Resorts in Los Cabos embraced spas the same way they embraced golf courses, which is to say that they looked at the best available examples and then attempted to go them one better. The level of pampering comfort at the average Los Cabos lodging is enough to shame a decadent Roman emperor. All that’s missing is an attendant to feed you grapes.
What is available typically at Los Cabos spas is a beautifully designed area devoted to health and wellness, from a wide range of massage treatments – in private cabanas or on the beach – to romantic couples’ rituals, ancient Mexican healing therapies, and other holistic specialties. That’s to go along with the state-of-the-art gym, yoga classes, sauna, hot and cold plunge pools, and maybe even beauty and styling services. At least one resort will also massage your pets.
The Evolution of spas in Los Cabos
Special dog massages are among the many signature spa experiences at Las Ventanas al Paraíso, one of the benchmark resorts in Los Cabos, and the first to feature a world-class spa when it opened its doors in 1997. Not to be outdone, another local benchmark property, One&Only Palmilla, built a 25,000-square-foot spa boasting splendid artistic and architectural details. Thus began an arms race (skilled masseuse arms, not weapons) to create the area’s biggest and best spa and wellness facility. The race reached its zenith between 2016 and 2018, when two new properties, Grand Velas Los Cabos and Montage Los Cabos, unveiled what are doubtless the largest spas ever seen on the Baja California peninsula (SE Spa and Spa Montage are 35,000 and 40,000 square feet, respectively).
By then, however, One&Only Palmilla had renovated its spa, reducing its overall spa size by 3,000 square feet (zig, while others are zagging, is the Los Cabos luxury resort mantra), but upgrading its spa menu and services across the board. Thirteen new private spa villas were added on that occasion, in addition to a new salon from famed Beverly Hills stylists, and an upscale men’s barbershop.
Finding the Perfect Spa in Los Cabos
The properties mentioned above are clearly among the best in the area, with world-class spa facilities. But the amazing thing about Los Cabos is that so many of its hotels and resorts have well-outfitted spas, including in some cases, rituals or therapies not offered anywhere else. Typically, spa services are not included in the room rate, even for all-inclusive lodgings. Still, it’s a luxury worth splurging on based on the surfeit of superb options, and you can visit other resorts if the spa at yours is found wanting, or if you’re curious about the spa menus elsewhere.
With that in mind, here’s a guide to some of the basic categories of services, and the resorts that best provide them.
Special treatments
Want another reason to visit multiple spas in Los Cabos? It’s the only way to experience signature treatments exclusive to a given resort. For instance, only Fiesta Americana Los Cabos specializes in vinotherapy, with healing treatments based on wine. Hence its name: SOMMA Wine SPA. Meanwhile, at Casa Dorada’s Saltwater Spa, treatments are premised on the curative properties of water sourced from the Sea of Cortés. By contrast, Las Ventanas al Paraíso’s The Spa at Las Ventanas draws inspiration from the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water).
Romantic couples treatments are also a Los Cabos specialty. One of the best examples currently is the three-hour-long Romance for Two at The Spa at Las Ventanas, where couples can enjoy an array of pampering pleasures culminating with passion cocktails and a rose petal bath for two. But also notable is the intimate four-hour Bonding Experience at Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas featuring exfoliating body wraps, body scrubs, facials, and side-by-side massages.
Mexican wellness rituals
Temazcal rituals, similar in purifying spirit to Native American sweat lodges, are offered by several local resorts. Playa Grande Resort & Grand Spa is one of them and has even built a traditional hut on the rooftop of its resort where its temazcaleros can guide guests through the wellness process. JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort and Spa in San José del Cabo is also a temazcal specialist, as is One&Only Palmilla’s One&Only Spa.
Curanderismo, a term encompassing wellness therapies practiced by Mexican folk healers, is also present in Los Cabos, notably at the Waldorf Astoria Spa at Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, where several traditional healers are employed.
Massages
Massages are a centerpiece at many spas, with menus that offer everything from Swedish and deep tissue massages to hot stone, reflexology, sports, aromatherapy, and more. For example, Hilton Los Cabos’ Eforea Spa boasts all of the above plus a more exotic raindrop massage.
However, the setting, perhaps even more than style, is the key element for massages in Los Cabos, an area noted for its spectacular ocean vistas. As many local resorts are on or near beaches, it’s often an option to enjoy relaxing rubdowns in private beachside cabañas or on massage tables set up on the sand. My favorite cabañas are at the Solmar Resort, one of the first lodgings ever built in Cabo San Lucas. Designed rustically in the region’s distinctive palo de arco architectural style, the Solmar Spa’s cabañas are so close to the water you feel the fresh ocean air and hear the sound of waves breaking on the shore as your masseuse works out any remaining tension.
It should be noted that there are non-resort spas in Los Cabos, too, and not all are of the “amigo massage” variety (“Hey amigo, want a massage?”). One of the watering holes on Cabo San Lucas’ popular Médano Beach, The Sand Bar, offers quality massages at affordable rates.
Other Amenities
Gyms, or more accurately, fitness facilities are also standard at most Los Cabos resorts, as are yoga classes, often in picturesque outdoor settings. However, some resorts are more committed to the latter concept than others. The Spa at Esperanza, one of the most acclaimed of all Los Cabos spas, has, among its many plaudits (Travel+Leisure once dubbed it not only the best spa in México but in all of Latin America) long been a leader in the fitness class area, thanks to a “trainer in residence” program that regularly sees fitness gurus from the U.S. visiting Los Cabos to act as guest instructors in Yoga, Pilates, and other disciplines.
Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook, and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.
