Traveling to Cabo Amid the Pandemic

I already know I’m going to get some pushback from this post, but it’s not going to stop me from sharing my own experience. Because it’s MY experience. First and foremost, yes, I know there is a pandemic going on. And the last thing I would ever want is to contract Covid and spread it to others. But since life is still going on and we have no specific lockdowns in place here in Colorado, we made this personal decision to travel to Cabo to celebrate my husband’s big birthday. And it was a fantastic experience. We are a family that normally travels A LOT. I spent the last few years traveling with Brian, friends, or by myself; so it was pretty weird to not travel for a full year during 2020. Then once Brian’s birthday began creeping up and countries weren’t locking down like they were before, we decided to book our trip to Cabo and make it happen since Cabo is less than a 3 hour flight for us.

We had 8 people who confirmed this birthday trip and half flew Southwest and the other half flew United (we were on Southwest). Now before I get into what Cabo was like, let’s talk about Denver International Airport. If you are freaked out about flying right now or being close to other people, you will probably not like airports or airplanes. There are many signs around the airport about staying 6 feet apart, but it’s close to impossible. Whether you are checking your bags, sitting at your gate, waiting in line for a coffee, or lining up to board the plane – people are everywhere…just like before Covid. Southwest did a great job with only boarding 10 people at a time so not as many people line up at once, but all those people are still sitting near each other in the airport, so I’m not sure if it makes as much of a difference. And airplanes are at full capacity. We had a full flight on our way to Cabo and back, so there is no 6 feet apart. Airports and airplanes require masks at all times, unless you are eating or drinking, and Southwest only serves cups of water at this time. I wore 1 mask (many people wear multiple masks and face shields), I still drank water and ate some snacks on the plane, but I didn’t need to use the bathroom at any point while flying. For me personally, I wasn’t scared or nervous sitting next to someone on the plane. It just felt like another flight, but with a mask. And honestly, I like wearing a mask on planes. People are gross and this keeps some of their grossness contained.

Both DIA and the Cabo airport were just as busy as they have always been in my 5 previous trips. The only thing I noticed that was different was customs – it was MUCH faster than before, but that also could have been due to the timing of planes arriving. When you enter Cabo, you have to fill out a questionnaire, answering questions about signs and symptoms of Covid that you have or have not experienced. It seemed kind of pointless because it didn’t feel like TSA looked much at the piece of paper then you keep it with you. It just felt like a waste of materials, but I understand countries are trying to figure everything out right now. Cabo doesn’t require a negative Covid test, like some countries do, nor does Colorado when you come back home. Even though we weren’t required to get a test done, I did one before I left just to be safe. And now that I’m back home, I’m staying home to ensure that no signs or symptoms show up before I head back out into the Colorado world.

We stayed at a house in Cabo instead of a hotel, mostly because we wanted to all have a common space to hang out in (and we prefer houses over hotels) and so we could just be around the people in our small group vs all the people in a hotel. But when we did venture into downtown Cabo San Lucas and to San Jose, all the restaurants required masks and some restaurants even had disinfecting chambers that you walk through while entering the restaurant. Most people on the streets were wearing masks while wandering around, as well. All cab/taxi drivers were wearing masks, as well. We never went to any clubs so I have no idea what that looks like, but we felt safe whenever we went out to eat. Other than that, we mostly stayed at our house because it had everything we needed in one place!

Bikini Details

This is a house we’ve stayed at before on our first trip to Cabo back in 2017, and it’s one of my favorite places we’ve stayed! We had a different house booked, but it cancelled on us last minute, so I contacted the owner of this house directly to see if it was available, and luckily it was! This house sleeps 10 people and the property is HUGE! It has 2 rooms upstairs, 3 rooms downstairs, a huge kitchen, dining room, and living room, ping pong table, volleyball court, a balcony AND a rooftop balcony that both overlook the ocean, a pool and spa with a cabana that has a small kitchenette, a volleyball court, and there is a private beach for the neighborhood just a short walk away. Every morning I would work out near the pool and watch the whales in the ocean as they would jump and blow water out their blowholes. Magical. Or I would run down to the beach to work out and watch the sunrise. This property is so fantastic and the gated community is filled with kind people who always say hello on their morning walks.

Bikini Details

Something we decided to do this trip that we haven’t done in the past is hire a chef. Find a chef through your property is normally insanely easy. I would chat with the property manager over Whatsapp to tell him our arrival dates and times, and then I asked him one day if he had a chef recommendation. He immediately had one and connected us on Whatsapp. We were able to talk over the phone, go over how many people and what type of meals we wanted, then he put a menu together with the prices of everything beforehand. He was a great guy who always showed up on time and he created some delicious meals! My only complaint is that he put NINE slices of cheese on our burgers. Nine. That means he used 72 slices of cheese for our burgers. Let that set in for a second. We had to peel off the cheese to get to the burger below. So funny. Luckily the burger was worth digging for. We had him cook all of our meals on Brian’s birthday, then dinner on NYE, and breakfast on New Year’s Day! Best decision ever and we will absolutely hire a chef anytime we book a house from now on. He made us burgers, chilaquiles, tacos, salads, surf and turf, and a standard breakfast! And everything was delicious! For our other meals, we cooked for ourselves at home or we venture out to some of our favorite restaurants.

One of the restaurants we always go back to while in Cabo is Acre. Acre is a huge property located near the very popular Flora Farms. Everyone I talk to ALWAYS recommends Flora Farms and I’ve never been impressed. I also go food poisoning there once, so we haven’t gone back. But Acre is next door and it’s a similar property with lots of land, farm life, they have dogs you can visit and even adopt, a delicious restaurant, and amazing treehouses that you can stay in. We love this spot because it has great cocktails and it feels like you’re in a jungle, plus the food is delicious. This visit was a little different and we were a bit disappointed sadly. It’s a pretty expensive place, which I never mind because I love supporting restaurants who are doing some special and different, but many of us experienced cold meals and our server also chased us down at the end to say we didn’t pay for the bottle of wine we purchased. So we gave him a credit card and went on our way. But when we looked back at the receipt once we were home, they had already charged us for the wine, so we were charged twice. We’ve now called many times trying to get in contact with someone and no one answers. I even talked to someone on instagram who told me to call and they will get it fixed, but still no answer after days and days of calls. I would still recommend this spot to people, but we probably won’t eat dinner there again, just drinks from now on. It’s an amazing location and the treehouses look insanely cool to stay in! It’s worth checking out if you’re looking to stay in San Jose!

We stopped in at two other restaurants in Cabo San Lucas while we were there. A new spot we tried was Outpost. I found this restaurant by simply searching ‘gluten free brunch’ on yelp, and it was one of the few spots that looked really unique and trendy. And I’m always down for a trendy restaurant. Outpost takes your temperature before you come in the restaurant, but half the restaurant is outside so we sat on the rooftop patio, no where near anyone else, so it felt super safe while we had brunch! They had some really delicious looking cocktails, I grabbed a green smoothie, and had their Mexican breakfast. Overall, it was a great spot that I would definitely go back to! Cabo needs more restaurants like this one!

And our last restaurant we stopped in at was Nicksan. We LOVE this spot! We go back every single time because we love the sushi so much! They always have such creative rolls and dishes, including their lobster tempura curry. This dish is my absolutely, hands down favorite. We get it every time and I have dreams out it. Nicksan felt like one of the safest restaurants we went to. We walked through a disinfecting chamber before entering the restaurant which also takes your temperature as you walk in. They seemed like they were taking all the precautions they could to keep people safe inside. I already can’t wait to go back and have the lobster curry again!

‘After a week in Cabo, we are back home and everyone is feeling healthy. We felt very safe in Cabo and we are very happy we traveled. We also have more trips planned the next two months and we are excited to travel again! We will take the same precautions we did this last time, getting tested before we travel, and enjoy this beautiful world around us that we haven’t been able to see in a year. I believe everyone needs to do what is right for them and the community around them, and I do not feel like I’m putting my community in danger. I hope this post helps you figure out your own travel plans in the future, no matter when you plan to travel! And if you are interested in staying at the same house we stayed out, contact the owner of the house Mike at mdkoehler1@aol.com. We booked the house through him and paid him through paypal with absolutely no issues!