It was Friday and nearly sunrise when we approached Cabo San Lucas. As we inched along, the first morning light began to illuminate rows of condos and hotel resorts lining the entire coast. By 0730, while we were waiting for marina to open, the morning festivities had begun. Hoards of sport-fishing boats raced out of the bay while paddle-boarders and jet skiers played near the beach. Water taxis were dragging along the water looking for passengers. Kanye West and Jay-Z were blasting from the beach side bar as breakfast time rolled around.

As soon as we docked and stepped into the marina, we were greeted with the sight, smell and sound of a busy tourist destination: a Vegas style luxury mall, restaurants and bars along the walking paths. Obnoxious, drunken American (why are they always Americans?) tourists walking about with shopping bags in one hand and a Pacifico in the other. No sir, you may have gone to Cabo but you’ve never been to Mexico. This is a cultural vacuum, a palace of money built for touristas. If you are not looking to shop, wine and dine at overpriced restaurants or a college student looking to spend your spring break in a state of perpetual intoxication, get out while you still have a pocket full of pesos.

In an instant gone were the days where all we heard were the splash of the waves or the howling wind. The days when we were isolated from the rest of the world, anchored in our little corner of a quiet bay where a hot shower had become a luxury. The days where the only forms of entertainment to be had were reading, writing or playing the guitar. The days where we ate humble, portioned meals and snacked on Ritz crackers. No, this was a whole different kind of world. This was a town of gluttony; this was Cabo San Lucas.

 
So gluttons we were. Over the course of the five days we were there, we indulged ourselves in all things culinary. After our much anticipated hot shower, we found ourselves in front of a big plate of delicious local fare and a nice, ice-cold bottle of Coca Cola. That first sip, after 13 days of not having any, could only be described as heavenly. We had fancy dinners, a proper date night celebrating our 30-day milestone, the most expensive Haagen Dazs ice cream, and slightly cheaper gelato (far better than Haagen Dazs). We found good and authentic, local restaurants such as Los Tres Gallos and Maria Jiménez just outside the marina off of the main street. If you ever make it to Cabo, we highly recommend these two places. Whatever pounds we lost from eating smaller meals and not drinking Coke at all for almost two weeks while sailing were gained back in Cabo.

Of course we also found time to do other things such as kayaking around the bay in an attempt to see whales (which we didn’t), hang out at the beach and visit the infamous El Arco, a 200-foot granite rock formation shaped by the ocean currents.  We also took the bus (which cost 10 pesos, or about 70 cents, one way) to Walmart to do grocery shopping and did other mundane things such as laundry, cleaning up the boat and cooking rendang (Indonesian beef curry) to stock up while we sail.

 
After five days of waiting for weather and playing touristas, with our pesos dwindling, the time has come for us to continue forward in our journey. The day we left, two cruiseships were anchored and the traffic along the bay was the busiest we’ve seen all week. While we loved the food we found there, we were anxiously ready to escape this overpriced tourist trap and move on to Mazatlan.

View more photos here