“What’s in a name?”

Shakespeare’s long-ago musing still resonates…especially when it comes to Los Cabos’ premier golf tournament, which slides effortlessly from name to name without ever losing its passionate fan base or overall prestige.

In case you’re wondering, we’re referring to the newly minted but long-running Adidas Golf Invitational, which just enjoyed a triumphant return to the Capes Region, taking place November 6th to 11th, 2018 at Cabo del Sol’s magnificent Ocean and Desert courses.

Formerly the TaylorMade Invitational, and more recently the Jim Flick Invitational–when it was named in honor of Jim Flick, a PGA professional and golf instructor who during a half-century long career taught golf in 23 countries and worked with pros like Tom Lehman and Jack Nicklaus–this annual competition is, under any name, one of the oldest and most beloved tournaments on the golf-mad Baja California peninsula.

And just to be clear: Adidas has been on board from the very beginning. The company acquired TaylorMade in 1997, just before the initial tournament in Los Cabos. This is just the first year the Germany based shoe and apparel company has put its name in the title.

Despite the surface changes, the tournament format has remained fairly consistent over the years: a pro-am setup with the pros competing across 72-holes of stroke play ($100,000 was on the line in 2018), and foursomes (featuring one professional and three amateurs) battling in handicap-adjusted best ball play for prizes and everlasting glory.

Cabo del Sol’s Ocean and Desert Courses once again provided the backdrop, and a spectacular one at that. The Jack Nicklaus’ designed Ocean Course has been showered with accolades since it first opened in 1994. Ranked in the top 100 in the world for 15 years running by GOLF Magazine, the Ocean Course hugs the coastline, offering stunning mountain, desert and Sea of Cortez views before concluding with what Nicklaus himself has called “the three finest finishing holes in golf.”

Though slightly less heralded than its Ocean neighbor, Tom Weiskopf’s Desert loop once again showed off its bona fides and unforgettable glories. And when we say only slightly less heralded, that’s exactly what we mean: the scenically sculpted layout is currently rated as the 6th best course in Mexico, after all, and was included among Golf Week’s 50 top courses in Mexico and the Caribbean for 2017.

Given the triumphant return and world-class conditions, it’s easy to see why Adidas still refers to tournament week as “the best week of the year.”

You’ll see why too in this exciting new video collaboration between CaboViVO and Cabo Noise, which captures all the memorable shots and picturesque panoramas, as well as Adidas’ continued support for the Military Warriors Support Foundation, as the tournament once again was honored to raise money to provide a combat wounded veteran a mortgage free home.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post Adidas Golf Invitational 2018 Held at Cabo Del Sol appeared first on CaboViVO.

The origins of the margarita are shrouded in mystery, although it’s interesting to note that many of the claims put forth for its invention have a Baja California connection.

The writer of an article published in an Iowa newspaper in 1936 claims the drink was first discovered in Tijuana. Another popular theory traces the cocktail to a restaurant called Rancho La Gloria between Tijuana and Rosarito, where owner Carlos “Danny” Herrera is said to have made if for a former Ziegfeld dancer who was allergic to all spirits save tequila. Yet another story places the origin in 1941 at Hussong’s Cantina in Ensenada, where it is credited as the brainchild of bartender Don Carlos Orozco.

The true identity of the genius who invented this now famous cocktail will probably never be definitively known, but what has been established is that the first recipe was published in Esquire Magazine in 1953. What’s also known to a certainty is that in the 65 years since that recipe was first published, margaritas have become one of the world’s most commonly ordered cocktails, and a staple at parties and celebrations around the globe. In the U.S. there is even a day – February 22 – designated as Margarita Day.

There’s no need for such semi-official pronouncements in Los Cabos, where to all intents and purposes, every day is Margarita Day.

Every bar, restaurant and hotel in the cape cities has its own approach to the Rita, with subtle variations apparent in methodology (shaken or blended?), signature ingredients (well or top-shelf tequila? Triple sec, Controy, Damiana or Cadillac style Grand Marnier?) and garnishes (salt-rimmed glass or not? Orange and lime wedge or just one or the other?).

Some places, however – either through the quality of their ingredients or imagination – have taken the legendary cocktail to an entirely new level. Here are our picks for the top 5 places to enjoy margaritas in Cabo in 2018.

Los Tres Gallos

Visitors inevitably find it enchanting and entertaining, but don’t let the good time atmosphere fool you: no local restaurant takes authenticity and traditional Mexican values more seriously than Los Tres Gallos. Virtually every single item at this popular downtown eatery is made by hand, and not just the ones listed on the menu.

Naturally, each dish is prepared with fresh regional ingredients and a genuine love of craft – co-owner Michel Zermeño’s mother even makes occasional visits to the kitchen to ensure fidelity to traditional values – but the furnishings and fixtures here are also handmade, built from scratch using methods that have been passed down from generation to generation. Each table and chair, for example, is constructed by staff artisans.

About the only things that aren’t handmade are the colorful fruit trees scattered about the charming courtyard, and of course the wandering mariachis.

The margaritas receive the same level of care and attention as the décor and delicious regional specialty items. The house margarita showcases top-shelf ingredients like Clase Azul Reposado tequila, Damiana, Controy, Jarabe Natural and freshly squeezed lime and orange juices; and is served in a handmade pottery mug with tamarindo salted rim and colorful popote.

You haven’t had a margarita in Cabo until you try this one:

Monkey Business

The margarita shines in most any context, but it works a lot better as a star than a supporting player. Pair it with dinner or a snack, for example, and its flavors are muted. Surround it with flashing nightclub lights or pulsating music and its impact is subdued.

There’s no question that restaurants and resort based nightclubs produce many of the finest margaritas in Cabo, but to appreciate the cocktail in its best light, at center stage of the proceedings — so to speak — you need to visit a local bar; and not one that advertises 600 brands of tequila. A simple place, preferably outdoors with a palapa roof or a few palm fronds for atmosphere.  

Two bars stand out in downtown Cabo San Lucas: Monkey Business and Uno Más. Both are small, semi-circular in shape, with bar stools arrayed in such a way that the bartender and his or her activities are the focus of attention.

Not for passersby, mind you, only patrons. Any business at Monkey Business, for example, is mostly hidden from the main thoroughfare, Marina Blvd. as the palapa-topped bar faces in the opposite direction: away from the street and towards the arts and crafts vendors of the small Plaza Marlin.

But this is the kind of place where the making of a margarita is as compelling a spectacle as one could wish for on a lazy afternoon or moonlit evening. The colorful margarita glasses here are nearly large enough to swim in, but it’s the potent mixture within that excites the palate. Sauza’s branded 100 Años tequila is the base of choice, with a splash of Controy and orange juice, fresh lime and jarabe.

Sit back and watch as this collection of random ingredients are fused into a magical elixir.

That’s entertainment, Cabo style.

Cabo Wabo Cantina

Cabo Wabo Cantina is the most famous bar in Los Cabos, so it should come as no surprise that it also boasts one of the area’s signature margaritas. Founded in 1990 by Sammy Hagar and his then Van Halen bandmates, Cabo Wabo Cantina has for decades now been a must-visit nightlife destination for visitors to Cabo San Lucas. The Red Rocker’s birthday bashes continue to draw rock n’ roll and country music royalty for star-studded jam sessions each October, but just to be clear: the rollicking live music isn’t limited to a few occasions each year. Musical entertainment is served up on a daily and nightly basis.

So too are the potent “Waboritas.” In addition to the Cabo Wabo Cantinas – subsequent locations have opened in Las Vegas, Hollywood and Lake Tahoe – Hagar also originated a Cabo Wabo brand tequila. Yes, he later sold the majority of his stock to Campari in a blockbuster deal, but this particular brand of tequila remains one of several reasons the house Waborita differs from more traditional margarita mixtures. Another, perhaps equally important, is Damiana. This herb native to the Baja California peninsula has long been recognized as a powerful natural aphrodisiac, a reputation played up in bottles of Damiana infused liqueur, which are shaped like an ancient fertility goddess.

For those who’d like to rekindle the spark of their Waborita fueled vacation experience at a later date, here’s the standard recipe: pack a cocktail shaker with ice, then add Cabo Wabo tequila, orange liqueur, fresh lime juice, and Damiana. Shake the ingredients until ice cold, then strain into a salt-rimmed martini or margarita glass, with a final splash of Blue Curacao for color. Repeat as needed.

Esperanza

Signature ingredients and skillful bartenders are a big part of the equation for producing a memorable margarita, but service and setting also matter.

When it comes to the latter two elements, Esperanza is in a league of its own.

The Auberge branded resort has long been renowned for its luxurious appointments and spectacular seaside views (and, incidentally, for providing the backdrop for the infamous Kim Kardashian sex tape); but not even its pampering, award-winning spa – rated by Travel+Leisure as the best in Latin America – epitomizes Esperanza’s talent for delightfully decadent amenities quite like the onsite margarita butlers.

Yes, you heard us correctly: margarita butlers. Imagine Jeeves with a cocktail shaker, pouring out a little lime-flavored refreshment as you ponder the infinity pool views from your private cabana. Of course, if we might make a small suggestion….moving to one of the partially submerged chaise lounges in the infinity pool for more picturesque vantages of waves crashing against the offshore rocks adds a few more sensory layers to the experience.

The boutique cocktails are shaken up (or blended) by the glass or pitcher, and they’re as good as the service would lead you to expect. Why not, after all? Each butler is trained by the resort’s master tequilier (tequiliers are the sommeliers of the tequila world; trained in Jalisco, the ancestral home of the country’s signature spirit).

Lucky guests may of course customize their poolside concoctions, choosing tropical flavors additives like mango or hibiscus, or opting for tajin over the traditional salt to rim the glass.

About the only thing guests can’t do is take their margarita butler home with them.

Uno Más

It’s hard to say no to Uno Más: either to the bar or the phrase, which means “one more” in Spanish.

Oh, there’s nothing fancy about this airy outdoor watering hole, set amid the interior marketplace of arts and crafts at Plaza del Sol in downtown Cabo San Lucas. There are no margarita butlers or partially submerged chaise lounges or Sea of Cortés vistas. Just grizzled locals and savvy visitors, arrayed on a dozen or so bar stools facing one great bartender – with a bottle of Jose Cuervo Tradicional in one hand, and an old-fashioned heavy duty aluminum lime squeezer in the other.

What can you say about a margarita that’s made the same way as it was during the halcyon days of Danny Herrera and Don Carlos Orozco, with a damn fine tequila and some freshly cut limes?

What can you say? Uno más, por favor!

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post Top 5 Margaritas in Cabo appeared first on CaboViVO.

One of the mythologies about Los Cabos is that just after World War II American pilots flying over the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula saw enormous marlin leaping from the offshore waters and decided to invest in building a sportfishing paradise.

That’s not exactly the way it happened, but it is true that many of the pioneer hotel developers in cape cities Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo were pilots, and it is likewise true that the tourism industry in Los Cabos was built on big-game sportfishing, particularly billfishing.

Beginning in the 1950s, weekend fishermen in the U.S. and beyond started hearing tales of enormous black, blue and striped marlin caught off the southern coast of Baja California Sur. Ray Cannon, a former film director who has transformed himself into a fishing columnist for Western Outdoor News, hastened the flood of visitors by reporting some of these epic tales, and soon early fly-in resorts like Rancho Las Cruces, Hotel Palmilla, Hotel Cabo San Lucas and Hotel Hacienda were thronged with eager anglers, including celebrities like Bing Crosby and John Wayne.

By the 1980s Bisbee’s has begun hosting its annual Black & Blue marlin fishing tournament, which within a few decades would be more commonly known as “The Super Bowl of Sportfishing,” or simply “The World’s Richest Fishing Tournament.” The die was cast. Los Cabos – from Cabo San Lucas to East Cape fishing communities like Buenavista and Los Barriles – was celebrated as a fish-rich mecca, with travel articles about the area inevitably accompanied by images of sunburned heroes muscling in king-sized marlin from the aft deck fighting chair of a cabin cruiser.

One thing, though:  The image of the angler strapped into the aft deck fighting chair? It was always a guy…a fisherman, or fishermen.

That’s not the case any longer, however, as over the past decade local fishing fleets have increasingly begun to welcome women into what was formerly a boys’ club. Blue Sky Cabo has been at the forefront of this movement, offering complete sportfishing experiences that not only include day trips aboard a comfortably appointed 60’ Bertram, but luxe extras like private transportation and upscale home rental options. Blue Sky also boasts crew who are as adept at handling Champagne magnums and mixing margaritas as they are at hauling in marlin, sailfish, tuna, dorado and wahoo.

So rapid has the transformation been from boys’ club to inclusive vacation activity that 2017 even saw the birth of the Señoritas Blue Water Classic, a ladies only fishing tournament hosted by the Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort.

The new face (or faces) of Los Cabos sportfishing is apparent in the latest video collaboration between CaboViVO and Blue Sky Cabo, which shows two visiting women having the time of their lives as they sip some bubbly, enjoy up-close views of Land’s End, and of course catch – and release – a trophy-sized marlin.

To find out more about fishing packages and other offerings from Blue Sky Cabo, visit their website, or call 624-177-7754 (1-866-261-3872 in the U.S.; 780-918-3344 in Canada). Discounts are available with the promo code CABOVIVO but vary according to tour.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos,

Chris Sands and Michael L. Mattos

The post Los Cabos’ Epic Sportfishing Scene Isn’t Just for the Guys appeared first on CaboViVO.

Tourists typically opt for big-name chains, brand names, all-inclusive hotels that offer an airbrushed version of México, from souvenir-shop sombreros to bottomless margaritas.

Travelers, on the other hand, prize independence, value, boutique one-of-a-kind accommodations and adventures. They seek an authentic sense of place. They want to experience the real Cabo, to explore off-the-beaten-path attractions, to sample regional cuisine and search out handmade arts and crafts.

For decades, the smart choice for discerning travelers has been Cabo Inn Hotel, a clean, comfortable, and muy affordable boutique lodging in the heart of downtown Cabo San Lucas.

Travelers from all over the world have stayed here: visitors from the U.S., of course, but also from Europe, Australia, Central and South America, and beyond.

There’s no secret why.

Cabo Inn Hotel is a central, value-oriented oasis, conveniently located “5 minutes from everywhere.” Guests have a short walk to Playa El Médano, Cabo’s largest and most popular beach; a short walk to the marina, the jumping off point for activities like sailing, fishing, snorkeling and diving; and a short walk to premier downtown shopping, dining and Cabo’s most popular nightlife destinations.

For those who seek the real Cabo, there is no better, more affordable and convenient place to stay.

But Cabo Inn’s charms aren’t solely related to its value and central downtown setting. The hotel itself is exceptional, aglow with vibrant colors, and awash in tropical foliage, showcasing stylish appointments and enchanting Mexican accents.

Lush vines seem to spill over the second-floor railing, hugging pillars as they cascade down to the lobby, artfully framing the 20 boutique rooms and suites that are laid out around the airy interior. Each of these accommodations has its creature comforts, to be sure, but they are also utterly distinctive, their creative, pleasing designs as uniquely realized as a fingerprint or snowflake. Evocative murals and stained-glass accents complement the custom-crafted furnishings, which range from colorful bedding and handmade chairs and cabinets to unusually framed mirrors and other sui generis works of art and artistry.

Rooms showcase their own playful personalities, but lest one think the attractions are merely surface level, the inn also offers the sort of standard features and conveniences one would expect at any fine lodging:  spacious communal areas highlighted by a rooftop swimming pool and lounge area, air-conditioning, private parking and car rental recommendations and reservations, bilingual concierge service, special attentions for kids and pets, luggage storage, and myriad other small but important services and extras that take the stress out of travel.

The inn’s commitment to individualized decor and bespoke furnishings and fixtures is what makes it so special, however, and engenders such loyalty among its long-time clientele. This commitment reaches its ultimate expression in the two rooftop palapa suites, beautifully designed with traditional Mexican accents and appointments like palm roofs, palo de arco style craftsmanship, mosquito netting, handmade furniture and cabinets, vividly colored linens and blankets, bed runners and curtains. The premium suite even has its own private jacuzzi.

It’s the top, the highest level, both literally and figuratively.

The rooftop pool is a perfect place to socialize and make new friends, while the two rooftop palapas blur the line between indoor and outdoor spaces, transitioning easily from shaded sleeping quarters to sun-splashed, hammock-strung terraces overlooking the heart of the city.

Small wonder, then, that Cabo Inn has been called the most memorable vacation getaway in Cabo San Lucas, the place where low prices and high standards meet great amenities, including free Wi-Fi internet access, kitchen and bbq facilities, complimentary morning coffee, and a library of beach reading material.

How affordable is it? Room rates start as low as $39.95 for single occupancy in a standard room (refrigerator included), and even at the high end – a chic and roomy palapa suite with king-sized bed, terrace and private jacuzzi – it is supremely affordable, at less than $120 per night. Considering Cabo Inn’s litany of enchantments, there is no better bargain anywhere in Los Cabos.

During the 1950s, the historic building housed one of the Land’s End community’s most colorful brothels. Today, it boasts a different sort of local color, from its charming and eclectic decor to a friendly owner who often invites guests on early morning surfaris to some of Baja California Sur’s most breathtakingly beautiful and challenging surf breaks.

In addition to its many other attractions, Los Cabos is a paradise for surfers. Rippable year-round waves are found off both the Pacific and Sea of Cortés coasts, from Nine Palms and Shipwrecks on the Los Cabos municipality’s gorgeous East Cape to Pacific meccas Cerritos, San Pedrito and La Pastora.

Closer still are Monuments, an expert-level, left-hand point break with spectacular views of El Arco and the other granite monuments at Land’s End, and Zippers off Playa Costa Azul, sight of the area’s premier professional tournament, the annual WSL (World Surf League) sponsored Los Cabos Open of Surf.

But lazy days in the hammock or on a nearby beach, and early morning fishing trips are only a few among the many diversions and activities available to intrepid travelers. Cabo Inn offers information and recommendations on a vast array of outdoor adventures.

This isn’t just an accommodation option, but a lifestyle choice. Lounge around the pool, or go bungee jumping, see whales or save endangered sea turtles, or get a taste of Baja’s legendary off-road racing.

Concierge service is just one more reason to stay at Cabo Inn Hotel.

Remember:  authentic and affordable, and “5 minutes from everywhere” convenience, plus concierge service.

For your next vacation, choose Cabo Inn Hotel, and experience the real Cabo.

Call (624) 143-0819 or visit CaboInnHotel.com for rates and availability.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos,

Chris Sands and Michael L. Mattos

The post Cabo Inn Hotel – A Value-Oriented Oasis in the Heart of Cabo San Lucas appeared first on CaboViVO.