Practical notes on Cabo San Lucas Marina. Where it is, how it is laid out, how to get there, where to park and what the morning of your trip actually looks like. Nothing here is scenery. It is the information that stops you standing on the wrong dock at five in the morning with a cooler.
Cabo San Lucas Marina sits inside the natural harbor at the centre of town. The harbor has one entrance, out past the sportfishing docks toward the bay and Land's End. Almost everything a visitor does in Cabo happens within a short walk of the water, so the marina is not somewhere you drive out to. It is the middle of town.
The docks run around the inner edge of the harbor in a rough horseshoe. On the town side you have the boardwalk, restaurants, shops and the main pedestrian traffic. Sportfishing boats, day charters and larger vessels sit at various points around that ring. Which dock you want depends entirely on which boat you are on, which is why the specific dock and slip is the one detail you should confirm rather than assume.
The single most common problem is people arriving at the marina generally rather than at their boat specifically. The harbor ring is bigger than it looks on a map and walking the wrong way around it in the dark costs fifteen minutes you do not have.
Before your trip, get three things in writing:
Our meeting point, dock and contact details are still being confirmed. Confirm them the day before rather than on the morning.
Most people walk. If you are staying in the marina area or the town centre, walking is faster than driving and removes the parking problem entirely.
Taxis are widely available and rideshare operates in Los Cabos, though pickup and drop off rules at some marina points can vary. If you are driving yourself, parking exists around the marina and the adjacent commercial areas, and it fills up. Arriving early is the only reliable strategy. To confirm for any parking arrangement or validation we offer.
If you are coming down from San Jose del Cabo or the corridor, allow more time than the map suggests. The corridor highway backs up at predictable hours and an early trip departure means driving in the dark.
Sportfishing departures here are early. The harbor is busy well before sunrise, with crews loading, ice going aboard, bait being collected and boats moving in a fairly narrow channel. It is organised but it is not quiet.
A normal sequence looks like this. You arrive at the dock. You meet the crew and step aboard. Paperwork and licences get sorted. The boat idles out through the harbor at slow speed, past the sea lions that live around the docks and the cleaning tables, and out through the entrance. Once you clear the breakwater the throttles go down.
Bait is usually bought from panga operators near the harbor mouth rather than carried from the dock, so a short stop on the way out is normal and is not a delay. To confirm for whether bait is included in our rates.
General advice rather than a rule. Sun protection matters more here than most people expect, because the wind offshore hides the burn. A hat that stays on, polarised sunglasses, long sleeves and reef safe sunscreen all earn their place. Soft soled shoes or bare feet. A soft bag rather than a hard case, because storage on a boat is tight.
Anything about what we supply, what food and drink is aboard, and whether coolers are permitted is still being confirmed.
Boats return to the same docks. Fish cleaning happens at the tables near the marina and there are people who do that work. Tipping the crew is customary in Cabo and it is normal to plan for it in cash. To confirm for the range we suggest.
If you want your catch prepared, several restaurants around the marina will cook what you bring in. Arrangements and any handling we do are still being confirmed.
The short version of how a trip with Indigo Adventures works. Licences, deposits, boats and what happens to your catch. The full FAQ has the rest.
Read the full FAQ→Indigo Adventures is based in El Pescadero, on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, a few minutes south of Todos Santos. Boats launch from three points: Punta Lobos beach in Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo, and the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Which boat runs your trip decides where you meet us.
Custom fishing and spearfishing charters, freediving excursions, whale watching from mid December to April, and kayaking. Every trip is built around your group, your dates and the conditions rather than a fixed timetable, and almost every one goes out private.
Book online on the Book Now page, where availability is live and a 50 percent deposit holds the date. If you would rather we picked the trip, send an enquiry with who is coming, when you are here and what you want out of the day, and we will say which trip fits and which one does not.
No. Everyone fishing in Mexican waters needs a Mexican sportfishing licence, and each angler buys their own. We help you arrange it before the day so nobody is sorting paperwork on the dock. The same licence covers rod and spear.
Rarely. Almost every trip goes out as a private boat for you and your group. If a split makes sense for a small party we will say so when you enquire.
Three on the 24 foot Punta Lobos panga, up to four on La Ruca and La Morita, and up to six on Don Pancho and El Wahoo King. Whale watching numbers run a little higher because nobody is swinging a rod.
Yes. The catch goes home with you. Filleting at the dock, vacuum sealing and freezing are available, and most guests fly home with a cooler. Marlin are mostly released, with judgement on the day.
Yes, on fishing days. The crew rigs and handles the gear and hands you the rod when something eats. Guided spearfishing needs breath-hold experience and runs on a strict buddy system, which is the only legal way to spearfish in Mexico. Water, ice and snacks are normally aboard.
