The Cabo Shore Excursion for Beginner Cruisers: The "Hollywood Greg" Way

How to hit the icons and the party without the “tourist trap” price tag. Don’t be the person paying $150 for a ship excursion just to sit on a crowded catamaran with 80 strangers. In Cabo, the red carpet isn’t laid out for you—you have to know where it’s hidden. But if you want the 5-star treatment on a 3-star budget, you don’t need a fancy coordinator—you just need the right moves.

Step 1: The moment (the Instagram morning)

Get off the boat right at the sweet spot of 10 a.m. when the billowy clouds might still be in the sky. Before the ocean breezes clear them out for a scorcher of an afternoon. Get those stunning port pics with a Polaroid paradise of rippling white over azure blue. Post immediately and wait for your friends back home to like away and seethe with jealousy. And don’t worry, there will be plenty more picturesque moments out on the waters after your pregame brunch.

Timing is everything. The mid-morning pro view.

Step 2: The power brunch (Wizzie’s Bar)

Next thing you do off the boat is head to Wizzie’s Bar and Grill, get your sea legs ready for the adventure ahead. It’s right there at the marina when you walk off the dock. The premiere patio spot to grab a drink, get your bearings, and let the initial “port chaos” settle down before you make your insider “Hollywood” move.

Menu must-haves: Cabo Pier Tropical Ceviche—a dazzling display of shrimp, red onions, cilantro, habeneros, and the most succulently sweet tropical fruit you’ve ever had. A fresh fiesta in your mouth to be a base for those margaritas to give you the nerve to be ready for a Bond-style mission.

You cannot miss Wizzie's. Your beacon of brunch!

Cabo Pier Tropical Ceviche

Step 3: The $20 secret (El Arco)

Don’t let anyone talk you into an expensive private charter to see the Arch from your ship’s overpriced excursion list. Here’s my “Hollywood” secret: find your own semi-private glass-bottom boat.

For $20 cash, you get the exact same views of El Arco and the sea lions as the people paying triple. Just negotiate kindly with a local who owns his own vessel hanging out in front of Wizzie's.

Hold your ground on the reasonable rate of $20 and have the cash in hand. There is also a “dock fee” that can range from $1 to $5 (also in cash) depending on the time in the tourism season. But after that its only one Andrew Jackson plus tip for the smartest play in the harbor. Hipsters love it because it’s authentic, and savvy travelers love it because it’s a steal.

One out on the seas, hopefully your impressive captain will throw some food in the water and make the fish come up to the top, and let you sit out long enough to get your cirrocumulous cloud spectacled Land’s End Intragram selfies and vlog footage. Be sure to throw another Jackson at them for a tip for the extra effort!

Land's End

Step 3: The adventure choice—choose your own main event

Before you are out by the rocks, you can also make a “deal” with your captain for the rest of your tour experience:

The Notebook Experience (aka The From Here to Eternity Experience)

Lover’s Beach: Get dropped off for some serious sunning and then some frolicking on the bach with the name that says it all. Romance abounds in this very secluded afternoon where you can forget your job and your life and focus on the one you’re with. And whether its your Gosling, Adams, Lancaster, or Kerr, its a moment you will never forget! Just be sure to arrange a time for your captain to come back for you with ample time to make your sail away time. Don’t become a dock runner!

The Spring Breakers Experience (aka The Where the Boys Are Experience)

Medano Beach: Finish your day at Medano Beach. This is the true heart of the “action” for Shots! Shots! Shots! and Skin! Skin! Skin! If you want to be right in the front, where the music is pumping and the energy is high, this is the perfect mix of adventure and a world-class beach party to cap off your time in port. Bring your swimsuit and water shoes or flip-flops since you will be dropped off James Bond style with no dock. We learned the hard way and were holding our tennies while wading in the surf.

Beach club must-dos: The Office, The Mango Deck, or The Porch will get you worked up into a nice frenzy of tequila, questionable decisions and fun and games to fill out the rest of your afternoon before you decide to do the ride of victory back to your ships. Again, be sure to arrange a time for your captain to come back for you so you don’t become a living YouTube video.

Not just another day at The Office

Step 4: The Private Beach Club

There’s a specific kind of traveler—one who loves the idea of Cabo but hates the reality of the hustle. For them, Medano Beach or a trip rocking back and forth on a small craft on the ocean is a sensory overload they didn’t sign up for. This is where the Private Beach Club comes in.

The price of peace: At a club like SUR or Corazón, it isn’t just a beach club; it’s a velvet rope for your peace of mind. You aren’t just paying for a cushioned lounger and a clean towel. You are paying for the security line. You are paying for the privilege of not being asked to buy some "locally-resourced" goods from the street vendors.

The curated experience: While the rest of the beach is a beautiful, loud, chaotic free-for-all, the beach club is a controlled environment. It’s for the person who wants to sip a high-end mezcal in a quiet, roped-off sanctuary while watching the “3-star” world go by from a safe distance.

The verdict: If you want the bucket list tropical tale and the experience of a lifetime, you do the $20 boat and the public sand. But if you want to disappear into a high-end experience where the only thing you have to worry about is the SPF on your nose, the private club is the elite play.

The El Arco "Hollywood Greg " Shot!

For more inspiration and insider recommendations, visit our Cabo page.