Cabo Solo Travelers Guide: Tips for Eating, Getting Around and Staying Safe

Solo travel in Cabo is easier than most people expect. The tourist zones are compact, the restaurants are used to a party of one, and the bar seat is the best seat in town. Here is how we would do a solo week, with the places where sitting alone feels normal.

Is Cabo safe for a solo traveler?

Yes, within the usual limits. Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo are generally very safe for solo travelers, including women traveling alone, especially in the main tourist zones and around the Marina. The precautions are the ones you would take anywhere: keep your phone charged with your hotel and emergency numbers saved, carry a portable charger, use official taxis or a pre-booked car at night, and do not walk home alone after a few drinks. In peak season, November through April, the streets are busy late, which adds a sense of company even when you are on your own.

Eat at the bar

This is the single best solo tip we have. Sit at the bar. You get faster service, the bartender becomes your local guide, and you end up talking to other travelers without trying. Nearly every restaurant we list flags solo dining as normal. These are the ones where the bar seat is the right seat.

La Lupita Taco & Mezcal

On Morelos in the San José del Cabo art district, open noon to 10:30pm, closed Monday. $$, a 4.6 from around 2,200 reviews, live music and rooftop seating. The mezcal list is long and the bartenders like explaining it. This is our first answer for a solo dinner.

Outpost

On Blvd. Paseo de la Marina in Cabo San Lucas, open 8am to 1am every day. $$, a 4.6 from about 1,140 reviews, with a rooftop and good cocktails. It opens for breakfast and stays open after everything else has closed, which makes it the solo traveler's anchor: coffee in the morning, a nightcap at midnight.

Daikoku

Sushi in Plaza Nautica on the Marina, open 1pm to 11pm. $$$, a 4.5 from just over a thousand reviews, quiet and cosy with a fireplace. A sushi counter is the original solo seat. Lunch here on your own is a small luxury.

Salvatore G's

Downtown on Vicente Guerrero, Italian, $$$, open 11am to 10:30pm (from 4pm Sunday). A 4.8 from close to 2,000 reviews, and a room where a single diner with a glass of wine is a regular sight.

SUR Beach Club

For a beach day alone, SUR on Medano is the calmer club. Open 8:30am to 10:30pm, $$, a 4.6 from around 1,070 reviews, breakfast through dinner, live music. Take a daybed with a book and stay through sunset.

Jazmin's Restaurant

Breakfast in San José, on Morelos, open 8am to 11pm. $$, a 4.5 from roughly 1,900 reviews. Good coffee and a courtyard table where nobody hurries you.

Getting around on your own

• Downtown Cabo San Lucas is walkable. The Marina, Medano Beach and the downtown bars are all within walking distance of each other.
• San José del Cabo is a 30 minute drive. Do it as a day or an evening, not a back-and-forth. The art district around Morelos is the part to see.
• Use official taxis or a pre-booked car at night. Pre-arrange your airport transfer from SJD too, so the trip starts without a negotiation at arrivals.
• Group tours are easy to join solo. Whale watching in December through April, snorkeling, and boat trips to the Arch all run as shared departures, and they are where solo travelers meet.

The day trip: Todos Santos

About 90 minutes up the Pacific side. Go in the morning, visit the old mission, and walk the streets before the heat. Then eat. Oystera on Benito Juárez is a $$$ oyster bar with rooftop seating, open 10am to 9pm most days, rated 4.6 by around 1,500 people, and it flags solo dining. Jazamango on Los Naranjos is $$ farm-to-table, quiet, open 1pm to 9pm and closed Tuesday. Either one works alone at the bar. Drive back before dark.

When to go

November through April is the easy answer: warm, dry, whale season from December, and more people around, which matters when you are solo. If you want fewer crowds and lower prices, the shoulder months of May to June and October to November still deliver the sun. Summer, June through September, is hotter and more humid and is hurricane season, but it is also the quietest and cheapest time to be here.

Practical notes

• Carry small pesos. Tips run 15 to 20 percent, and cash is easiest at the bar.
• Book the popular rooms ahead in high season, even for one. A single seat at the bar is usually easier than a table.
• Tell someone your plan for the day, especially for the Todos Santos drive.

Sit at the bar, walk downtown, take one group boat trip, and give Todos Santos a morning. More of where we eat is on our Cabo restaurants page.