SANDOS FINISTERRA LOS CABOS ALL-INCLUSIVE RESORT

This was a bit of a bittersweet post for me to write since I had such an amazing time on this trip! I wish we could have stayed sooo much longer. If you followed my Insta story at the time, you know it was pretty epic {and if you missed it, you can still check it out under my insta story highlights}.

We arrived at the Los Cabos international airport {SJD} and once we got our bags, had to set up transport to our hotel because in true Mare fashion, I totally forgot to think of this ahead of time. Thankfully, it turned out to be a really easy process. There are essentially 2 options: shuttle or private taxi. The shuttle cost roughly $21 and was a 10-person van shared with other travelers going to different resorts. The drive was longer {about 1h 15 mins to get to our hotel which one of the further ones because it's right on the beach}. The taxi on the other hand was about $60 per person but we would get to our hotel in 30 mins or so.

Since we'd arrived in the early afternoon and check in wasn't til 4pm anyways, we chose the shuttle. We're also cheap AF and weren't about to pay 3x as much lol. We were able to pay with our American cash {this is true in almost all of Cabo and it was a pleasant surprise} and drop our bags off while they waited for the van to fill up with customers.

We immediately took our driver up on his offer to come get us when it was time to go and started our trip by being very true to ourselves: we went straight to the outdoor airport restaurant because why not? While it was all a little overpriced, we were super hungry {those in-flight pretzels don't ever really cut it} and so excited to just start our vacation.

Our ride was interesting mostly because of the people in the shuttle with us but it definitely made the hour-long drive go by faster. We also got a glimpse of some of the other resorts in Cabo which were all beautiful if not necessarily in prime location.

We arrived at the resort to some of the most welcoming staff.  My man, Jose, gave us a thorough rundown of everything Sandos Finisterra had to offer and really made us feel like we were at our new home-away-from-home {albeit a way more gorgeous one than my regular home lol}.

We walked into our room and were pleasantly surprised by a complimentary bottle of tequila, complete with the salt and limes. We totally asked the guy who walked all our suitcases up with us whether we could keep the tequila {even though neither of us had any intention of lugging this bottle back to the US lol} and he told us we could! Additionally, our fridge was also fully stocked with all manner of beverages and chocolate bars.

Speaking of chocolate bars, not pictured is the complimentary bag of Doritos, Snickers bar and M&Ms that were also on the dresser -- I can only assume that this was their idea of what snacks Americans would most want lmao {not gonna lie, we ate them all...}.

The hotel architecture was gorgeous and we had the most perfect beach views. I loved the desert beach vibes throughout and especially loved the view over the pools (3 of them!) every morning.

The pools were each a different vibe: the one closest to us in the picture above was for kids {we avoided that one like the plague lol}, followed by the "party" pool which had staff-run activities throughout the day and the last {and closest to the beach} was what we dubbed the "chill" pool lol. We spent most of our days at the party or chill pool depending on our mood.

The party pool did tend to get more rowdy {especially once we had 3 bachelor parties and a wedding party at the hotel} but it was still just fun to sit back and watch all the things that were happening. And if we weren't in the mood for it? We simply moved down to the "chill" pool or to the beach.

Regardless of what pool {or hot tub} you were around or in, the poolside service was excellent! There was a swim up bar at the party pool but we rarely had to actually get up to go to it {laziness on max}. Our girl Norma totally deserves a shout out because she kept our glasses and bellies full at all times lol {not the best when you're wearing bikinis all day but I got over it}.

Speaking of full bellies, Sandos Finisterra has 4 restaurants on site:

• Don Diego - open for all 3 meals and it was the only breakfast option. All meals are buffet-style {so dangerous! lol}. We ate breakfast here every morning with gorgeous views of the bay and Cabo city.

• Agave/Swim up bar - poolside snacks and steakhouse. We ate lunch here just about every day unless we were out in the city. It's attached to the swim up bar and so easily accessible.

• Tortuga Beach - bistro style dining, mostly seafood. I'm not a huge seafood person so I wasn't as much of a fan of this one, but it was still pretty good.

• Emiliano's Ostería - Italian dining. Their pasta was delicious! We ate here 2 nights straight, we liked it that much.

You can also order from the 24 hour room service menu and a few additional bars.

Besides the food, there were plenty of hotel activities to partake in, including their spa {beachside massage anyone??}, gym, plenty of extra bars, an onsite nightclub and shows every night.

The most exciting thing for me was the Cupcake Cafe. As y'all know, I love sweets and a room full of dessert is my ultimate weakness. We went to get desserts and a nightcap there a few times and while certain cupcakes were not quite that well done, they were overall pretty tasty {and free! if you do the all-inclusive package}.

Now if we wanted to, we could have totally stayed within the resort and never gone into the city. I personally think that would be an utter travesty so we made it a point to explore! Downtown Cabo is conveniently only about a 15 min walk from Sandos Finisterra and you get to walk along the marina to get there so it's an enjoyable time.

There are tons of excursions to choose from in Cabo. You can choose anything from sunset boat tours to ATV rides to deep sea fishing, there's something for just about anyone. We chose a glass bottom boat tour and I got a couple dives in as well.

I chose to dive with PuraBaja Tours, which is based in the marina. They were super professional, provided all the gear except a towel, had very reasonable prices {$95 for 1 dive, $135 for 2 {you really shouldn't pay more than $130 per dive}. My guide, Victor, was awesome! I'm listening earnestly to his refresher in this pic lol. He was honestly the perfect dive buddy given that it had been about 2 years since my last dive.

I love scuba diving and am certified as an open water diver so there was no question I was going to fit it into our trip. We dove near Pelican Rock, which is about a 10 min boat ride from the marina. The marine life was gorgeous to see and visibility was great!

We also did a glass bottom boat tour out to the Arco del Cabo for $10 each {this shouldn't cost you more than $12 per person}. Now, fair warning, some of the glass bottom boats {including the one we took} don't actually have a glass bottom that you can see through. At first we were super disappointed about this but as it turns out, the water is clear enough that you can see the marine life pretty well from the side of the boat. You can choose to be dropped off at one of the beaches along the way {Lover's Beach is a well known one} and picked up at a specific time for no additional cost with most of these tours so if you have/rent snorkeling gear, you can see even more.

Downtown Cabo isn't huge but there's lots to keep you busy. We focused our efforts on food and such lol. Two places that you ALL have to check out are Monkey Business for their famous giant margs and Taqueria el Paisa for literally the best tacos of your liiiife.

My head for size reference lol. We chose the mango {of course} but their were several other flavors to choose from.

PRO TIP: bring some cash money!!! {American money is fine bc basically all of Cabo accepts it}. We had an awkward AF serenade encounter while enjoying our beverages where they sang us an entire song and at the end of it we had to tell them we had no cash on us. So. cringeworthy.

O.M.G.

This place.

Literally, when I tell you these were the best tacos I've EVER had, I mean it. And their guac? Lord ha'mercy. And you know it must be good because {blasphemy} I don't really like guac like that. It's a super simple open air restaurant with self serve toppings. Note, the menu pictured has all the prices in pesos so no the tacos aren't $40 lol {more like $2.50}.

The other restaurant we heard both a bunch was Alexander, for european cuisine. We never made it to check it out since we were focused on food we couldn't get at home but it came up enough times that I would have gone if we'd had more time.

Last but not least, the nightclub scene in Cabo. When we were there {April, so slightly off-peak spring break} there were a lot of high school and college age kids around. The next peak age group was over 40. Mostly the locals/other Mexican visitors were around our age. There are a several dance clubs and bars along a 2 block radius where all of this was concentrated.

All that to say, when I go back to Cabo it will not be for the nightlife haha.

This stay at Sandos Finisterra was one of the best vacations I've had in a long time.

For those interested, Sandos offers multiple types of packages if you’re planning a stay! They also offer seasonal deals which you can check out here. We actually booked through bookit.com and it was super easy and affordable for our all-inclusive package.

Would I do anything differently next time? Absolutely nothing. It was a glorious, magical week and I would go back in a heartbeat. However, next time Ill hopefully have time to explore San Jose del Cabo since we didn't have a chance to and I've heard great things about El Herradero, Flora Farms and the arts scene out there!

Until then!

*Note: This is not a sponsored post or an ad for Sandos Finisterra. I paid for my stay as well as my flights there and received no special discounts during this trip. Just wanted to share my tips for anyone else planning a trip to Cabo!