Party Places: A Guide to Nightlife in Cabo San Lucas
Clubbing is one of Los Cabos’ signature activities – right up there with fishing, golf and spa days – and over the years the Land’s End area, and particularly Cabo San Lucas, has earned its well-deserved reputation for world-class revelry.
Baja Brewing Company
What makes the Cabo nightlife scene so special? The answer involves a combination of factors, among which are duration – in Cabo the partying starts early, usually at the beach, and ends very, very late – and spatial proximity – the primary tourist areas (Medano Beach, the Marina, and Downtown San Lucas) are within easy walking distance of one another, and visitors can scarcely walk half a block without finding a lively and congenial watering hole.
Those two factors – long days and nights and a proliferation of great bars and clubs – compounded by the fatiguing power of Baja heat and the generosity and hospitality of local waiters and bartenders – tequila shots, anyone? – can take a toll, however. As we like to say locally, Cabo nightlife isn’t for amateurs. To have a really good time, and to experience the joys of Cabo the right way, you first need a keen appreciation for the importance of moderation.
And you do want to do it right….right?
Mango Cantina on the Marina
Okay, here’s the real key: there is a natural party progression in Cabo San Lucas – from the beach to the marina to downtown – and if you follow this natural progression at the appropriate times, you’ll constantly find yourself amid a convivial crowd of like-minded vacationers and in-the-know locals. It’s another kind of proximity, and perhaps the ultimate reason the local late night scene always seems so vibrant, particularly in the downtown nightlife district.
There are plenty of great bars and clubs in Cabo San Lucas, but the late night scene is basically grouped around Plaza Bonita, just off the Marina. A dozen or more of the most popular late night haunts are located within one block of Plaza Bonita, and when crowds are spilling out the door after midnight, the juncture of Marina Boulevard and Lázaro Cárdenas is a palm-lined morass of slow moving car traffic and tropically clad partyers.
When you find yourself in the middle of this throng at 5 a.m., you’ll know you’ve earned your Cabo party wings.
Bikers Cabo Restaurant & Bar
So how do you follow the progression correctly?
Easy. First, spend the day at the beach…or fishing, surfing, snorkeling or shopping. It doesn’t really matter. You’re on vacation. But head to the beach about 5 p.m., since the Cabo party trail traditionally starts on the golden sands of Médano Beach.
Now the trick is to slowly move from the beach to the Marina during “happy hours”, which locally stretch to about 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. And you’ll also want to fit dinner plans into the itinerary, so lets expand the time frame from 5 p.m.–10 p.m.
Baja Brewing Company is a natural place to start. Not only does Baja California Sur’s first microbrewery have locations on the beach and on the marina, but it also offers the perfect mix of dinner and drinks. Sample and share their excellent bottled or draft offerings—I’m going to recommend the rock star approach, which dictates a flight sampler of all draft beers—snack on burgers or gourmet pizzas, or go into full dinner mode with coffee-dusted filet mignon.
Baja Junkie
Mango Cantina on the Marina is also part of the progression, and visitors will feel right at home even if you haven’t spent all afternoon at popular sister restaurant Mango Deck on Medano Beach. Mango Cantina is one of the area’s top sports bars, so this is the perfect place to get in a couple of cocktails and some comfort food ballast while catching up on all the day’s sporting events.
Bikers Cabo Restaurant and Bar is another popular beer and burger stop, with a couple of added twists. It’s part of Harley Davidson Motorcycles Los Cabos, so you can arrange a couple of Harley rentals for the weekend, stock up on official apparel or spare parts, as well as digging into Fat Boy burgers topped with onion rings, among other delicious specialty dishes. Best of all, Bikers has a premier Puerto Paraiso location overlooking the marina boardwalk. It’s a great people watching perch, with umbrella-shaded seating and enough chopper style ambiance to bring out your inner easy rider. Hopefully, you took off motorcycle boots at the beach, but if not, sit back and kick them up on a neighboring chair. The simple moments are the best.
Knotty Social Club
The last stop of stage 1 gets you to Plaza Bonita for your rock star starter kit. Classic rock memorabilia, delicious Mexican and American fare, hard-to-find (at least locally) Mexican beers like Victoria and Montejo are among the many attractions at Hard Rock Café. It also hosts some of the best live music performers in Los Cabos, and even showcases a bit of stand-up comedy during the annual Cabo Comedy Festival in October.
Now that you’ve successfully eased into the nighttime hours, it’s time to complete your education. Graduate degrees might as well be offered along with 2×1 drink specials at Harbard (624-108-1356). The name suggests a portmanteau of Harvard and Shakespeare, but this place, like its neighbors in Cabo’s downtown nightlife district, specializes in high-energy dance music. Forget that fancy book learnin’ stuff.
Dance floor moves and drinks service increase dramatically after midnight, and popular downtown hangouts like Baja Junkie (624-122-6737), Knotty Social Club (624-156-7275), Mandala and Pink Kitty are involved in a perpetual competition to outdo one another with internationally known DJs and high-end bottle service. Pink Kitty’s boudoir baroque décor gives it the edge in atmosphere, but Mandala claims the best dance floor. The best sound award, however, goes to Knotty Social Club. The chic nightspot boasts Baja’s only Funktion One system, state-of-the-art ambisonic surround sound equipment that pumps out the aural equivalent of hard candy.
El Squid Roe
In the wee wee hours, as Frank Sinatra used to sing, it’s time to head to Cabo’s best known late night party palaces. That means, first and foremost, El Squid Roe, the place where Johnny Football and countless other athletes, celebrities, and vacationers have had the same 4 a.m. thought: this place is insane, and I never want to leave. Dance music, jello shots and all-around revelry are available on multiple levels. Social hierarchies fall away. The falcon cannot hear the falconer. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. Or at least that’s the way some dude named Yeats described it the last time I was there way too late on a Saturday night.
About 5 a.m., you know the time when you’re getting your Cabo party wings, follow the crowd one last time. They’re going for tacos, and you should too. That’s how we finish the night/start the morning here in paradise.