0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hello fellow travelers.

Hey, squaddies.

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad podcast.

Today we are taking you to live the beautiful resort living life in Cabo.

0:52

You know, people kind of change at resorts.

Everything is so relaxed, it’s so beautiful.

It really is this luxury micro community where there are absolutely no worries or concerns.

I don’t believe you 2 have ever done a true on resort vacation or am I missing?

1:09

We have stayed at resorts of course, but we’ve never done an all inclusive style resort and I believe this one was an all inclusive where you were staying or am I incorrect on that?

They do have an all inclusive option but I did not exercise it.

1:25

But I mean like resort living, like you’re at the resort, you’re not going there for the culture to explore like you’re at the resort.

We have not done that together, but earlier this year, funny enough, also in Cabo, I did stay at The Four Seasons Resort with my sister.

1:42

That’s right.

And you mostly stayed at the resort, right?

We did.

We mostly stayed with the resort with the exception of we did one sightseeing day on the water, but everything else was on the resort for three days.

I’ve been talking with Brittany and we’ve always said that we want to do this and it’s so easy for us here in San Diego to just go to Mexico, hop into Tijuana, catch a flight.

2:04

And we’ve been to Cabo before.

Obviously, Brittany just mentioned what she did.

I did not go on that one, but me and Brittany together have been to Cabo.

We did not stay at a resort.

I kind of wanted to experience it because that’s the thing about resorts, when you’re there, most people stay there, right?

And so since it was our first time, or my first time at least, I really wanted to explore.

2:25

But we’ve talked about being like, hey, let’s find an all inclusive in Cabo 3 days and just do something like that.

Or we could stay at a resort as well, not do the all inclusive like you did.

I think that would definitely be fun.

2:40

But first time going I wanted to experience a little bit more, but it is on our radar to do something like that.

Yeah, that’s a good point.

There is a lot to explore in Cabo.

This was my fourth time in Cabo, so I felt great experiencing the resort life of Cabo.

And that’s a whole different side of the city.

2:55

But for anyone that doesn’t know, Cabo is a part of Los Cabos.

It’s one of Mexico’s premier beach destinations.

It’s on the very tip of the southern portion of Baja California, that peninsula of Mexico on the Pacific Oceanside.

3:11

We’ve got the Sea of Cortez right there.

It kind of when you first see it, you’re surprised because yes, it’s a beach destination and it has gorgeous beaches, but it’s got this dramatic desert landscape to it.

It’s not tropical.

It’s actually very deserty and it immediately goes from beautiful beach up into desert like mountain landscape.

3:30

So it’s pretty cool.

Yeah, and beyond just the dramatic landscape, Kim Cabo has beautiful beaches, as you mentioned, one of Mexico’s premier beach destinations.

But you can do all sorts of stuff, like going in, what are those cars called where you can go out into the dunes?

Why dune buggies?

3:46

Oh my gosh, I couldn’t even believe that I.

Forgot side by side.

I I know, yeah, you could do dune buggies out there if that’s your thing.

You could go deep sea fishing, whale watching, just chilling at the beach and swimming.

It does have dramatic landscapes as well in the famous Los Cabos arch that’s known for it.

4:01

So even though it is desert meets beach, don’t think that there’s not stuff.

I mean, one of the more premier whale watching locations in the world happens to be here in Cabo San Lucas, yes.

And that’s over the winter months, which it does get busy.

When I went here in July, it was actually sort of consider their offseason, although it’s a tourist destination, so it’s kind of always on.

4:24

But just a little bit about Cabo in general.

Los Cabos is really made-up of two towns.

And so you’ll be surprised to find out that the airport is quite a drive into what most people consider when they’re thinking about Cabo, and that’s Cabo San Lucas.

I think we all have been down in this main area where the Marina is, where you get on the boats for your boat days.

4:45

It’s got all the bars, the nightlife.

This is closer to where the iconic Cabo arches are.

So it’s definitely an area.

If you’ve never been to Cabo, you want to check it out, Go get some food.

Yeah, when we were in Cabo, like Jamal mentioned, this is the area we stayed at the first time.

5:00

And this is where most people will stay.

There is another part of Cabo San Jose del Cabo, about a 30 minute drive from Cabo San Lucas.

I actually haven’t been to this part of Cabo.

I really wanted to on this trip, but we got sucked in by the resort.

But it’s, it’s a very different kind of atmosphere and vibe, right?

5:18

There’s charming historical downtown buildings.

We’ve got the colorful colonial architecture, the art that kind of hangs over the streets as you’re walking down them.

It seems much more boutiques, artsy.

I was going to go here.

I’ll talk about it later in the episode.

Didn’t make it out, though.

5:34

But in between Cabo San Locus and San Jose del Cabo, you have the tourist corridor, which makes up all of the oceanfront resorts, all of the places where a lot of tourists stay.

And that is where I stayed.

This is also where the swimmable beaches are very nice beautiful beaches that you can actually swim in.

5:53

The areas near the Marina and that more downtown Cabo San Lucas area, the beaches are not swimmable.

You know, that’s funny that you mention that because one of our squaddies had mentioned we had an episode a while back about destinations we would return to and destinations we would not return to.

6:08

And they had listed Cabo as a place that they would not return to because where they stayed, the beach was not swimmable.

So this is a good tip for everyone.

Yes, and a lot of people don’t know that.

So depends what you want.

If you want a resort beachfront swimming on the beach, you maybe will want to stay in a different part of Cabo than if you were wanting more of the nightlife and walkable.

6:31

So Kim, why don’t you get started with some tips for this episode?

#1 tip is when you first arrive in Cabo at the airport you should pre arrange a shuttle to pick you up either a private shuttle or a shared shuttle depending on if you have a group.

I did a shared shuttle and it was $21.00 for my one way shuttle from the airport pickup to the drop off at the hotel.

6:54

I did this and I think cabo’s like one of the only destinations I’ve booked a shared shuttle in.

It’s because the cost of a private taxi from the airport to wherever you’re going Cabo can be very expensive.

They mark it up quite a bit.

So that $21.00 fee I paid would maybe have been more like $40.60 dollars, $100 depending on how busy it is when you come into the airport.

7:16

And they also don’t allow Ubers to pick up from the airport.

So your options are taxi from the airport or shared or private shuttle.

I did taxi from the hotel back to the airport and I think the taxi ride was like maybe 35 or $40.00, so not not a whole lot more.

7:33

There were two of us in the car, so it made sense.

But from the airport out is a different story.

Sometimes the airport arrival area is very busy.

This last time I came in, it was first thing in the morning.

There was no one there.

This times I’ve come in before, it is a party.

And it’s a party because there are two huge bars outside of the airport at the Cabo International Terminal, not in the domestic terminal.

7:57

So if you fly from CBX out of Tijuana, from San Diego, you miss that part of things.

But there’s great outdoor bar at this hotel, and you can pick up a drink for your long shuttle ride to your hotel.

That’s the thing about Cabo, it is a very relaxing place, especially if you’re you’re doing the resort lifestyle like you’re going to talk about as we get further into the episode, Kim.

8:16

But it is also a party place and so they’re catering to the tourist.

There’s bars right outside of the airport.

And a lot of times, of course, because the airport is isolated, those bars are there while people are waiting for their private shuttles or shared shuttles to arrive.

8:32

So they’re there, you can have a good time, music is playing, really lively experience as soon as you land.

Yeah, my sister and I landed in this international terminal.

We landed just like 10 minutes apart from each other, the shuttle driver said.

You know, we’re going to be waiting on a few more people.

You guys might as well grab a drink while you’re waiting.

8:50

A lot of the shuttles even have a little ice chest with beer in it when they pick you up.

So Mexico.

I love it and that just puts you in a great mood as soon as you get into Mexico.

God, I love Mexico.

We already mentioned this, but this is a tip to remember for Cabo.

Depending on what kind of a trip you want, you may want to be closer to a beach or the city.

9:10

So kind of be aware of that.

The swimmable beaches down by the main areas and the marinas are a thing.

Either way though, you’re going to be about 20 to 45 minutes from driving anywhere you go.

We have done previous Cabo episodes.

Like I said, it’s my fourth time.

9:25

Brittany was just there at another resort.

We have a lot of other episodes to talk about things to do and like where we stayed and so there’s a lot more than just this episode.

Check that out and then choose where you want to stay.

Lastly, we know Mexican pesos is the currency, but you can use credit card basically everywhere.

9:43

You pretty much don’t need cash unless you want a couple bucks to give to the guy holding an iguana and you want to take a picture with them.

That or potentially depending on where you’re located, street food right, But most restaurants, art galleries, or any of the other places that you can go will accept it.

9:59

But those are the like one offs where you would want currencies.

Yeah, I guess down by the Marina too, there’s always people selling stuff, little bracelets or hats or whatever, so that’s the only thing you would really need cash for.

So I know you were really excited to stay at this resort.

You’ve been talking about it for a while and it looked absolutely amazing on the stories you posted, but why don’t you tell everyone where you stayed and why you stayed there?

10:23

I stayed at La Pacifica Los Cabos, a Hilton Club, also a Hilton Vacation Club.

This is an upscale beachfront resort, one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

It’s right along that tourist corridor that I mentioned earlier.

It’s part of this bigger golf resort in the Hilton family.

10:41

Just huge.

It is situated between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas.

It’s a little bit closer to the airport than if I were staying more in Cabo San Lucas.

So I thought it was actually a great location, especially if you are going and you plan to really stay at the resort a lot and you will want to stay at this resort because it is amazing.

11:04

Every single room is oceanfront.

I stayed in this oceanfront king size room with a patio so big it had a couch and a coffee table and a side chair.

Some of the rooms that we toured even had little kitchenettes so they could be good for families who were staying for like a week or two weeks.

11:21

It was just amazing.

This resort, if I haven’t sold you on it yet, has so many pools.

As I’m walking around the property, it’s just pool after pool and they’re like lazy river style.

And then there’s Infinity pools and then there’s smaller pools and then there’s two swim up bars.

11:40

Oh, it was amazing.

There’s like a huge oceanfront Infinity hot tub.

There’s a lot of day beds that are sitting over the water of the pools.

Everything’s looking out to the ocean.

It’s just absolutely gorgeous.

After you get here, you’ll be ready for resort.

You’ll you won’t want to leave at all.

11:57

You can start to see how you could stay there and not go anywhere.

And how crowded was it?

Great question.

I arrived at like 9:00 AM so my room wasn’t quite ready.

As I explored, I was surprised how few people were out.

Now a lot of people were in the breakfast buffet, but even as the days went on, yes it did get crowded.

12:19

But it it never felt crowded, like a lot of the beach chairs are, pool chairs would be taken, but the people were in the pool and everyone’s so spread out ’cause there’s so much space.

I was going to say, did it feel not crowded simply because of how large the property is, ’cause you said it was large, Yeah.

12:36

There’s plenty of people there, but we always could get a bed.

A server was there.

It always felt very calm.

It wasn’t like hectic or crowded at all.

Well, that’s good.

And I know you mentioned that you could have booked the all inclusive option but you didn’t.

12:51

But there was a breakfast buffet.

Was that included?

Was breakfast included or what was the add on situation and how?

How was the food on the property?

Food on the property was great.

I read that in the reviews ahead of time and it was true.

The food was amazing.

The the deal for all inclusive was 190 per person per day and then on top of that it had tax and a 20% gratuity.

13:16

So it was too expensive, I think, to make it worth it unless you were really going to eat three meals a day and drink all day long and you were drinking maybe top shelf, but I don’t eat that much.

So I don’t think that it was just wouldn’t make sense economically, but it could.

13:34

Yeah, depending on the person’s situation, it could make a lot of sense.

It also makes a lot of sense depending on if you’re at the resort, is your plan potentially at least one day or two days to leave and maybe go see other places and eat outside, right?

So pros and cons of each.

Figure out which is best for your vacation, I guess.

13:52

But as you’re talking about that Kim, like I’m thinking to myself, 0190 per person if I was at an all inclusive in doing it that way.

And I know you said you yourself don’t eat a lot, but oh man, I would wreck shop over there, especially with the drinks.

I’d be drinking Margie’s and Pina coladas all day.

14:07

Well, I was drinking all day, so we drank.

There was two of us.

We drank Friday, Saturday, Sunday, not Monday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday ordering drinks.

The drinks were actually around $16.00 each.

I didn’t think they were really overpriced.

I read a lot of reviews saying that and I think compared to Mexico of course, but for a resort I thought reasonable, reasonably high, but not overly high.

14:31

I agree with you because if you go on a cruise your cocktails and stuff like that are easily that cost just as well or maybe even more so at a resort.

Like yes, it’s marked up, but you’re right, I don’t think that is anything too crazy for doing it a la carte.

Yep, and they have a wood fired pizza spot outside.

14:50

You can order food by the pool of all sorts of different cuisines and really high end beautiful presentation.

They have a restaurant on site for dinner, the the breakfast buffet restaurant, a little cafe upstairs, so plenty of places to find meals and food, and all of it was really good.

15:07

Also, here’s the best thing.

The oceanfront pool is gorgeous and then right below it is a equally gorgeous sand beach ocean.

It’s like white sand, beautifully manicured, not a seaweed insight.

15:24

Gorgeous beds all over the ocean, cabanas, umbrellas.

There’s a beach bar out there with swings on it and the beach is huge.

Like you can see down closer to the water, there’s more beach beds and they’ve like made a Cove so the waves aren’t as brutal right there.

15:41

That’s where people were swimming just to see those beds down below looked like almost like mad back.

So you’re going to have to walk through this huge beach to get down there like it was a big beach.

Was it a private beach only open to the resort?

Private beach, so they have like a a line out in front of the beds and the water there.

16:00

I did see like one or two, you know, local vendors kind of around, but they weren’t bothering people and they were kind of far away.

So yeah, I think it’s mostly private.

So Kim, I know you booked this because you had a deal of some sorts, so why don’t you tell the squaddies you got it and what you ended up paying for this?

16:20

I think I had the score of a lifetime with this deal.

I, I didn’t realize this at the time I bought it, but it was kind of a timeshare presentation deal.

So what I actually paid for three nights in Cabo, 4 days, three nights, was $457.

16:37

I got this on a special promotion.

So I was sitting at The Diplomat, a Hilton Hotel in Miami, last September, and a lady came up and said, are you a Hilton member?

I’m like, yeah, I’m a member.

I don’t really stay with Hilton, so I have no status or anything, but whatever.

16:54

She gave me 500 free points and then she just presented this deal to me.

All of a sudden it was this four day, three night stay anywhere in their network.

Plus you get 75,000 free points once you do the stay.

And she gave me 500 points just for talking.

17:10

So she shows me the destinations and I see that New York City is one of them.

And a few months later, we were going to be going to New York City for our trip to Egypt.

And I thought, well, $457 for three nights in New York is a really great deal.

17:25

I’m just going to buy it.

And she said, yeah, we have availability, those dates, whatever.

But I’m very wishy washy about booking.

And so I kept kicking the can down the road.

And every time they call me, I’d be like, I don’t know, because I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the three days anyway because I I stalled so much.

17:42

They didn’t have the dates in New York.

Ended up staying at a Chase the Edit hotel, which was nice.

And then it all worked out in New York, actually really good.

But I had this credit remaining.

And I kept racking my brain, where am I going to go?

Should I do Gatlinburg this fall again?

17:57

Should I go to Chicago this summer?

I looked at Hawaii, but it would have costed more to change it from New York to Hawaii.

So finally they keep calling and I’m asking her, oh, I heard you have cruises.

Like, what else do you have?

And she tells me Cabo.

And I’m like, what?

18:13

Because on my pamphlet they had crossed off Cabo, like it’s no longer available.

So I was surprised.

And I was like, look at Cabo dates.

Well, this makes time #4 like you said, and I know every time that you’ve gone you’ve loved it.

18:29

So I think it worked out really well.

Now, when you say it was kind of a timeshare one, obviously to get the stay.

So you did this when you were in Miami, but when you were in Los Cabos and staying here at the Hilton Resort, did you have to attend another one or was there an offer for you?

18:46

Because I know a lot of times and places like this, they’ll have other ones.

So did you take advantage of anything like that that for a future trip?

Well, I did do the 90 minute presentation and the person I was with there came with me too.

So we did the tour.

19:02

The guy was very nice sales guy.

He presented us with the package of what they were offering, right?

And it’s good until, of course, that’s the deposit.

It’s like the first initial payment, which is like $40,000, and then you could finance it.

19:19

But if you finance it, it actually raises it up.

So the price per night doesn’t make sense if it wasn’t for the financing.

Economically, it did come out to like 150 a night over the course of 30 years.

So anyway, there’s a lot of math.

When you go to those presentations, they really put a lot of numbers in front of you to try to confuse you.

19:39

That they do, you know what, our friend Josh, he got suckered into a timeshare situation one time when he was in Mexico as well.

But his ex-girlfriend, I think ended up taking it from him and not necessarily in a bad way.

He surrendered it at the at the breakup, but they could get you out there.

19:55

So just be mindful.

But if you go in there strong and get that good deal like you did when you were in Miami to utilize here, they can be very useful.

Yeah, so they, they didn’t offer anything extra like when we went to Hawaii and they did the helicopter tour or whatever, the 75,000 points was fine.

20:13

I’ve already booked that for two different rooms.

So I got got out of it, which was awesome.

And $457 for three nights in this place was 1000% worth it.

The thing I have as a regret about the timeshare presentation is they go through all these like offers and layers and by the time you get to the end of the 90 minutes, they know you’re about to leave.

20:34

So they’re just putting stuff in front of you.

And I think that the last thing that the closer came in and she put this offer in front of me, but she did it so fast.

Like she was just half assing it, just doing it for the motions.

So I was just like no.

But in hindsight, I think she was offering me another week stay there for $1500.

20:55

And I really am mad that I did not take that or like pay closer attention to get it because this place is worth $1500 for a week and I would go back.

If they made it 1500 and I know you said for you eating wise wouldn’t really do it, but if they threw in the all inclusive with it for 1500 I would say what a steal.

21:14

I know.

And so I met a girl and Cabo who is saying like, Oh yeah, expect to get phone calls, they’ll have other offers for you.

So I’m waiting, when they call, I’m booking again.

Yeah, it really does sound like an incredible deal, and I’m excited for you to get that phone call.

21:34

When you get it, send me a text.

I might meet you out there in Cabo for sure, but yeah, tell us what you did.

You were there for four days.

Three days.

Four days, three nights.

So it was a Friday to a Monday.

I flew out first thing in the morning from Austin.

21:50

There’s a direct flight into Cabo.

So I arrived, I landed in Cabo at like 8:30 in the morning with the time change.

It was awesome.

I did not take a day off works because I figured I’m already working on the plane and then I’ll work when I get there.

And it’s like I haven’t missed a day at all.

And so I get there 9:00 in the morning.

22:10

My friend, my special friend who I love so much was meeting me there and we have not seen each other in five months.

So he had a really like a whole day of travel from where he was coming from.

But it was a really exciting meet.

But before he got there, I was there working all day, right?

22:27

So I explored the property.

I went to the breakfast buffet buffet I should say, and the breakfast buffet is great Now it was $40.00 so factor that in if you’re considering the all inclusive package.

But it was amazing.

22:42

They of course have all the American style breakfast, French toast, eggs, they had some English style breakfast foods, they had Cafe de Oya de Oya.

Cafe de Oya.

I love it.

My favorite type of coffee, that cinnamon sweet Mexican coffee.

23:00

It’s delicious.

They had Mexican hot chocolate, they had all the pastries, and they had this station with a lady making tostadas tacos.

Oh, there was also Chilaquiles, yes.

So I had a nice time at the breakfast buffet and then after I kind of looked around a while I I just put my swimsuit on.

23:22

I went down to the pool and the beach to work.

I brought my laptop down there.

I’ve said this before on previous episodes, but working from a beach bed is next level.

Truly hacking the system of life.

The last time you had to work from a beach bed, I know you had a call where you had to have the camera on.

23:43

Any calls this time?

Luckily I had no calls from the beach bed.

I did take a couple back in the room, but we were good there.

I always use a virtual background at work too.

So squaties, this is a tip for you, for you remote traveling squaties always use a virtual background.

24:01

They’ll never know your background.

I took a meeting from the airport the other day.

I bought a little headset.

I was sitting in a regular chair in a quiet spot in the airport and they thought no different because of my virtual background.

That’s hilarious.

I’ve taken calls from my car, pulled over on the side of the road to take a meeting while I’m transiting from one place to another.

24:23

You’re really living life, Kim.

But look, it’s, it’s like everyone that works remotely knows.

Like there’s a little flexibility, but you make it up in other ways, like working from the beach bed.

Yeah, definitely.

My sister works partially remotely and she definitely makes it up for like being able to work from home.

24:40

Sometimes you think it’s luxurious, but you’re always doing things on the go as well.

Oh yeah, and even on the weekends, you know, so it’s not all fun and games out there.

Squaddies, you know, at this resort, it does get busy.

I would say the peak hours are probably like 1 to 4 and that’s when most of the beds will be kind of full.

25:01

Everyone’s out in the pool.

People are drinking, but no one’s loud.

They actually play elevator music here.

That’s got a good vibe to it, but it’s not like rowdy music or pop music or anything like that.

So once it starts to get evening like that four or five time frame, the pool bar does close at 6:00 and so people are already leaving way before then to go get ready for dinner.

25:22

You see the dinner restaurant starting to come alive.

That’s about the time on Friday that my special friend showed up and as soon as he got there, it was like, let’s just go enjoy the resort.

And we stayed out in the pools.

And at this point it was like we had the resort to ourselves.

25:39

We went down to the beach.

There was nobody on the beach.

We had all of that to ourselves.

The water’s still warm.

The sand is nice.

During the day, the sand is very hot, so you have to keep your sandals on when you’re walking Mad Max style across the Sahara.

But at night, it’s really peaceful.

25:56

This night we just stayed by the pools.

We actually ordered dinner from the hot tub.

Amazing.

And they brought out the dinner to they just gave it to us while we were in the hot tub.

What did you order that night?

26:12

What was your hot tub meal?

I don’t remember everything we ordered but the app was steak tartare so we were just had a little crackers steak tartare in the hot tub.

How romantic.

And that was about Friday night.

So we did go into this little shop and there’s also a store.

26:31

It’s like a Starbucks and a convenience store where they have alcohol and stuff.

We ended up getting a bottle of wine and just doing our own thing around the beach in the pool at night.

But in that store, we had met this other resort group or there were two people, one guy named Charmaine, his sister Rachel.

26:46

They were there on a vacation as well.

And we just hit it off so well with them.

And I just wanted to say a little note, a little shout out for all the resort buddies, you know, people you meet on vacation, resort friends you meet these, the cruise friends even, right, People you tend to see.

27:03

So we keep seeing them as we’re on this vacation and hanging out with them a little bit.

But we had a good time with them in Starbucks for a minute Saturday.

Saturday we did have to get up a little bit early because of that timeshare presentation.

It started at like 9:00 AM.

So we did that and they were prompt.

27:21

We were out of there at 10:30.

They did not hold us over.

We did not have to force ourselves to leave.

They were very respectful in that way.

Oh, I do appreciate that ’cause there have been some timeshare presentations that we’ve been to where it says it’s 90 minutes or two hours and you’re itching to go and they’re like trying to reel you in still.

27:38

And I’m like, sorry, I got reservations to go somewhere and you have to really give them that hard stop.

Yeah, they were good there.

They were really nice.

I wish I could have bought it, honestly.

I would love to go back there every year.

Well, hopefully they call and give you that offer like that person was telling you.

So totally keep.

27:54

An ear out for it.

I did hear we were talking about you can buy these memberships off.

Like people are on Reddit posting that they’re selling it for like a dollar.

So I was going to do a little research and see if maybe if I can buy someone else’s membership off of them.

There you go.

I’ve seen those stuff too, like on eBay, Reddit, but then you got all the fees and everything that come with it.

28:13

So it’s one of those things you just got to know that you are going to keep it, right?

But just to your point as well, sometimes they may be better places to just visit and not own because if they had to pay that much or they’re trying to sell it for a dollar, it means they want to get out of it.

Yeah, I.

Was speaking about time shares in general, not this resort.

28:30

I it’s crazy that they’re for life.

We were a 10 year membership, no.

You don’t.

Know how your well your life can change so much like you could go say worst case scenario you end up like paralyzed or sick or something and you can’t travel but yet you are stuck with this thing.

28:47

That’s why you end up selling for a dollar.

That’s where I come in.

Swoop it up.

All right, so you did the timeshare presentation first thing in the morning.

I know once that was done, you were probably relieved as much as you are sad you didn’t take them up on that $1500 offer that you think they did.

29:02

But what did you do for the rest of the day on Saturday?

So we had planned loosely to go to Class A Azul.

It’s this tequila boutique that has tastings.

If you know the brand, you know the beautiful like tall ceramic bottles with the bell on top.

29:18

Just a gorgeous boutique.

And my friend really likes this tequila.

So it’s like, this is great.

We really wanted to go, but we did not go.

I have decided as another travel hack.

I think reservations really keep people accountable, and without reservations I tend to like not do things that I thought I would want to do.

29:42

So what happened for you to come to this discovery, Kim?

So I discovered this in Oregon too, but in Cabo it’s like we as soon as we left the presentation, we went out to the pool bar area to get like a pizza and a Margarita.

29:58

And then the pool looked so nice that we’re like, let’s go in the pool.

We had our swimsuits on still.

And once we got in the pool, we completely forgot about classes.

Well, honestly, and it closed at 8:00 and then it wasn’t open the other Sunday and Monday.

So we’re like, all right, I guess we’re not going to end up going here.

30:15

But if we had made a reservation, we would have committed.

And so that’s my tip for you squatty, is if you’re planning to do anything outside of the resort, get get it in before you make your way into the pool.

And it’s not just me.

I see you smiling, Brittany.

It’s not just me because we were, we went to the pool bar.

30:33

We ran into our friends from the Starbucks the night before and they said, Oh yeah, we’re going on the going on, on the boat, snorkeling at three.

It was like 1:00 or 12:00 at by this time.

And we’re like, oh, we’re doing that tomorrow.

It’s too bad.

Anyway, we see them way later in the night and we’re like, what happened to the boat?

30:51

And they said they didn’t make it.

They were just hanging out by the pool and like in the pool bar and like they just ended up not going.

See, I guess that’s the pros and cons again of the resort style, right?

It’s like when you’re there.

But see, I think that’s a testament to how great they are, right?

31:07

You just don’t want to leave because there’s so much.

So if this is your vacation style, great.

But also keep in mind that awesome tip that Kim gave, which is if you really want to do something, hold yourself accountable with the reservation.

And do it first thing in the morning and then come back or late night reservation.

31:24

So we did hang out at the pool for quite a while and then we just decided adventure on in the beach right below the hotel.

You can rent jet skis and bring those out.

And so we wanted to go see what it would take to rent jet skis.

There’s, you know, we went down to the beach, we went swimming in the ocean.

31:41

The jet skis we didn’t end up going on because they said it was starting to pick up wind and they were not going to rent out any more jet skis for the day.

So we’re like, oh, maybe we can come back tomorrow, but it’s fine.

So we kept walking on though ’cause this is the tourist corridor, so there are other resorts and you can almost see where the sand has almost a division of property and the next resort begins.

32:05

But there was a staircase leading up to the resort area.

So we’re like, let’s go over and check it out.

You know, let’s just see.

It was a completely different vibe at this resort.

They had a huge tiki bar in the middle of their pool.

So ours was like sprawling, like lazy river winding different areas.

32:24

Theirs was just like one big pool with a big pool bar in it.

But the music was like millennial party music.

People were getting down.

It was like like a younger, more party crowd.

Still a beautiful resort.

They had another pool that was, I guess it was definitely a quieter pool.

32:42

Like no one was there and there was hardly anyone in there.

So we stayed over there for a little bit, but we, you know, wanted to go back to ours.

Ours was nicer but they had a cool vibe there.

When we finally made it back that there was a few hours of just roaming around the beach and the resort next door.

33:00

When we finally came back we were hungry and we ordered all pastor tacos from the pool bar here.

They were good, I.

Do love some tacos And sometimes, you know, I, we were talking about the resort I went to.

The tacos that I had there weren’t that good.

33:16

So I’m actually glad to hear that you had really great tacos at this resort.

Well, that’s part of the reason why I asked him too.

How good?

Because I have no doubt that they were good.

But of course, where we’re from, we’re really partial to Tijuana style tacos, which I honestly think are the best type of tacos that there are because you go to a lot of other places within Mexico.

33:35

Yes, they have tacos, but they’re a little bit more plain, not as many toppings.

Like how were these in comparison to what you would say?

Like oh, these are the type of St.

Tacos that I would expect in Tijuana or even Tacos El Gordo here.

I know I always compare it to tacos El Gordo and they weren’t that good but they did have the spigot of the pork where they shave it off the side and that’s the only way I’ll eat al pastor.

33:57

The other style no, doesn’t even.

Really al pastor if they don’t have it on the spigot?

I know, but they call it that.

It’s crazy.

Because it’s pork, you know what I mean?

I think it’s just like the Autobot of pork style ones that some people will say is, but it’s not.

You’re right, it has to be roasted otherwise.

34:13

Shaved off the side really thin and and it was like that and it was very beautiful presentation gourmet.

It had like edible flower on it three tacos really good.

It wasn’t you know, as moist as like tacos El Gordo, but I would still rank it very high.

In fact, I got it the next day again.

34:29

So it was definitely good.

That was.

Good enough for a repeat, so that’s good news.

And kind of how we ended last night, we ended similarly.

We were just hanging out by the pool, the beach, that’s pretty much all we did all day for like 16 hours.

34:46

And I didn’t get sunburn, which I was pleasantly surprised by.

I was about to ask if you got crispy but it doesn’t seem like you did, so let’s do it.

Cabo has good sun.

Has good sun and you have a good base apparently.

Except for when we’re in West Virginia and both you and I got annihilated out there out on the the river when we went white.

35:04

Water West Virginia has the Devil’s sun.

Cabo has the good sun.

So this brings us to Sunday.

What did you guys do?

Did you end up going to you said tequila tasting was out because it was closed Sunday and Monday.

So what did you guys end up doing on this beautiful Sunday?

35:21

Sunday we slept in.

We woke up to the beautiful ocean view right outside of our window from the bed.

It was so nice.

We had a few hours until the shuttle was picking us up to take us out on a boat.

Yes, a boat.

35:36

And what’s nice about resorts is the concierge is sitting right there.

We’ll arrange everything for you.

Shuttle comes to pick you up, shuttle brings you back if you want it, and the whole thing is arranged for you.

And it was reasonably priced, I want to say like 100 bucks a person, give or take around that.

35:57

We had a shared catamaran.

I want to say there was probably like 12 other people on it, maybe a little bit more, but it was perfectly suited.

I think it could have like up to 35 guests on there, so it was not overbooked at all.

I love a boat day.

36:13

I think going out on the boat is one of the number one things you have to do in Cabo.

If you do anything outside of the resort, it’s take a boat, catamaran or a yacht out to the Cabo Arches and have a nice day out there swimming, snorkeling, having your own adventure.

36:29

I know it’s not technically the season right now, but did you see any like whales, sea turtles when you’re out there snorkeling anything or not so much?

No, unfortunately I saw a lot of pretty fish, big fish, coral.

36:45

Yeah.

Well, at least there was something right, Because, I mean, you could always count on that.

But in terms of the other wildlife, that would get people excited, of course, seasonal.

So if you’re going to Cabo for that, you got to know when those times are.

But how long would you say this tour actually was?

37:00

The boat ride itself was about four hours.

And then, of course, transportation.

Yeah, so the boat was awesome.

And boats in Cabo are so fun, right?

They welcome you on with a fluted mimosa even though it’s almost 2 in the afternoon.

You get a mimosa and they don’t stop pouring drinks.

37:19

We had a conversation not too long ago about Puerto Rico and boats and sometimes they don’t bring out the drinks until after you go snorkeling.

No, in Cabo it’s always drinks as soon as you get on the boat.

This is like my third boat I’ve taken out in Cabo, and they’re always like this and they’re so fun.

37:35

And then this tour came with food as well, so they brought out a fruit plate for everyone, every group that was on the boat, right?

Lots of good people around our age.

So the vibes were good with like conversation and social activity.

It wasn’t like families or elderly.

37:53

It really was a boat that was like perfect for us.

O of course.

It takes you out to the Cabo Arches.

It’s so beautiful.

You get pictures.

They actually had a professional photographer on the boat, but I have no idea where those photos were supposed to be recovered from or sent to, or if that was for their own marketing materials.

38:11

I don’t know.

So you lost out on the professional post, but I bet you if you call back to the resort and particularly speak to the concierge, they can probably figure that out and ideally get you back in touch.

I would say if you really want them, that would be.

A good yeah, I tried to call and then they asked for my booking number or something and I didn’t know it, so maybe I’ll I called the concierge instead.

38:35

But anyway, we did take our own pictures with our own phones, so that was nice.

But we didn’t actually stay at the Arches that long.

We kept cruising along the coast and went up more to better snorkeling areas.

Our guide really LED us around snorkeling.

It wasn’t even independent snorkeling.

38:50

He kind of wanted people to stay with the group of where he was bringing us and showed us the cool areas, got back on the boat and then they brought out lunch.

And do you remember that rap that Zana always talks about from Hawaii?

Yes, I do remember that.

39:06

I think it was a teriyaki wrap that we had while.

We were in Kauai, so Zana’s wrap is like this sandwich I had on the boat in Cabo that day.

Oh, you’re in love with this one then, huh it?

I haven’t had a sandwich like that in so long.

39:23

It was like regular sliced like a really soft wheat bread Turkey, a really thin slice of like chicken, Milanese breaded kind of chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber.

It was so good.

39:40

And then they had bread out like a Bento box for everyone.

So the sandwich was the star of the show, but they also had pasta salad, guac and chips, ceviche, and then of course the drinks that never stopped flowing.

But yes, I’m still thinking about that sandwich.

I actually got a sandwich the next day in the lounge ’cause it looked like what that sandwich might be.

39:59

It was good, but it I don’t think anything will ever compare to that sandwich.

You’re talking about the lounge at the the airport on your travel back home day, not somewhere at the resort.

Correct.

Yes, Yes, Yes, yes.

Well it sounds like a great boat day All in all with the vibes, the fish, snorkeling, food, drinks.

40:16

What did you do afterwards to cap off your last full day here before you travelled home?

Well, my special friend had not been to Cabo ever before, so I figured since we were getting dropped off at the Marina, rather than taking the shuttle back, we would just explore the town a little bit and then take a taxi back.

40:35

So we did that and it’s, it’s such a different vibe than having been at the resort for two days.

Loud music, neon lights are going, there’s people everywhere.

You got a lot more of that authentic Mexico atmosphere because you’re actually now in Mexico, not at a resort.

40:52

And so we bopped into a few different places.

We went to Senior Frogs where they like pour the shot down your mouth and then just like spank you and do funny stuff like that.

Did you go to Mango deck?

We did not go to Mango deck.

How could you not think this?

41:08

Is my first time in Cabo ever not going to mango deck?

I was going to say Mango Deck is an institution.

I feel like it has to be visited.

But you know what?

I will say this, Senior Frogs is a good alternative.

Yes, Senior frogs, Cabo Wabo.

We went to a few different spots like that and then kept going on.

41:25

So there’s a lot of pharmacies down here in this area too.

We’ve talked about getting pharmaceuticals from Mexico before, but I did go in and I got Trentonoin this time.

Trentonoin is a prescription like high strength retinoid for skin care.

You need a prescription for it in the US.

41:42

And anyway, I was like, this is a great time to get something like that.

When in Mexico, right, Take advantage.

That’s right, the last spot we ended the night with was this random little karaoke spot.

It had the best all pastor quesadillas.

41:57

I think we ordered like 4 of them as we were sitting there, and the karaoke’s a little bit different here.

They have multiple microphones so no one’s on stage, but people in the crowd each have a microphone and are singing along together and they’re playing like journey and bangers that everybody knows.

42:15

So the vibes are really good here.

Really good way to end the night in Cabo.

How long did you guys stay out there?

Way too long, I’ll tell you that.

We we got off the bed around 6:00 and I think we were home around 11.

Not, not too crazy.

42:31

OK, I thought you were going to say like 3-4 had to pack your suitcase and then travel home the next day.

Or same day.

Or same day, Yeah.

Yeah, no, not this time.

I had to work.

I was being responsible.

There you go.

Monday was a work day.

42:46

I didn’t take any PTO off for this trip so got up and did a little bit of work but then got our stuff together.

His flight was a little bit earlier than mine, so I did go to the airport with him, which I feel like is a love language.

I could have gotten two more hours at this resort, but instead I went with my partner to the airport.

43:07

Wow, that is so kind of you.

I know that’s like going that’s like waiting through regular TSA when you have pre.

Which is something somebody normally wouldn’t do.

But I’m going to wait you to say, Kim, I think part of the reason why you did it too is you knew that there was a lounge there.

43:23

Because I have a feeling as much as you wanted to spend time with your friend who was came, if there was not a lounge, you’d probably be like, no, I’m going to stay here at the resort.

Yeah, that’s that’s for sure.

And also my flight ended up getting delayed so I could have gotten more time at the resort.

43:39

But anyway, we had a great time our last few moments there and this resort weekend in Cabo was amazing.

Squatty’s.

I highly recommend it and I would actually love to go back and do a solo trip at a resort and just stay there and post up and journal and work and relax and just have me time.

43:58

That sounds like a lovely little solo trip.

Can’t go wrong there, Squaddies.

Thank you so much for tuning into our episode this week.