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The Truth About Cabo's Declining tourism and the Fish that are no More

Here is a link to the LATimes on Cabo http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-cabo2mar02.story, remember you read this all on Fodors First. Remember the posting of the Fireman who was attacked and stabbed by the TIMESCARE, the posting of the overturned tour boat and the tourists who had drowned, the realtor who ran off with the clients money, the postings on the cost of Golf over $200 for green fees. The posting on the lack of infrastructure and sewage bubbling up through the city grates to dry out and become airborne!!! The enviromental problems, the fishing industry fished out. The outrageous prices , and hookers, strippers and drugs and warnings regarding the bar scene and drugs in your drink. The beaches and the dangerous undertows!!! It was on Fodors First. I wonder if the LATimes were reading Fodors.

Excerpts from the LATIMES: "From the LaTimes: Time shares have become almost synonymous with Los Cabos. Having dodged the airport hawkers who pounce on arriving passengers, I felt victorious -- until at the Avis office my car keys came with a time-share pitch (car discount and free breakfast). "Time scares," some here call them, and the hard sell abounds. Tourism is suffering. One hears it from the merchants in town, senses it by the empty restaurant tables. Some worry that Cabo San Lucas may be driving away tourists by offering too little for too much. I soon learned that environmentalists, concerned about depletion of game fish in what has been dubbed "God's fish tank," recently won a battle to restrict commercial fishing to 50 miles offshore. There is organized opposition from a group calling itself Defenders of the Bay to a proposal to build a dock at Cabo San Lucas marina so big that cruise ships, which now must anchor offshore, can come into the harbor to disgorge passengers. (More than 400,000 cruise takers were aboard ships calling last year at Cabo.) Los Cabos makes a point of wanting to be Mexican, not Miami Beach or Waikiki, yet it is teetering perilously close to both. Wrapped in the arms of a $400-a-day hotel, you can easily forget that you're in Mexico -- and the desert at that. including the oceanfront Jack Nicklaus-designed Cabo del Sol, where prime-time greens fees are $262 Smith, who operates three charter boats, is among those fighting to restrict commercial fishing. "This used to be a great swordfish area. Now you're lucky if you ever see one." Even at the newish Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Hotel, about 10 minutes west of central Cabo San Lucas, where the small lobby is dominated by a gilded and silvered carving of an archangel and a painting of cherubs and saints in the manner of colonial Mexico, the desk clerk is pitching the hotel's time shares. (In Los Cabos, time shares piggyback at most hotels.) Where's the service? Where's the quality of the product?" he asks. "I think we're going to get an adjustment. Even millionaires expect value for their money." In the February issue of Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report, which caters to the high-end market, Cabo gets a scolding from readers, the editor reporting "lots of Baja humbugs for 'outrageous,' 'unconscionable,' 'sky-high' rates for food, drinks, golf and other amenities." Still, hoteliers are promoting heavily, mindful of last year, when the number of hotel rooms grew at more than triple the rate of air passenger traffic, dropping overall occupancy rates to 50%. The goal now is not to dip below 50%. There is talk of requiring new developments to help fund updating of Cabo's infrastructure -- roads, lights, water and power. Many side streets in Cabo are unpaved, with potholes the size of sombreros. Lovely beaches abound, although many have dangerous drop-offs and undertows. Value" is a word heard over and over. Most of the fancy hotels were built before Sept. 11, Halliburton of Twin Dolphin says. "People were paying way too much money for everything and charging too much money for everything." Tourists have been "hammered," he adds -- top prices, minimal hospitality -- and many have gone elsewhere. "This is the most expensive destination in Mexico, but the big money is leaving town." "If the tourists stop coming," he muses, "they'll probably have to fire that cannery up again."

Well put Capt. Mike . Yes many have drowned in those deceptively dangerous waters that look so placid and peaceful and inviting. The poor fireman and his wife. I do hope he recovered. Do not forget to take Air evacuation Insurance and have ample coverage. The fireman and his wife had to be air evacuated out to a hospital in Arizona after receiving multiple stab wounds at the hands of the timeshare. His wife was gravely assualted with a rock thrown by these timeshare people. Oh the outrage and high pitch pressure sales. Do read the google search Timeshare Scams Cabo and the State dept Travel warnings. A must read for those who travel.

I have always had a hankering to go to Cobo. We did get a chance for a day while being on a cruise. For what you have to pay to stay there for week just wasn't worth it. It was nice enough just to expensive. There are many other places to go that are a better value for the dollar.

Expensive is an understatement. Value for Dollar and Cabo San Lucas an Oxymoron. Hookers, Strippers, Strip Joints, Dealers, pimps, thugs all await in Cabo. The Highway is one long flue leading that land's at the end of the Sewer Pipe Road Cabo. Gringos come down to escape to La La Land and a fair number of them are on the run from Broken marriages, the IRS, dead beat dad's running out on child support, broken relationships, businesses that have gone Kaput and there they are waiting the buck off the hapless tourist. The State Dept has well written warnings describing the pitfalls of buying real estate and timeshare. Important that you read them. "In Cabo Trust No One" and remember we have had a fair number of postings on this board from the Victims of Cabo so " The truth is out there".

I think you had better review this eb. Those restaurants down there in Cabo I would be doing a walk around making sure that they weren't located in a mile vicinity of Cabo's sewage grates. The sewage has reportedly been bubbling to the top of many of the grates around the town. Eventually the stuff will dry out and become airborne. I for one certainly wouldn't want the dust vermin landing on my salad or dinner roll.