Cabo San Lucas Travel Budget: Where the Money Goes and Where to Save

Cabo can be a $ trip or a $$$$ trip, and most people do both in the same day. Tacos for lunch, a cliffside dinner at night. The trick to a travel budget here is not spending less. It is knowing which four things drive the total, and deciding on purpose where you want to splurge. Here is how we break it down.

Timing is the biggest lever

When you come changes the price of almost everything. Peak season runs from November through April, and December through March is the most crowded and the most expensive. The shoulder seasons, May and June and then October into early November, are the sweet spot. The weather is still very good, prices for rooms and activities are generally lower, and there are fewer people at the places you want to eat.

Summer is the cheapest and the hottest. If your dates are flexible, move the trip before you cut anything else.

Where you sleep

This is the largest line for most trips. Three things help. First, location: a place a short distance from downtown Cabo San Lucas usually costs less than one in the middle of it. Second, a kitchen. A villa or suite where you can make breakfast and a few lunches takes real money off the food line, and for a group, splitting one house often beats a row of hotel rooms. Third, ask. Group discounts on transport and activities exist, and nobody offers them unless you bring it up.

Food, by price level

We use price levels, $ to $$$$, because menus change and levels do not. Here is how the places we like sort out.

Price level $$

This is where you can eat well every day. Los Tres Gallos for traditional Mexican, open 11am to 10pm. La Lupita Taco & Mezcal in San José del Cabo, a 4.6 from around 2,200 reviews, closed Monday. Jazmin's Restaurant, open 8am to 11pm, so it works for any meal. Romeo & Julieta for Italian on the Marina. Baja Brewing Company for a beer at the brewpub. Mango Deck and Cabo Wabo Cantina for the loud version.

Price level $$$

Dinners you plan for. Salvatore G's has the best rating of the group, a 4.8 from nearly 2,000 reviews, and it is open for lunch, which is the easier and calmer way to do it. Flora Farms and Acre Restaurant are the two farm dinners. The Office on Medano Beach is $$$ because the tables are in the sand. Oystera is the one in Todos Santos.

Price level $$$$

Sunset Monalisa and Edith's Restaurante. Pick one for the trip, book it for the best night, and do not look at the total. That is what it is for.

The cheapest great food is not on any of these lists. Small local restaurants, called fondas, serve real Mexican cooking at a fraction of tourist prices. Walk a few blocks off the main streets and look for the full tables.

Activities

The beach is free. After that, a sunset cruise is the classic first splurge. A seat on a budget sunset cruise runs about $75 to $150 plus 16% IVA, for 2 to 3 hours on the water. Mid-range options are the sweet spot for quality. Book direct, and in peak season book a few days ahead. Summer has more availability.

From December through April the whales are here, so a trip on the water does double duty.

Tips, cash and the small stuff

• Tip 15 to 20 percent at restaurants. Budget for it up front.
• Carry small peso notes. They make tips and small purchases easier.
• Ask if a quoted price includes tax. Tours and charters add 16% IVA.
• One area per day saves taxi money.

Three ways to spend a day

• Lean: beach morning, fonda lunch, a $$ dinner.
• Middle: breakfast in, a sunset cruise, a $$$ dinner to share.
• Splurge: a day on the water and a $$$$ table at sunset.

Pick your season first, your bed second, and one big dinner third. The rest of the budget takes care of itself. See every place we eat, with price levels, on our Cabo restaurants page.