Layout of San José del Cabo
San José del Cabo is the older of the two towns at the tip of Baja California and the seat of the Los Cabos municipality. It sits about 1.5 km back from the sea, on rising ground beside the mouth of the Río San José. The historic centre is laid out on a grid around Plaza Mijares, with the mission church of San José at its head; the plaza and the streets north and west of it form what is signposted as the Art District, a concentration of galleries in restored adobe and stone houses. Boulevard Mijares runs from the plaza down to the coast road, and Highway 1 skirts the town to the west as a bypass.
Between the town and the sea is the Estero San José, a freshwater estuary fed by the river and closed off from the Gulf by a sand bar for most of the year. It is a protected area and one of the few permanent wetlands in the cape desert, with more than 200 recorded bird species. South of the estuary, along the shore, is the Zona Hotelera, a straight strip of resorts on the beach. The airport, Los Cabos International (SJD), is 13 km north on Highway 1, and the 33 km road west to Cabo San Lucas — the Corridor — carries most of the traffic in the municipality; it is the busiest stretch of Highway 1 on the whole peninsula, as the road map shows. Los Cabos as a whole counted 351,111 residents in 2020, of whom about 136,000 live in San José del Cabo.
Distances from San José del Cabo
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Cabos airport (SJD) | 13 | 15 min | Hwy 1 north |
| Cabo San Lucas | 33 | 35 min | Hwy 1, the Corridor |
| Los Barriles (East Cape) | 65 | 50 min | Hwy 1 north |
| Cabo Pulmo reef | 75 | 1 h 30 | Hwy 1, then graded road |
| Todos Santos | 110 | 1 h 40 | Hwy 1 then Hwy 19 |
| La Paz (state capital) | 180 | 2 h 15 | Hwy 1 via San Bartolo |
| Loreto | 530 | 6 h 30 | Hwy 1 north |
| Guerrero Negro | 1,100 | 13 h | Hwy 1, state line |
| Tijuana | 1,730 | 22 h | Hwy 1, the whole peninsula |
| Mazatlán | 400 | 12 h | Ferry from La Paz (Pichilingue) |
The mission, the estuary and the beaches
The mission was founded in 1730 by the Jesuit Nicolás Tamaral and named San José del Cabo Añuití after the Pericú settlement at the estuary. It was moved twice in its first years and was destroyed in the Pericú revolt of 1734; the church that stands on the plaza today is a later rebuilding, and the tiled scene above its door records the revolt. The estuary that gave the mission its water had already made the spot useful to Spanish shipping: the Manila galleons put in near here for water on the last leg of the Pacific crossing, and English privateers waited offshore for them.
The estuary can be walked from the coast road on a track along its edge; herons, egrets, ducks and the occasional osprey are the usual sightings, and the water is fresh, not salt. The beach directly in front of the hotel zone shelves steeply and has a shore break, so most swimming is done in the hotel pools or further west. Playa Costa Azul, about 3 km towards the Corridor, is the town's surf beach — the Zippers break works on a south swell in summer. Playa Palmilla, inside a headland 8 km west, is calm enough for children and has a boat launch; Playa Chileno and Playa Santa María, in the middle of the Corridor, are the reef coves.
The Art District holds a gallery walk on Thursday evenings in the winter season, roughly November to June. Away from the coast, Highway 1 climbs north through the granite of the Sierra de la Laguna to the old mining and farming villages of Santiago and Miraflores, and reaches the East Cape at Los Barriles, a windsurfing and kiteboarding beach in the winter northerlies. Cabo Pulmo, 75 km away by road, protects the only hard coral reef in the Gulf of California, a national park since 1995. The cape lies in the hurricane belt, with a season from June to November; the climate map sets out the pattern coast by coast.
Questions about San José del Cabo
Where is San José del Cabo on the map of Mexico?
At the southern end of the Baja California peninsula in Baja California Sur, at 23.06° N 109.70° W, on the Gulf of California side of the cape. It is 33 km east of Cabo San Lucas and 180 km south of La Paz.
How far is San José del Cabo from the airport?
Los Cabos International (SJD) is 13 km north of the town on Highway 1, about 15 minutes by road. It is the closest a Los Cabos town gets to the airport and the reason many visitors stay here rather than in Cabo San Lucas.
Which is older, San José del Cabo or Cabo San Lucas?
San José del Cabo. It began as the Jesuit mission of San José del Cabo Añuití in 1730, founded at a freshwater estuary that Spanish ships had used for water since the 1500s. Cabo San Lucas stayed a fishing hamlet until the 20th century.
Can you swim at the beaches in San José del Cabo?
Not everywhere. The beach in front of the hotel zone and Playa Costa Azul face open water with a shore break, and Costa Azul is a surf break rather than a swimming beach. Playa Palmilla, 8 km west inside a headland, and Playa Chileno on the Corridor are the sheltered swimming beaches.