Our Mexican Adventure – Cabo San Lucas!!

We own a timeshare and get to use it every other year, so in 2019 we let the girls choose where we would spend our vacation.  They both agreed they wanted somewhere warm and close, so we decided on Cabo.  This truly was one of my favorite family vacations!  It was so simple and inexpensive to get there and we had so much fun as a family shopping, relaxing, riding camels, atving (is that a word?), walking on the beach, and eating!  Living in San Diego made it so simple to just walked over the border using the Cross Border Xpress.  Basically, we got dropped off at the terminal on the United States side and then walked through the building, right into the airport on the Mexican side!  Brilliant!  In just two short hours we were in Cabo San Lucas!

We chose the Playa Grande Resort and Spa and we loved it!  Mexico truly knows how to build BIG and impressive when it comes to hotels, resorts and timeshares.  As soon as we walked into the lobby there was a mariachi band playing, waitresses serving drinks, and waiters serving sopes.  They had us at “hello,” or should I say “hola!”  We had access to six different pools and we were right on the ocean.

Although the water was absolutely beautiful, we couldn’t swim in it since it was incredibly dangerous.  There were basically hotel guards who would come out and require us to get farther way from the water if we got too close.  You really can’t tell in this image but the waves come crashing down directly on the sand and it isn’t difficult to see how someone could easily drown.  I didn’t mind.  Swimming in the ocean isn’t my favorite thing to do, especially when we had six pools to choose from!  However, the colors were amazing to look at and if we went walking on the beach early in the morning or at sunset, we could see the mobula rays jumping out of the water.  That was amazing!

We loved walking around the hotel and exploring.  It was so big!  These images are early in the morning before the crowds headed to the pools.  Zack and I especially enjoyed the adults-only pool and spa which was right on the sand looking out to the ocean.

The first day that we were there we headed into town, which was within walking distance, did a little shopping, and then relaxed in the pool.  We thought it would be fun to pay a little extra and attend a beach party at the resort and it was well worth it.  The entertainment was spectacular and the food was to die for.

On the first day we had also attended a  tour of the new timeshares.  We always do that so that we can get discounts on fun activities for the week.  It was well worth it because we were able to go on three excursions for about a third of their original price.  The first adventure we had with Cabo Adventures was on ATVs.  Before we left on the bus to head to our destination, we were able to get up close and personal with some macaws. They were so beautiful!

This trip was our favorite of the week!  We were given some basic instructions and then they put us on the ATVs and we were off!  Zack and Mackenzie rode on their own and Katelyn and I rode together.  We went really fast and it was thrilling.  Mud and sand flew everywhere.

After we were finished riding, they took us over to a fabulous lunch on the beach.  We had sopes again and now I think about them all the time!  I had never had them before and the only place I have seen them since was at a little restaurant in Ojai.

On our third day, we agreed to go on another tour of a timeshare in order to have the day to hang out in a saltwater pool that was the size of a lake.  This was quite a lot of fun and we enjoyed pretending we could truly afford to stay at a location like this.

Later that day we went to another beach party right in front of our room.  This time we were a little more prepared for what we were in for.  Mackenzie even volunteered to represent our table and WON the limbo contest!  All of those years of dance paid off!

The girls and I were really excited to go camel riding even though Zack didn’t want to join us.  We were concerned that the camels might not be treated well but from what we could see, they didn’t look like they were abused in any way.  I figured this would be the only time I would ever get to ride a camel on a beach.  It was actually less interesting than it looked.    It was fun but if I had to choose between this adventure and the ATVs, I would take the ATVs.

What I really wanted to do was go snorkeling but it just wasn’t to be.  Instead, we headed to the super touristy beach to just relax for the day.  I will never do this again.  We paid for a small spot with chairs right by the water but every few seconds someone was walking by and trying to sell us something.  They were pretty aggressive about it too.  Not worth it.

One of the reasons I chose our hotel was becasue it was within walking distance from Lovers Beach and the famous rock arch.  The walk down the beach was beautiful but when we got to the end of the beach there was a huge pile of rocks that needed to be climbed over in order to get to Lovers Beach and the arch.  Zack started to climb over but it was just too much.  So, we enjoyed the beach and the waves and each others’ company instead.

The trip wouldn’t have been complete if we hadn’t gotten near this arch!  So, we headed out on a dinner cruise to get as close as we could.  This was a wild ride.  Be careful going on these excursions if you have kids.  There was quite a lot of alcohol and some seriously wild dancing.  So, we stayed downstairs at the end of the boat and enjoyed the scenery.

It was really hard to leave because this trip was so much fun and I felt like we reunited as a family.