Mexico - Questions about Cabo

Hoping someone can help with a bunch of questions about Cabo. We're thinking about taking a somewhat last minute trip and I've read a lot about Cabo already but couldn't find info on any of the info:

- It seems like there are some beaches (specifically on the pacific ocean side) where people don't swim...is that right?

- Are there chairs/umbrellas on the beaches there? Saw some in pics for some resorts but not others.

- Will the ocean and/or pool water be warm enough to swim in during mid-January?

- This is a short 4-day trip and we're hoping to keep the budget somewhat low (we're flying on miles which will help). Any recommendations for hotels that aren't really expensive? We're not sure if we want to do all-inclusive or not so any opinion on that would be great too. Our goal is to keep it under $150 a night if not all-inclusive or under $300 a night if all-inclusive.

Any other tips or info is appreciated!

Hope this helps you regarding Cabo - my husband & I were there in July and loved it, will be headed back ourselves next week for a quick 4 night get away.

Swimming - most beach areas are not swimmable - very strong undertow and can be very dangerous. We stayed at the all-inclusive Melia Cabo Real in July which promotes having one of the only "swimmable" beaches. The Hilton is next to the Melia if you don't want All-inclusive, it would also have access to the "swimmable" beach.

Umbrellas - some hotels have them, some don't. It's not like the Caribbean where the beach is lined with them.

Temperature - Daytime temps in January will be 80 - 83 during the day, average water temp will be about 72 - 75.

Hotels - as mentioned above, we stayed in AI for 6nts when there in July, but ended up going into Cabo at least 4 times during trip to eat out. Decided this time to not do AI, will be trying the Finisterra which is across from the Marina in Cabo - about a 5-10 min. walk from all the restaurants/shopping in Cabo. There are restaurants of all price ranges in Cabo - inexpensive taco & beer places that aren't fancy all the way to your deluxe seafood restaurants. We looked at this hotel last time, including looking at a room and thought it would be a great location for our next trip. Sits on a great beach area also.

Other tips - Cabo is our favorite spot in Mexico, if you feel comfortable renting a car it was easy to drive around but not really necessary - all the "Corridor" hotels have transportation to/from Cabo and San Jose if you want to use it. This is a great time of year to see the whales also.

Hope this helps!

Stayed at the Hilton Los Cabos at the beginning of January, 2004. Ocean was comfortable to swim in. Their pools were both extremely warm. At the time there were plenty of free beach chairs located on the beach.

Plenty of information on the Hilton Los Cabos in the Hilton Hhonors forum.

We've stayed at the Presidente and the Crowne Plaza. The Presidente is seet back further from the beach, but does have beach chairs and umbrellas. It has a very nice heated "quiet" pool that is frequented just by adults mostly. A downside is many of the rooms are closed in-no balconies.

The Crowne Plaza has a heated activity pool but I think it is still a little chilly. Also an outdoor hot tub. The infinity pool gives a nice view of the beach. No chairs on the beach here, but plenty overlooking it.

The beach is not swimmable in either location due to strong undertow. We have walked along it though, and kicked around in the water. It's pretty warm.

AI is not much more than ala carte, and we don't feel guilty about going in to town and eating out if we want. Both resorts have very good food and service, including free room service if you are doing the AI option.

Both are located at the San Jose del Cabo end of the tourist corridor, which is quieter and not as spring breaky as Cabo.

I have stayed many times at the Posada Real in San Jose del Cabo & it is very inexpensive, clean & you can walk to town. When I was there 2 months ago we had lots of problems---no hot water etc. It does have some good points-such as nice chairs & palapas on the beautiful beach & the staff is awesome.It is all inclusive but the food sucks so other than b'fast & lunch we went into town for dinner (which we didn't mind because the hotel was cheap) . PM me if you want some restaurant suggestions.
Technically you can't swim in the ocean there but you can go in & play around. The waves are really rough & the water is SO warm.