Land’s End – A Bit of Heaven

We had no plans for the day. Sometimes those days can be the best part of a trip. As we would soon find out, this would be one of those days.

My wife told me a friend of her’s said she should check out Mango Deck next time she visited Cabo San Lucas. It was close enough to walk to from the marina, but we didn’t know which streets to take to get there. The solution? A water taxi.

At the marina we found a vendor who gave us a package deal. A water taxi would give us a tour of Land’s End, then drop us off on El Medano Beach near Mango Deck.

The Land’s End tour was wonderful; great guide, nice lighting, very little traffic on the waters, the near-perfect weather you’d expect on this side of México…

Following the tour, as promised, the water taxi dropped us off at El Medano Beach (Playa el Médano). We started walking east, but not before taking a quick peek at what was going on inside the Mango Deck bar. It wasn’t even noon yet and there was still a little bit of activity going on. You could tell this was going to be THE spot later in the day/evening.

At first, as we walked, we were approached by a lot of vendors offering jet-ski rentals, para-sailing adventures, boat rides, and many other activities as they headed to the marina to begin their work. Other vendors selling souvenirs approached us, too. I noticed the farther east we walked, fewer vendors came up to us, and those that did gave only a half-hearted pitch. I guess they figured anyone who had walked this far from the action at the marina and nearby resorts would not be interested in buying anything. Soon the vendors’ sales pitches turned into knowing smiles and greetings as we passed each other.

Not much farther down, we found a nice stretch of sand, relatively devoid of people, and decided to stop there. We spread out our towels and just relaxed. My wife eventually got up and went for a swim. I wanted to swim, too, but I also wanted to take advantage of a very rare opportunity to just lay out in the sun and listen to the sound of the ocean. You know, to enjoy just relaxing, doin’ a whole lotta nothin’. Warm sun beating down on us, wide-open beach with maybe two or three people within earshot, brown sugar sand, the Sea of Cortés just a few feet away… We spent a couple of hours here in this blissful setting. Had we not had to meet our water taxi, we would have stayed in this bit of heaven a while longer.

Before we left, I grabbed a couple of handfuls of sand and put it in a baggie to take back home to a co-worker who really loves Cabo San Lucas. She ended up making a mini beach scene on her desk, complete with tiny lounge chair.

Reluctantly, we packed up and made our way back along the beach. During the time we were chilling on our personal stretch of beach, the crowds around the resorts had grown exponentially. We were glad we avoided them. It made us appreciate the couple of hours of near solitude we enjoyed earlier.

We arrived at the agreed-upon meeting place a few minutes ahead of time, but our water taxi guide was nowhere to be seen. I had to heed nature’s call and went in search of a restroom. (Pro tip: There aren’t many bathrooms to be found in this area. You either must be staying at one of the resorts, or be prepared to pay someone to use one of the few other restrooms in the area.) By the time I got back, less than 5 minutes after the arranged pick-up time, my wife said the guide had been there and immediately left saying he couldn’t wait.

Eventually, we found another water taxi operator to take us back to the marina. No tour this time, just straight back to the dock. As we got out of his boat, he told us we had to pay him, too. I informed him we already paid the arranger at the marina. “You pay to him, you no pay to me,” was his reply. No sense arguing. He was right. So, we paid him and went on our way. Thankfully it was only US$6. (Hmmm. For that same $6 we got a ride and a tour from the other guy). He then told us we could’ve walked back from the beach to the marina. Which is true. It isn’t all that far. In fact, we tried to walk to Mango Deck last night but couldn’t find the road that gets you there. Walking back today under full sunlight certainly would have been possible. As long as we kept the beach on our left, we would have eventually made it back to the marina.

There were still a couple of hours before we had to leave Cabo San Lucas, so we decided to have lunch at The Crazy Lobster. We ate there the first time we were in Cabo San Lucas. We had such a good time that we decided to come back. And like last time, mariachis showed up. This time I saw them coming. Good! Another opportunity to have them serenade my wife. They played one song I knew so I sang with them. Once again, we had a great, filling lunch, enjoying steak and lobster and fish and beer under the Baja sun. What could be better than this?

(Originally published 21 March 2021. Updated 23 March 2025.)

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