How safe is Los Cabos? Plus other FAQs answered

Every clip I’ve checked my hunt motor implicit the years to find retired what the astir often asked questions are astir Los Cabos, 1 of the top queries has to bash with safety. Is it harmless successful Los Cabos? This is astonishing to me. As a 15-year resident, I’ve ever felt safer successful Los Cabos than I did astatine immoderate clip surviving successful the U.S., from the tiny municipality wherever I grew up to the cities I lived successful later. 

I deliberation this anxiety, oregon astatine slightest concern, connected the portion of imaginable tourists has thing to bash with the information that lone antagonistic images of Mexico are shown connected U.S. newscasts. I get it. If you’ve ne'er visited Los Cabos and that benignant of negativity is each you see, it tin marque you fearful. So let’s instrumentality distant the distorted lens and conscionable look astatine the facts. 

Los Cabos is 1 of the world’s safest question destinations

How harmless is Los Cabos? Based connected the data, astir apt a batch safer than the U.S. metropolis you conscionable flew successful from. I mightiness adhd that Los Cabos includes 2 cities, truthful this complaint would beryllium adjacent little if they were listed separately.

Los Cabos has welcomed 80 cardinal tourists during the 21st century. Two person died nether questionable circumstances. That complaint (0.000000025%) is astronomically small, and it bears noting that successful 1 of the resulting investigations, a fellow American traveling with the unfortunate was the main fishy based connected video evidence.

Tourists are incredibly harmless successful Los Cabos, and the municipality works precise hard to support it that way. How safe? That statistic I conscionable quoted makes visiting Los Cabos safer than traveling to London, Paris, Venice and Madrid. It’s surely safer than vacationing successful immoderate metropolis successful the U.S.

Even if you origin successful transgression successful the municipality astatine ample — including successful the worst neighborhoods and among the poorest residents — Los Cabos remains precise harmless and compares precise favorably (see the graph above).

The information I pass household and friends about

Of course, you should wage attraction to your surroundings and workout mean precautions, arsenic you would anywhere. But erstwhile I person friends oregon relatives visit, the lone information I pass them astir is swimming astatine the incorrect beach. There person been 15 documented drowning deaths since 2010 (seven of them U.S. tourists), oregon astir 1 per twelvemonth connected average. Some section beaches – specifically, Divorce Beach and Solmar Beach – person precise beardown rip currents and are not harmless for swimmers. 

So I would caution tourists to pay attraction to the flags posted connected virtually each section beach. Green flags bespeak calm waters and harmless swimming conditions. Yellow and red, similar colors connected a postulation light, counsel caution oregon avoiding swimming owed to unsafe conditions, respectively. Black flags mean the formation is closed.  

Other than that, person fun. Los Cabos is not lone 1 of the astir beauteous places connected Earth, but 1 of the safest. 

What’s the quality betwixt Cabo San Lucas, San José del Cabos, and Los Cabos? 

The Land’s End headland is successful Cabo San Lucas, a metropolis wrong the municipality of Los Cabos, and the authorities of Baja California Sur. (Unsplash / Carlos Gilbert)

This is different question often asked by those who’ve ne'er visited, and I tin easy recognize wherefore it would beryllium confusing. Especially since the destination is besides known simply arsenic “Cabo.”

Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo are coastal cities 20 miles isolated on the confederate rim of the authorities of Baja California Sur (BCS) astatine the precise bottommost of the 760-mile-long Baja California peninsula. BCS has 5 municipalities, the southernmost of which is Los Cabos. 

So Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo are cities wrong the larger Los Cabos municipality, and the “Cabo” descriptor, which some cities share, means “Cape” successful Spanish. Thus, erstwhile Los Cabos became a municipality successful 1981, it took its name, which translates arsenic “The Capes,” from its 2 largest communities. 

Which metropolis should I enactment in? Cabo San Lucas oregon San José del Cabo?

First, fto maine constituent retired that these aren’t the lone 2 options. There’s besides La Ruta Escénica, the 20-mile coastal corridor that connects the cape cities, and the East Cape, the 70-mile coastal agelong northeast of San José de Cabo that features tiny communities similar Cabo Pulmo, La Ribera, Buena Vista and Los Barriles (the second is really successful La Paz municipality).

Staying successful immoderate of these areas doesn’t preclude visiting the others. But determination is simply a quality successful presumption of cost, and successful the attractions which are astir conveniently close. For example, the mean outgo of a edifice country is acold higher successful La Ruta Escénica (US $592, arsenic of July 2025) than it is successful Cabo San Lucas (US $269) oregon San José del Cabo (US $294). Why? Because La Ruta Escénica has the highest percent of ultra-luxury resorts. 

So, based connected your budget, choosing Cabo San Lucas oregon San José del Cabo mightiness beryllium the amended choice. The former, it should beryllium noted, is famed for its sportfishing and its nightlife, portion the second is considered much sophisticated, with amended dining, arts and culture. Thus, you whitethorn privation to take 1 oregon the different based connected these factors, too.

Average edifice country rates alteration depending connected wherever you enactment successful Los Cabos. (Unsplash / Josh Withers)

Is it preferable to wage successful dollars oregon pesos?

The reply is ever pesos. That’s not to accidental you can’t wage with dollars. U.S. dollars are accepted everyplace successful Los Cabos. But due to the fact that businesses present found their ain speech rates, those rates are ever going to beryllium favorable to them. Meaning, each clip you wage for a transaction successful dollars – beryllium it a edifice bill, a souvenir purchase, etc. – you’re losing respective dollars worthy of worth against the speech rate. 

For example, let’s accidental an entrée connected a edifice paper successful Los Cabos is 400 pesos. You privation to wage successful dollars, and the edifice states that its speech complaint is US $1 to 17 pesos. According to the existent speech rate, this entree should outgo you $21.44. But instead, you’re paying $23.52. It whitethorn not dependable similar much. But multiply the quality by each transaction during the magnitude of your stay, and the wealth you’re losing adds up fast. I tin archer you, arsenic idiosyncratic who lives here, that I ne'er wage successful dollars for anything.

Have immoderate questions astir Los Cabos you’d similar answered? Leave them successful the comments below, and I’ll reply them successful the adjacent variation of this column.

Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas section adept for the USA Today question website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos question guidebook and a contributor to galore websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related contented and manner features focused connected food, vino and golf.