What's New in Baja

What's New in Baja

It happened about 30,000,000 years ago, give or take a couple of hundred thousand.

According to seismologists and archaeologists, it must have been an unimaginably powerful seismic event. It happened in just seconds—a giant rift, perhaps associated with the San Andreas Fault, tore a huge finger of land a thousand miles long, miles away from the mainland. Much later the mainland would be called Mexico and the finger the Baja Peninsula.

Perhaps not as physically jarring as that monstrous quake, the recent developments in Baja—many in Los Cabos specifically—are nothing short of an explosion of epic proportions. In Los Cabos, hotels, restaurants, bars, golf courses, and businesses seem to spring up overnight. And those properties that are not necessarily new are undergoing major renovations in order to keep up. Other parts of Baja are seeing significant goings-on, too. Outside Ensenada, a burgeoning wine district, the Valle de Guadalupe, is beginning to get noticed. New tourist "safe zones" are being implemented in several of Baja's border towns. And U.S. citizens are finding themselves hit with some new restrictions on reentering the United States from Mexico by land.

San José del Cabo Grows Up

This city, one-third of the Los Cabos experience (if you count driving across or staying along the Corridor), is coming into its own. San José's zócalo (central plaza) has been jazzed up with a lighted fountain and gazebo; old haciendas have been transformed into trendy restaurants; beer-lovers have found a home in the Baja Brewing Co., a microbrewery; and the city's art scene is thriving with a Thursday Night Art Walk where those interested in art can visit participating galleries and partake of free drinks and live music.

Greens Galore

Golf is the name of the game down around Los Cabos. There are nine courses tied to names that read like a distinguished Who's Who list of both golf legends and course designers: Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, and Tom Fazio. The year 2008 will see the opening of courses within Puerto Los Cabos, Chileno Bay, and Diamante Cabo. And for crazy incredible views of the Sea of Cortez, try the par-3 17th hole on the Cabo del Sol's Ocean Course.

Baja's Boom Town

People have been asking, "Is Los Cabos the next Cancún?" And that's not exactly a compliment, as potentially negative repercussions on the environment and local culture are called into question. A flurry of new hotels have opened their doors; the swish Cabo Azul Resort & Spa and the Villa del Arco are probably the nicest of the bunch. Planned communities, such as Puerto Los Cabos and Palmilla, with multiple resorts, homes for purchase, golf courses, and marinas, are developing at whirlwind rates leaving much of Los Cabos in a state of perpetual construction as these new communities are built in stages slated to be completed over a period of several years. And that's not to mention the multitude of hotels having recently been reborn under new management, new paint, and some choice upgrades and additions. The Melia Cabos San Lucas, for instance, is now the much-revamped ME Cabo Hotel.

Border Crossing 2008

As of January 31, 2008, U.S. citizens will need to have their paperwork in order to cross back into the United States from Mexico by land. Those aged 19 years and older now need to carry a passport, or both their driver's license and a birth certificate. There are actually a few different combinations of proof of identification and citizenship that will get you across, and they're all explained on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Web site (www.dhs.gov). Children under 18 (or their parents) are only required to provide proof of their citizenship.

Mexican Vino

Party-time Ensenada's polar opposite exists in a valley just about a half hour to the northeast. The Valle de Guadalupe is a valley of a couple of dozen vineyards, along with a few boutique hotels and organic farms; the road that passes through it is know as La Ruta del Vino. One of the wineries, Monte Xanic, which produces award-winning whites and reds, is pairing with resort manager and developer Banyan Tree to create a luxurious small hotel called Banyan Tree Monte Xanic, which should be completed in 2010.

Safe Zones

Centered around the popular tourist towns of Tijuana, Rosarito, and Ensenada is a plan proposed by Rosarito's mayor Hugo Torres and backed by the governor of Baja and the president of Mexico. Torres aims to create a special, distinguishable tourist police, increase the number of patrols on the toll road between the cities, instate a sort of mediator who will monitor police/tourist interactions, and train civilian watchdogs in a sort of "if you see something, say something" policy. An eagle eye is also being turned on the existing police forces, to ensure that they're not corrupt and self-interested.

Season for Spas

In one of those "great minds think alike" moments, in late 2007 and early 2008, several of Los Cabos' hotels—those both newly opened and not—debuted major spas. There weren't, however, many shared treatment themes; the hotels each bring varied product lines and unique inspirations to their customers. Casa Dorada's Saltwater Spa is based loosely around the healing benefits of the sea, offering a scrub that uses salt from the Dead Sea and a caviar facial. The Desert Spa at the Villa del Arco uses locally sourced ingredients such as agave, lime, and nopal (a kind of edible cactus) in their treatments.

Cabo Wabo Goes Global

Sammy Hagar, the brash, boisterous former lead singer of Van Halen, now Cabo junkie, bar owner, and tequila producer, has decided to partner with Skyy Spirits, a subsidiary of Gruppo Campari, letting them take over the marketing and distribution of his head-banging Cabo Wabo tequila. As of January 2008, Skyy owns a controlling interest in Hagar's 100% pure blue agave creations and plans to bring them to the United States in a move that will likely skyrocket sales to intoxicating heights.