As you are planning your engagement proposal, joint bachelor & bachelorette party, destination wedding week, honeymoon, or anniversary trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, you are probably looking for the best swimmable beaches to explore. Since our first trip to Cabo in 2007, to having our destination wedding in Cabo, and now spending multiple months in Cabo every year, Rich & Kitch are your Cabo travel couple experts, so we’re here to help! While there are many swimmable beaches in Cabo, especially along the Sea of Cortez, not all beaches are swimmable, like along the Pacific Ocean side, for example. This post shares Rich & Kitch's favorite swimmable beaches & beach recommendations for you to visit during your vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, which include:
MEDANO BEACH
Rich & Kitch’s favorite swimmable beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is Medano Beach. It’s the most lively beach in Cabo with many amazing hotels, bars, and restaurants located along the beach. One of our favorite resorts is located on Medano Beach and that’s Villa del Arco. We own a timeshare there & it's where Rich & Kitch got hitched, so we may be a little biased, but we think the Villa Group Resorts are the nicest on Medano Beach! Get a discount by booking your trip there through this link or if you would like to Airbnb our timeshare from us, please contact us here. We really love staying at Villa del Arco because of the property's prime location in Cabo & you can read about the other Medano Beach resorts we love here. Watching the sunrise from Medano Beach is amazing any time of year, as you can see from the photos below!
We love Medano Beach since it is a public beach, which makes it easy to go for morning runs along the beach. This also allows you to walk down the beach to Rich & Kitch's favorite beach bars & restaurants! Even though it is a public beach, don't worry if you are staying at a resort along Medano Beach, like Villa del Arco. The resorts have roped-off sections with chairs so you can enjoy a secluded area for your beach day. However, if you are staying at a private villa or Airbnb without an easy-to-access beach, you can take a taxi or Uber to get to the beach. There is also affordable parking right by Medano Beach if you have a rental car. Lastly, there are MANY vendors along Medano Beach, so be prepared to be approached to buy something throughout your entire beach day. If you love to shop, this is a great place to buy your Mexican souvenirs, just remember to bring cash or pesos to pay the vendors! If you are not interested in what the beach vendors are selling, just say "no gracias"!
Beyond staying at Villa del Arco, Villa del Palmar, or Villa la Estancia, there are many other resorts on Medano Beach within walking distance to Rich & Kitch's beach recommendations! Our favorite bar to spend an afternoon day drinking on the beach is Tabasco Beach Bar. It is more low-key, but offers reasonably priced drinks (compared to other bars on Medano Beach) and has good beach food! The servers are very kind & the bartenders know how to pour the drinks strong (especially if you don’t order off of the 2x1 menu), so you’ll be in good hands. They have nice restrooms (which are hard to come by on the beach) and they have beach chairs you can lounge at during the day. They do charge extra for an umbrella though if you need some shade. We also love Sandbar Los Cabos for more low-key beach bar vibes, too. Make sure to schedule a massage on their roof!
For a popular tourist bar, we recommend checking out Mango Deck. Before COVID, they had many entertaining contests (Richie even participated in the push-up contest after our wedding lol) so grabbing drinks at Mango Deck makes for an interesting time. However, some drinks can get expensive & most recently, we’ve seen the bouncers trying to charge a cover charge, so if that happens, we recommend checking out Mango Deck when it’s not as busy to avoid paying an entrance fee (since it’s not worth it in our opinion!) So as long as you’re getting into Mango Deck without a cover charge, make sure you go upstairs to check out the rooftop for great views of Medano Beach!
Another Medano Beach property Rich & Kitch love is Corazon Cabo Resort. Even if you are not staying there, you are able to attend their beach club & rooftop pool! You can reserve a cabana at Corazón Beach Club for a fun day at the beach. We also highly recommend Rooftop 360 for a more low-key vibe with an amazing rooftop pool & views! The daytime crowd shuts down around 5:00pm so they can reopen at 6:00pm for more club-like vibes. Going to Rooftop 360 in the evening, especially with your bridesmaids & groomsmen, would make for a fun stop during your bachelor/bachelorette party in Cabo! So whether you prefer the daytime or nighttime vibes, Rooftop 360 is a #RichAndKitch must during your destination wedding week, honeymoon, or anniversary trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico! The sunsets from Rooftop 360 are amazing, too!
Somewhat similar to Rooftop 360 is Bagatelle Los Cabos, which is an amazing spot to spend your day at Medano Beach!
Sur Beach House has similar daytime & nighttime offerings on Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Medano Beach certainly has the best spots to party - can't you tell?! At Sur Beach House, you can book a cabana at their beach club during the day & it transforms into a nice restaurant for dinner! They have amazing food & cocktails that pair well with their beach vibes, making it a Rich & Kitch favorite!
The Office is another must-see place on Cabo's Medano Beach. The Office On The Beach restaurant is a Cabo classic & the food is very high quality compared to your typical beach food. Rich & Kitch love the seabass tacos & red snapper tacos. They are the best fish tacos we’ve had in Cabo! While The Office food is on the more expensive side, it is totally worth it. The Office has an extensive drink menu, too, so they can literally make you any drink that you want!
Médano Beach is ranked as a top beach in Cabo across many travel articles because it is very swimmable if you want to take a dip in the Sea of Cortez. All along the beach, you have access to water activities like jetskis, paddle boards, etc. & you can easily grab a water taxi to take you to Lover’s Beach! Rich & Kitch cannot recommend Medano Beach enough during your trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!
LOVER'S BEACH (PLAYA DEL AMOR)
Rich & Kitch’s second favorite beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, is Lover’s Beach, which is located along the Sea of Cortez. Like how amazing is this drone shot of Lover's Beach?!
Lover's Beach (also known as Playa del Amor) is only accessible by boat or water taxi, so getting there is a ton of fun! You can grab a water taxi from a vendor right along Medano Beach, or get a water taxi from the Cabo Marina. Your water taxi will also give you a tour around the rock formations, so you can take a picture by the famous Cabo arch & see Cabo from the Pacific Ocean, too! Check out @kitchensinkit's Instragram Reel of our water taxi ride to Lover’s Beach! Lover’s Beach is also attached to Divorce Beach, which you can walk to, but do not swim on this side! Divorce Beach is located on the Pacific Ocean and is NOT swimmable.
For your trip to Lover’s Beach, Rich & Kitch recommend packing a cooler with cocktails of your choice, bottles of water, and some snacks/sandwiches for lunch if you plan to spend the day there. In our cooler, we brought our Yeti tumblers filled with vodka cocktails for me, some beers for Richie, and a few bottles of water. Also, bring a beach bag with towels!
And yes, we pack our Yeti cooler in our checked luggage during our trips to Cabo, which we highly recommend lol! Rich & Kitch packing tip is to pack stuff inside of your cooler to save space in your checked bag. We travel with this portable scale to make sure our bags aren’t overweight, too! You can find some of our other favorite travel essentials linked here.
During our most recent trip to Lover’s Beach, we spent about an hour & a half there which was a good amount of time for us. We honestly could have spent a little longer, but we got there around 3 pm and the water taxi had to pick us up at 4:30 pm before the large yachts leave the marina for evening sunset sails. We went in the middle of the summer so it was HOT but not very crowded. Going early in the morning would be nicer weather-wise & not as many crowds, as Lover’s Beach gets the most crowded mid-day.
There are no bathrooms on Lover's Beach of course, as it sits in the middle of the rock formations, so keep that in mind before your beach day adventure. There are a few vendors that spend the day on Lover's Beach to sell beverages and umbrellas if you need them though! To get home from Lover’s Beach, you will tell your water taxi Capitan how long you want to spend on the beach, so keep an eye on your watch and remember the name of your water taxi boat so you can catch your ride back to Medano Beach!
Lastly, it is a little challenging to get on and off of the water taxi due to the waves, so this beach can’t accommodate everyone. You need to be able to climb up & down your boat's ladder & jump onto the beach, so if you miss judge this part, you can end up falling in the water. Your water taxi captain & their friends on the beach can help you get your bags on & off the boat if you need it (which I recommend since they are less likely to get your belongings wet lol) but make sure you only bring what you need & your belongings are relatively easy to carry! Safely pack your tripod and/or drone to take some amazing photos, too!
COSTA AZUL BEACH
If you are into surfing, Costa Azul is the beach for you, especially in the summer! You can take surf lessons at the Cabo Surf Hotel or bring your own surfboard to Costa Azul Beach. If you aren’t into surfing, Rich & Kitch still recommend checking out Costa Azul Beach, since we found the best-hidden gem of a beach bar called Pescadito Break! Reasonably priced food, cocktails, and the best vibes, Pescadito Break needs to be on your bucket list for lunch or dinner during your honeymoon or anniversary trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
SNORKELING BEACHES
If you enjoy snorkeling and/or scuba diving, there are a few beaches for these activities in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Rich & Kitch recommend doing a guided snorkeling or scuba diving tour, or renting a private yacht charter through Cabo Sailing that offers these activities, as they will know to take you to Santa Maria Beach and/or Chileno Beach!
Playa Santa Maria & Playa el Chileno are both public beaches, so you also have the option to bring your beach supplies & spend the day relaxing on either of these beaches. They are more low-key, there is access to public restrooms, & they are beautiful! A Rich & Kitch favorite is to drive to either of these beaches & watch the sunrise.
Exploring The Best Swimmable Beaches & Rich & Kitch’s Favorite Beach Spots in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
While the resort, private villa, or Airbnb you plan to stay at will be amazing, Cabo is super safe with SO many amazing offerings, so Rich & Kitch encourage you to leave your accommodations to explore! Even if you are staying at an all-inclusive resort, it is worth checking out all the amazing beaches & more that Los Cabos, Mexico has to offer! If you need help booking your accommodations in Cabo, please contact us here!
P.S. If you & your significant other love matching as much as we do, check out Rich & Kitch's favorite matching swimsuits here! They are perfect to wear for your destination wedding week, honeymoon, or anniversary trip to Cabo!
WORTH YOUR WHILE
LET’S BE FRIENDS
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