Cabo or Puerto Vallarta
 

Which has better beaches and less hassle with vendors?

Actually neither Cabo nor PV has perfect beaches and both have plenty of vendors!

For white sand, turquoise water you'd need to look to the Caribbean coast of Mexico, instead of the Baja or Pacific side.

Personally I love PV, and like Cabo too, don't mind the vendors. I just consider them part of the experience.

If I had to choose, I would pick Cabo, away from Medano Beach in CSL.

I think the biggest difference between the two is that PV sits on a huge ocean bay, surrounded by mountains, and is lush and jungly. Cabo sits at the end of a desert peninsula, which is rough, rugged, barren.

I have to agree that the answer to your question is neither. However, I give the nod to Cabo with regard to beaches. The Cabo San Lucas area has very pretty sandy beaches, you just can't get into the water. If you want to just lay out on the beach and look at the water, then it will work. We found more aggressive vendors in Cabo than PV.

The Caribbean side of Mexico; Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Riveria Maya aream has great white sandy beaches and clear water perfect for swimming. The vendors there are not as persistant or obnoxious once you get out of the airport.

Check out Zihuatanejo with gorgeous swimable beaches, great food, low price & friendly locals.
Of your first two PV hands down. IMO Cabo is San Diego South, Nice but not really Mexico.

PS For every beach peddler in Zihua there are 100 in PV or Cabo.

You CAN swim in the ocean in Cabo as long as it's on the Sea of Cortez side. The undertow and the surf on the Pacific side are brutal, but Medano beach is swimmable.

I find the beaches in Cabo are prettier, but the vendors are more plentiful and more aggressive.

I've never been to Cabo, but something else to consider is PV is farther south and the water is warm enough to go in year round. I'm not sure if that's the case in Cabo. Also, I would say the farther you get from downtown in Puerto Vallarta, the better the beaches and water get. If you go to some of the surrounding beaches like Yelapa or take a trip to Los Arcos and the Marietas, the water is very clear (particularly the Marietas) as long as the tide is not too strong. As far as the vendors go, a simple "no thanks" does the trick. And Puerto Vallarta is a great town.

You are correct, andrew~the water in Cabo can be a bit chilly in January and February. It's like bathwater in November. :)

I've never found the vendors in Cabo aggressive - a simple "No thanks" has always sufficed. And sometimes I want what they're selling!

Cabo is so easy as compared to PV, simply because it's smaller. We go as a family with my grown children who hate the bars (weird, right? My husband and I like them more than our kids?) and it's easier to avoid the senor frog type places in Cabo than in PV we think.

Cabo is a desert, certainly, but coming from a damp cold climate that's a plus...

I'll agree about Cabo being somewhat "easier" because it's so much smaller than PV.

But I don't agree about the nightlife. It's perfect easy to "avoid the senor frog type places" in Vallarta same as Cabo. I've vacationed both places and have never once gone to any club of that type.

Puerto Vallarta has tons of bars and clubs, and if anything, if you're going to Senor Frogs at the expense of the more local places, you're missing out. It's kind of like visiting Manhattan and eating Domino's rather than real NY pizza.