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Spot: East Cape, MX
Summary
Cabo San Lucas is done, according to some. There was a time, not all that long ago, when Cabo was an outpost at the tip of Baja, when there was only one phone in town and it was quiet and deserted and not much happening.
That isn’t true anymore as Cabo San Lucas has become an over-developed tourist resort party town, the home of Cabo Wabo, The Giggling Marlin and the Shrimp Factory. Some say it’s good, some say Cabo is ruined.
So go east, young man. Heading east out of San Jose Del Cabo, the area up inside the Peninsula is called the East Cape, and it is an area where nature is still the big boss, a place famous to sport fishermen and a place that can live up to Severson’s words: In this modern world, the surfer can seek and find the perfect wave, on the perfect day and be alone with the surf and his thoughts.”
Click here for a YouTube of an Etnies surf and photo trip to Cabo San Lucas, to give you a taste of the flavor.
The Good
Wide open spaces. The East Cape can seem like the ends of the earth: beautiful, harsh, empty, challenging. Not a CostCo in sight. It is really nice to shrug off civilization and go to a place where you actually have to think, and live by your wits and commune with nature – because nature is still the big boss out here.
The Bad
From the sounds of things, another surf frontier is being shut down to public access by private property. According to a longtime Cabo resident: “The East Cape is fenced off: every square foot. Hundreds of new houses. Good luck finding waves by yourself. Access is still pretty good since arroyos are public accesses. Nine Palms has right now about 50 campers. It's a dream that’s just about gone sour with all the property bought up and if you don't own you don't have a key to get in. Like Point Dume.
The Strange
The tip of Baja, like Cape Horn and Point Conception and a lot of other places where two oceans or two climate zones come together, is pretty dynamic. One side will be dead flat while the other is raging, and vice versa. Wind, swell, tide – everything is pretty dynamic along here. One longtime waterman said: “It's one place in the world that I have seen the wind blowing 30 knots from two opposite directions as it wraps around the tip from two sides. You gotta go one way or the other and hope one wind doesn’t win over the other and over take you the direction you went. Can cause real hell kiteboarding.”
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