Main Attractions of Puerto Los Cabos

Change comes regularly to Los Cabos, where developments and resorts continue to rise on any spare parcel of land. The most significant development these days is the 2,000-acre Puerto Los Cabos master-planned resort complex on the Sea of Cortez near San Jose del Cabo. After years of construction, Los Cabos now has a whole new district with a private marina, hotels, residential neighborhoods and peaceful parks and gardens. The vision of Eduardo Sanchez Navarro and his Grupo Questro, developers of Cabo Real, El Dorado and other major Los Cabos properties, has come to fruition.

Before the development for Puerto Los Cabos began, this coastal area was home to the small community of La Playa and its popular panga fishing fleet. Anglers in the know headed here for easy access to the sea’s fertile fishing grounds. Visitors seeking solitude and moderately priced accommodations favored the small, intimate hotels and restaurants along La Playa’s sandy streets.

Puerto Los Cabos has managed to retain some of that laid-back ambience while offering sailors a 200-slip, full-service marina away from the crowded waters of Cabo San Lucas. A few small hotels remain, along with stellar seafood cafes, such as El Marinero Borracho. Even the panga fishermen have been accommodated with a separate slip area and a series of open-air palapas that cover granite fillet tables and showers.

The marina is the development’s centerpiece and most important item, but it’s just one part of the larger picture. The 500-suite Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort offers all-inclusive luxury, while the 72-room Hotel El Ganzo, with its underground recording studio and rooftop pool, is possibly the hippest hotel in Los Cabos.

No Los Cabos resort area would be complete without a golf course, and Puerto Los Cabos boasts an 18-hole composite golf course with nine signature holes designed by Greg Norman and nine signature holes by Jack Nicklaus. The Greg Norman Signature Course is slated to become a private facility for residents and members, while the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course is open to public play. When completed, Puerto Los Cabos will offer 36 holes, with 18 signature holes by each designer.

Despite adding so much to the area, the developers left plenty of open space, set against a backdrop of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains. The Estero San Jose, which flows into the sea at the south end of the property, has been left in its natural state and is a prime bird-watching spot. The Sports Field, with two soccer fields, a baseball field and a playground, provides a recreational space for the local community. A 3½-mile-long bike and pedestrian path runs along the marina and through the Wirikuta Cactus Botanical Garden, a mesmerizing park with more than 1,500 cacti and succulents, three pyramids, lookout towers and a labyrinth. Some of Mexico’s most famous artists, including Jose Luis Cuevas and Gabriel Macotela, created art pieces that are featured on the broad lawns of the Sculpture Garden, and bronzes by surrealist artist Leonora Carrington are displayed along pathways.

But this is just the beginning. A JW Marriott is scheduled to open in Puerto Los Cabos in 2015, and other hotels are in the works. The residential area now has 70 homes and 50 more are under construction. There are rumors that some of Cabo’s most popular restaurants will open branches here, and well-known attractions, such as the nearby Flora Farms, pull in more visitors who are sure to be intrigued by the newest addition to Los Cabos.

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