — the natural rock arch at the very tip of the Baja peninsula — is Los Cabos' defining image, the one that appears on every postcard and travel article about the region. Seeing it in person, from the water, with the Pacific on one side and the Sea of Cortez on the other, is a genuinely moving experience. The arch frames the horizon in a way that photographs cannot fully capture.

You can reach Land's End via water taxi from Cabo San Lucas marina, which gets the job done and gets you reasonably close. But the most spectacular way to experience El Arco — and the way it's meant to be seen — is from the deck of a private yacht, anchored at a distance that lets you take in the full scale of the formation without the crowds of tour boats jostling for position around the arch's opening.

Adjacent to El Arco is Lover's Beach (Playa del Amor), accessible only by boat — a small crescent of sand where the Pacific swells and the calm Cortez waters meet. Sea lion colonies occupy the nearby rock formations and are completely accustomed to quiet visitors. It's one of the most surreal wildlife encounters available in Los Cabos, and it costs nothing beyond the boat ride to get there.

The Baja peninsula is famous for its coastline, but the desert landscape just beyond Cabo San Lucas is equally dramatic — a vast terrain of towering cardon cacti, volcanic rock formations, dry arroyos, and ridge lines with panoramic views that stretch all the way to the Sea of Cortez. The best way to experience it is on an ATV or side-by-side UTV, which puts you directly into the landscape rather than viewing it through a tour bus window.

Several well-established operators run ATV tours out of Cabo, ranging from 90-minute intro rides to half-day adventures that cover serious distance through the backcountry. Many tours end at a viewpoint above the city, giving you an aerial perspective of the marina and coastline that reframes everything you've experienced at sea level. No experience is required — guides lead small groups at a comfortable pace, and the vehicles are easy to operate.

For those who've already spent time on the water and want a contrasting experience, an afternoon ATV tour is the natural complement to a morning yacht charter. The desert silence after hours of wind and waves has its own distinct quality, and the sunset from a high Baja ridge line is a completely different version of spectacular from the one you get at anchor.

Each winter, humpback whales migrate into the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez to breed and give birth — and the waters around Los Cabos become one of the best whale watching locations on the planet. Between December and March, encounters are not just possible but reliably spectacular: breaching humpbacks, mothers nursing calves, and occasional blue whale sightings (the Sea of Cortez hosts the largest concentration of blue whales on Earth) make this season transformative for anyone who gets on the water.

The difference between a group whale watching tour and a private whale watching charter with Private Yachting Club is the difference between watching wildlife and being immersed in it. A crowded tour boat keeps you at a fixed distance with dozens of other passengers competing for views. A private charter positions you exactly where you want to be — at a respectful distance that still lets you hear the exhalations, feel the wake of a passing humpback, and watch the encounter unfold at your own pace.

Our captains know the Sea of Cortez intimately and read whale behaviour to position the boat for the best possible encounters without disturbing the animals. Many guests consider a private whale watching charter with Private Yachting Club to be the single most memorable experience of their entire Los Cabos trip.

An hour north of Cabo San Lucas along the Pacific coast, Todos Santos is everything the resort corridor is not: unhurried, creative, deeply rooted in Mexican culture, and ringed by some of the most dramatic Pacific surf breaks in Baja. The town was declared a Pueblo Mágico — a "magical village" — by the Mexican government in recognition of its cultural and historical significance, and the designation fits.

The streets are lined with colonial-era architecture housing independent galleries, artisan workshops, mezcalerías, and restaurants that would hold their own in any major city. The Hotel California — yes, that one, or at least the one that inspired the song depending on who you believe — anchors the main street and is worth stepping into for a drink regardless of its musical provenance. The Saturday artisan market, held in the main plaza, is one of the best in Baja for handmade ceramics, textiles, and jewellery.

Plan your day around the town's rhythms: coffee and pastries at a courtyard café in the morning, gallery browsing through midday, a long lunch with local fish tacos and cold Pacífico, and a late afternoon drive back down the coastal highway with the Pacific glittering to your right. It's a complete contrast to a day on the water and a reminder that Los Cabos rewards those who explore beyond the marina district.