My husband & I will be visiting Cabo in about 2 weeks. I've never been before and have several questions:<BR>1) Has anyone stayed at the Hacienda del Mar? What is it like? Is it right on the beach? Is the beach nice? Is the surrounding area safe? What activities do you recommend? Is this the Sheraton owned property? <BR>2) What about getting sick from the water &/or food? Do you have to be careful at the hotel about what you eat or drink or only if you venture outside of the resort? Any recommendations for not getting sick?<BR><BR>

We had a great time there in August. It is right on the beach, but the water is rough--body surfers only. It is a Sheraton and very, very nice. The hotel is kind of by itself and in a safe area. Must take a taxi to town--about 10 minutes--$20. We drank the water and did not get sick. The pool area is excellent--also the cabana restaurant by the pool has great lunch food. There are 3 other restaurants on site. There is a concierge who is very helpful for any activities you might want to do. We just enjoyed the resort and relaxed, as the town of Cabo is a dive unless you want to drink/party/get harrassed by vendors. I would highly recommend the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar.

Lacy is correct about Cabo San Lucas. There is absolutely nothing there for the tourist unless you want to fish or snorkel out of there on a charter. I wouldn't even party there. The bars are dirty filty places. Beware of the ice and the water and salmonella. Eating and drinking at the resort is probably O.K. but not downtown.

For questions on Cabo go to www.bajaportal.com at the right under travelers notes there is a NEWS UPDATES oen it up there is a report on cabo concerning crime, prices, empty hotels, business closing up.<BR><BR>Also use your google search and put in timeshare scams in Cabo there is a web page called LatinTrade if you open it up there is a trip report Called Time-Share Hell put out Sept.2001 so it is recent.

Kristen,<BR>We, that is, my wife, two teen-age boys, their two aunts and grandmother, will be staying at the Hacienda over Xmas also. Viva Mexico! We have been to quite a few places in Mexico, but this will be the first time in Cabo. I sort of regret that there is no major culture there (our last trip was to Oaxaca) but what the hell, a beach vacation will be fun, as we are from Oregon, Ohio and New York. I suspect that venturing out of the resort may lead to some disappointing experiences, but knowing this bunch, we will no doubt get cabin fever soon and will be exploring whatever is out there. We do hope to go deep sea fishing, on the cheap if we can find a panga for a few hundred bucks. Hope to see you there and have a great vacation.<BR>

WATCH OUT FOR VIAJES XPLORA ADVENTUR. They are situated in the lobby of the Westin and at other resorts. They provide the packages for fishing and other excursions. The guy charged us one amount and then my credit card statement showed a price higher of $35. Then, they didn't take us on the full 4 hour trip and stole our fish. THEN, they stole $50 from my purse and credit card and charged an additional $175. Talk about "ah carrumba".

We've been to Cabo a couple of times - 1st trip about 8 years ago, 2nd trip about 2 years ago. It's seen quite a lot of growth - it used to be very small and remote feeling and now, not as much. We've always stayed in a condo there. The 1st time, we had to be careful of the water - there was a purifier in the kitchen. The 2nd time, no problems - the purifier was not needed as we were told the area put in a desalinization plant recently and most of the area is now fine for water. <BR>We rented a car both times - there wasn't much traffic (even a couple of years ago) and drivers weren't crazy. You'll need local insurance thru the rental agency. I recommend the drive up to Todos Santos - also visit the glass factory on the way. Watch out for livestock in the road - it's open range and best traveled during daylight.<BR>In Cabo San Lucas itself, we always parked a few blocks outside of town and walked to the shops / restaurants. The only safety problem was small pickpocket stuff. Don't leave valubles on the beach or in the car. The timeshare people are pretty aggressive but a simple "no thanks" is normally enough. Watch out for them at the airport since they'll steer you to their booth outside baggage claim. I think some of the negative posts may be from surfers, amoung others, who are upset about all the new development. It used to be that surfers could camp out on the beaches outside of town and no one would bother them. Now, resorts are starting to infringe on "their" territory (tho not much) and they're wanting to discourage tourism.