Our last port on our Mexican Rivera cruise was Cabo San Lucas. We have been there numerous times and we try to do something different each time we visit. We elected for a snorkeling adventure up the coast in the Sea of Cortez.

So a few facts about Cabo…it was officially established in 1788, but did not start to prosper until 1917, when an American company built a sea platform to catch tuna. In 1927, a fish processing plant was built. The economy is now dominated by tourism, sport fishing, whale watching, and retirees. Cabo currently has a population of 202,000 people, tripling in size since 2010.

The harbor of Cabo San Lucas has no cruise pier and tender boats are used as the ocean floor suddenly drops to 400 feet, then rapidly descending to 1000 feet, making a long pier impossible

The tour was on a small zodiac boat with 12 other guests. It was snorkeling, kayaking, and paddle boarding.

After boarding the zodiac, we motored across the bay to Lands End. Lover’s Beach is on the Sea of Cortez side, with Divorce Beach aka Playa de Divorcio, being on the Pacific Ocean side, because it has “rough” water.

Lands End is the last land formation of the California Baja Peninsula. It is made of hardened magna that has been eroded by the ocean waves. The famous El Arco or The Arch is 3 stories tall depending on the tide. During a hurricane in 2023, the waves were breaching the last rock formation. WOW!!

One of the rock formations is known as Neptune’s Finger

The local citizens call a small arch that is forming, “Window of Cabo San Lucas”.

On our way up the coast, we encountered a pod of common dolphins

Ready to snorkel…not going to lie, the water was cold, like Idaho cold!!

The current was extremely strong, so they asked us to wear life jackets. We didn’t get to use the kayaks, as there were numerous non-swimmers on the tour, but we still had fun.

Jim had a new water-proof camera case and he tested it out. The water was abit murky with the strong current, but we still saw a few fish.

On our way back to the port, our guide showed us a “whale calling” technique

The technique actually worked…lol…as we saw a total of 3 whales

Back in the Cabo harbor, Jim spotted his “someday” boat…haha. It had it’s own helicopter!!

We got an amazing view of the Carnival Panorama with Lands End in the background.

Back at the tour office, we were treated to quesadillas and beans, which were probably the best refried beans we have ever had. They also had hibiscus juice which we loved.

We stopped at the Cabo San Lucas fire department’s fund raising booth for the Fill the Boot campaign. Jade bought an official CSL fire shirt and was given a patch as a fellow fire fighter.

Back in our room, we were welcomed with a hatching chick towel animal…

We had a “snack” from the pasta bar, because it is really all about the food!!

As the Panorama left, we had a great view of Cabo San Lucas, Lands End, and Divorce Beach.

It was a fast and furious day, as all aboard time was 2:30, but the view of Lands End never gets old.

That evening we enjoyed a great show and a wonderful dinner

We finished up our trivia run as winners. It helped to have Jade on the cruise with us, as he knows lots of random facts.

We loved the crew appreciation show and had one last dessert before returning to Long Beach pier.

Last towel animal…we had a competition all week with our room steward…LOL

It had been a great week, with lots of adventure.

To finish off our trip, while waiting in the airport for our flight, we watched the Kentucky Derby, as we do a family sports pool but just for bragging rights. We had to settle for McDonalds instead of the Derby Food of Pimento cheese and Pecan pie.