Cabo, specifically, has been on my list to visit for a while. We never really made it there while on the east coast. Money was tight and honestly it was just so far away from where we were located. I also am terrified of planes but I love to travel, ironic right? This year we ended up going right around our anniversary. At first this vacation was planned as a one last vacation before Dillon left for DI. We knew once that happened, he would no longer be home anymore and it would just be me here in California. But plans changed and we pushed the vacation back a few weeks, and luckily, we made it just in time before the Coronavirus made more of an appearance in the world. When we went it was just mainly China and Italy that had outbreaks. Once we had landed back in the states it was then global. Before we even booked this whole trip, I also did my research and knew exactly how to plan the days out. We had two full days to do whatever we wanted.
Day 1
We flew out of San Diego around 11:00 am directly to San José Del Cabo’s airport. The flight was only maybe an hour and a half at max. It was a super short and fast flight. The plane was packed full almost I think there was only 3 open seats left, and there were a heck of a lot of teenagers and college students. Once we arrived in San José Del Cabo around 2:00 pm we had to go through customs. It was a long line but it went by super-fast. And again, a ton of teenagers and college age kids there. Little did I know I booked the vacation right at the start of Spring Break. Once out of customs we headed to the shuttle pickup and hopped in an Escalade that was waiting for us. We made it to the hotel by 3:30 pm.
Upon arriving, the hotel was gorgeous. It was an open hotel meaning it was not fully closed with walls. However, we did not have the best experience at first. When we went to check in, they did not have our reservation in their system. I even gave them our confirmation # and they still could not find it. About an hour later they (I guess) added us into the system and gave us a room. However, the room we received was not the one we originally booked. We also emailed them prior to coming to upgrade to a beach front swim out suite, confirmed it, and once we arrived apparently there was none left.
There was only enough time in Day 1 to really get dinner and then walk around and find where everything was. We ended up going to The Grill for dinner. The food there was good for the most part. The salmon was amazing and so was the chicken. However, the lobster bisque I could have done without. It definitely was not the type of lobster bisque I normally have. Each restaurant was different when it came to decor. This one was very modern and right on the beach. Later, we did go to AYAMI and made a reservation for Day 2 to have dinner there, as it was a reservation only restaurant.
Day 2
I already knew we had to be up early in the morning. We woke up at 5:00 am to get ready for the day. We had to be down in the lobby by 6:15 am to be picked up to head into Mexico more to make it to La Paz. Once ready we decided we would head to the café and grab breakfast real fast. Walking out of our room on the sixth story though I was videotaping and a bee flew straight into my neck and stung me. Anyone who knows me knows I am allergic to wasps…I haven’t been stung by a bee or a wasp since I was a young kid. I definitely did not want to use my EpiPen’s if I didn’t have to. I went to the lobby to see if they had Benadryl or ibuprofen and apparently it is illegal for them to give that out to guests. They said I could go to San José 24/7 pharmacy though. LOL like I knew where I would be going. I popped a Tylenol that I had in my bag and hoped I would not have a delayed reaction. I also ended up washing the sting location with soap and water just in case and then went to the café and grabbed a croissant and fresh orange juice. (The fresh orange juice by the way was to die for).
By 6:35 am we left the hotel and stopped at two other places to pick a few other people up. From there we went on the 3-hour ride to La Paz. Arriving in La Paz we hopped on a large catamaran with the crew and eleven other people. Two women were from California, in fact they are from less than 30 minute away from me, three others were on a conservationist trip (two were from LA and one from Austin Texas), while the last 6 were from all over the world. They were hired by an owner of a large yacht (insanely large, we saw it docked) to work on his boat as crew. They travel all over the world and had just come from Costa Rica and were given two days off before the owner of the yacht had his friends coming on board. Each person was picked up in a different part of the world as the boat was visiting different places. One guy was from Britain, while one girl was New Zealand, and another from Australia. I have no idea where the other three were from I did not really talk to them much. They made the trip so fun. There was never a dull moment. They were definitely enjoying the two days they had off, as they said they rarely get any days off.
From there we set out to sea and stayed on the boats all day. We hopped off the catamaran and boarded a tinder and went further out to sea to find some whale sharks. Normally, if it was sunny, they would be easily seen from the top of the water because the water is clear. But because it was cloudy and overcast it was harder to find them. Two hours in we found a tagged whale shark and slid off the side of the boat and started swimming right away with them. After we were done diving, we headed back to the Catamaran to have a late lunch. A chef from England was on board and cooked us an amazing lunch (the Tuna, and Guacamole was also to die for). We ate as we headed back and eventually loaded back up to drive back down to San José Del Cabo. We did stop halfway through the ride to stop in Todos Santos to see Hotel California. Eventually, we made it back and headed to the room to change and then went back down to the lobby area where AYAMI was located.
The food at AYAMI was so good. And Donald was an amazing chef. This restaurant was basically a hibachi grill where they cook everything in front of you. It starts with a miso soup, then either veggie or tuna sushi, from there they served fried rice, and a chicken/beef/shrimp plate. Afterwards they serve you with either a chocolate mousse or some ginger dessert. The chef also ended up giving us shots of tequila for our anniversary. Right next door was the café so we stopped in there on our way out and grabbed freshly squeezed orange juice, and two hot chocolates. And those were amazing too!
Day 3
We did not do much on the third day. I wanted to go out in town and do a few things but Dillon did not. At 8:00 am we grabbed breakfast at The O. It was the normal breakfast buffet. They had traditional Mexican breakfast along with an American version. Servers came around and offered coffee, mimosas, and smoothies. On our way back to our room we did find out a garden swim up suite was available so we switched our rooms. We headed to the café and grabbed two hot chocolates and a chocolate chip frappuccino then we went to pack up our old room at 9:00 am and took our stuff to the front where they held it for us until our new room was ready. By noon we were in our new room and it was ten times better. As soon as we got in that room, we threw on our bathing suits and headed straight for the pool connected to our back door.
The water was freezing since it was not extremely hot outside. but eventually we warmed up to it. A little later we hopped out of the pool and threw on a cover up to run to the Surfos Snack Bar to grab some snacks: chips + guac, a slice of pizza, fries, and baja fish tacos plus two strawberry daiquiris. Once we made it back to the room, we took the food out to the pool and also decided to order room service too. We wanted more pizza, so we ordered two. Within forty-five minutes the pizzas arrived and ate them out at the pool too. Come to find out we had our own personal bartender at our pool too. She brought us a few more daiquiris while she brought our neighbor 4 margaritas all for himself. We spent the rest of the day in the pool and just chatting with our neighbor who was from Colorado. Funny thing was they were supposed to be in San Diego for some type of convention with his wife’s work but it was cancelled because of the virus outbreak so he said why not take a vacation somewhere else then while they have the time off.
Dinner time came around and we ate at Hacienda El Mortero. It was not great at all and the service was kind of crappy. The serving size was so small….my plate came out with only three shrimp on it and a tablespoon of coleslaw. Luckily, we made a 9:00 pm reservation at AYAMI again just in case and we ended up going there afterwards. Donald was our chef again, and the food was outstanding! Of course, we stopped back at the café next door when we were fine and grabbed some hot chocolates and some brownies. Then we just stayed in the room for the rest of the night.
Day 4
Day 4 was the day to leave. Our flight was not until 3:00 pm so we had some time to kill. We woke up at 7:00 am and called for room service. We ordered so much food. Pancakes, french toast, fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, toast, hash browns, orange juice. Literally so much food. After chowing down, we went back to the café and grabbed two frappuccino’s then we spent the rest of the time just walking around. Eventually we got picked up and were on our way back to Cabo San Lucas airport. The flight back was a mess. We were flying through a storm and there was so much turbulence. But we made it back to San Diego just before it started to rain there.
I think I liked La Paz better than San José Del Cabo. I would rather stay in La Paz or even in San Lucas Cabo where you can walk the streets and be more immersed inside the culture there. In my opinion the hotel was overpriced and the accommodations weren’t 100% good. All of the pools were cold so no one was using them and only 2 out of the 6 restaurants were actually really yummy. Either way though I enjoyed the trip, diving with whale sharks made the entire trip. I have waited so long to swim with these gentle giants and finally I did with some wonderful people.
Xx
O.
