Hola! I’ve been back from Cabo for a little over a week now and I wanted to post a recap of my trip. My cousins and I have been trying to plan a getaway together for quite a bit now and we finally managed to pull it off at the beginning of August. While initially we were trying to corral about six or seven cousins, we ended up being a party of three. We definitely knew we wanted a beach trip and had even considered more convenient stateside locales such as San Diego since a few of our cousins are west coast based. Once our final headcount got narrowed down though, the three of us decided on Cabo San Lucas, as none of us had ever been before.
I left pretty early in the morning from Dulles airport and connected in Houston. I had no issues with my outbound flights or connections, but my poor cousin Jill ended up being super delayed and almost missed her connection in Phoenix! Luckily she became the fastest airport runner on earth and was able to catch her connection! We actually ended up arriving to Cabo around the same time and found each other in the customs line (which seriously took FOREVER). I don’t recall there being such a long wait in the customs line in Cancun, so this felt like an eternity. Once we made it through, I had to pick up my checked luggage – apparently I seriously overpacked for a 3 day trip lol. Both of my cousins only brought a carry-on and a backpack! I had a little mini panic attack when I couldn’t find my bag initially, but my cousin found it and all was well. We had arranged private transportation from the airport to our hotel, so after making our way through all of the transportation vendors vying for our business, we found our ride and were off to the Breathless Cabo San Lucas resort!
Upon arrival, we were greeted with glasses of champagne and cool towels. Check-in was pretty efficient and while we had asked for 3 rooms next to each other, we only got two, with my other cousin being down the hall some. The resort is all-inclusive, so all of our drinks and food were included in our room cost, and we could order as much as we wanted, including room service and mini-bar restocks. I know some people dislike all-inclusives, but I always find this option to be super convenient, especially with groups as you don’t have to worry about extra charges, splitting checks, or even carrying money around. On the flip side, while the food is good, it’s not gourmet so you just have to know that going in and be OK with it.
Our rooms were actually super cute. I really liked the layout with the bathroom on the interior side and the bed facing out towards the balcony and water view. I have a video tour of my room saved to my highlights on Instagram, which you can view HERE. The hotel is actually on the marina so there is a lot of activity outside which you could hear morning and night. My cousin pointed out that this was noted as a “party hotel,” and while we were OK with that, it was actually rather low key while we were there during the middle of the week. We started to see more groups arrive on Friday and Saturday though, just as we were leaving.
The resort has two pools; one is more relaxed and quiet on the marina side with pretty sunsets, and the other was livelier with loud music and tons of chairs and sun beds overlooking the ocean (photo above).
We spent time at both pools, as well as the resort’s designated beach area. Unfortunately, the beach section for guests was very limited; only about 3 rows of 8 chairs across. Apparently the beach is a public beach and therefore loses that private beach resort vibe that I am used to and was expecting. This resort however is located on one of the only swimmable beaches in Cabo, which is one of the reasons we selected it. If you are considering going to Cabo and interested in a swimmable beach location, just note that at Breathless the beach is public access and while the water is nice, you might want to think a little harder about whether or not you actually go in the water that much. During the whole trip, I only went in once, for less than 10 minutes, so next time that might not be a deciding factor for me.
The food and drinks were decent; we were told to ask for strong drinks in advance so we did lol. The food wasn’t bad, and there were several restaurants on site to choose from; we enjoyed regular bar fare, tacos, Italian, sushi, room service, and a pretty hearty daily breakfast buffet while there.
Another thing to note – as with other resorts I’ve been to, they try and get you to sign up and join their vacation club; they say it’s not a timeshare, but it’s very similar. We were offered free 50 minute massages for all three of us in return for our time at their sales presentation. We participated exclusviely for the massages, but really had no intention of ever joining, but they still tried their hardest to talk us into it.
We also walked around the marina area and “town” one night to get a feel for it and, it’s just typical touristy stuff, lots of restaurants and souvenir shops. I will say the employees are very eager to get your business and constantly try to engage with you door to door as you’re strolling along.
All in all, it was great to spend time with my cousins and enjoy their company, but I don’t know that I have a desire to go back to Cabo. Granted, I only saw one part of it, but I actually prefer Cancun and the east coast of Mexico. Cancun and the surrounding areas are accessible via a direct flight for me and the resorts seem to be more to my liking. My husband and I have actually been to Cancun/Playa del Carmen the last few years in a row, usually enjoying a few days to ourselves before Christmas. We are scheduled to do so again this year, so I’ll be sure to post about that when we do!
Have you vacationed in Mexico? Do you love Cabo, or prefer Cancun like me? Comment below and let me know your favorite places to visit in Mexico!
