Montage Los Cabos ★★★★★

A Bay You Can Swim, on a Coast Built for Looking

Much of the Los Cabos coastline is spectacular and not swimmable. The Pacific side runs with undertow, the corridor beaches shelve away fast, and the usual advice is to admire the water from a lounger. Santa Maria Bay is the exception, a horseshoe of sheltered sand and rock roughly halfway between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, where the Sea of Cortez turns calm enough to snorkel straight off the shore. Montage Los Cabos has the whole of it. The resort steps down a hillside above the cove in low, sand coloured buildings, 122 rooms, suites and casas, nothing tall, nothing shouting.

Why It Works

Two things decided this one for us. The first is the beach: Blue Flag certified, genuinely swimmable, and private to the resort, which on this coast is rare enough to be the whole reason to book. The second is restraint. At a size where many Los Cabos properties turn into all inclusive machines, Montage holds at 122 keys and behaves like a small resort, staffed but unhurried, with a site plan that puts real distance between you and your neighbours. The property carries Gold level LEED certification and runs a coral reef restoration project in the bay, which stops being marketing once you are swimming over it.

Why This Location

The address is Carretera Transpeninsular km 12.5, inside the Twin Dolphin enclave on the Sea of Cortez side. Cabo San Lucas and its marina are about eighteen minutes by car, close enough for dinner in town and far enough that nothing from the Medano Beach crowd reaches you. Los Cabos International Airport sits roughly seventeen miles away on a single fast road, so transfers are simple. Behind the resort, the Fred Couples signature course at Twin Dolphin Golf Club climbs into the desert hills. There is no walkable village here: this is an address for people who want the cove and are happy to drive into town.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Low slung, coastal, unhurried, grown up

• Rooms: 122 guestrooms, suites and casas, plus 52 private residences

• Best For: Couples who want a swimmable beach, golfers, multigenerational groups taking a casa

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: Snorkelling straight off the sand at Santa Maria Bay, over a reef the resort is actively replanting

• Dining: Mezcal for Mexican, Marea on the beach by day and night, Talay for Thai, plus a sushi bar and paletas

• Amenities: 40,000 square foot Spa Montage, infinity pool, Blue Flag private beach, Twin Dolphin Golf Club, pets accepted

• Attractions: Santa Maria Bay snorkelling on site, Twin Dolphin Golf Club behind the resort, Cabo San Lucas marina about 18 minutes by car, El Arco and Lovers Beach by boat from the marina

Rooms That Face the Water and Little Else

Accommodation runs from guestrooms to suites to casas, the last of these standalone and suited to families or to two couples travelling together. Every category is turned towards the bay rather than the road behind, and the buildings are kept low so the hillside does the work of privacy. Beyond the resort inventory sit 52 Montage Residences, worth knowing about if you are planning a longer stay or a group trip and want a kitchen. Pets are accepted, unusual at this level in Mexico, which makes the drive down the peninsula a real option.

Three Kitchens, and No Reason to Leave for Dinner

Mezcal is the Mexican room, Marea works the beach through the day and into the evening, and Talay handles Thai, an unexpected third register that keeps the week from repeating itself. A sushi bar and a paleta cart fill the gaps. This matters more here than at a city hotel: with town eighteen minutes off and the road dark at night, a property that can feed you well for four or five nights running is doing something structural, not decorative.

What to Know Before You Book

Check in runs from 15:00, check out to 12:00. Children are welcome and the casas are the category to ask about if you are travelling with them. If golf is the point of the trip, the Twin Dolphin course is on the doorstep and tee times are easiest arranged through the resort. Book this one for the bay, and plan a car or a taxi for the nights you want town.