High tourist season remains in full swing this February, featuring everything from weekly and annual cultural to-dos to seasonal outdoor adventures like whale watching, surfing, and windsurfing. Of particular note is Sabor a Cabo, a yearly food and wine festival that brings together top regional chefs and showcases live entertainment.
Todos Santos Writers Workshop
Best known for its painters, Todos Santos has also proved a congenial community for writers. Participants enjoy craft workshops and faculty readings — not to mention food, drinks, and fiestas — from an experienced faculty whose published work encompasses fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and other literary genres.
Dates: February 1 – 8
Location: Posada del Molino
Cost: $2200
San José del Cabo Art Walk
The historic Art District in San José del Cabo takes center stage each Thursday
evening from 5 pm to 9 pm during high tourist season — November through June — when residents and visitors alike are invited to stroll its cobblestone streets and peruse the many eclectic fine arts galleries. Nearby bars and restaurants (of which there are many of superb quality) also benefit, since the event finishes around dinner time.
Dates: February 6, 13, 20, 27
Location: Gallery District in San José del Cabo
Cost: Free
Half-Marathon in San José del Cabo
Los Cabos isn’t all food fests and bacchanals. This 21k — better known in the U.S. as a half-marathon — allows participants to enjoy a healthy competitive run (trophies are given to the top three finishers in various categories) while enjoying some picturesque scenery (the event starts and finishes in the heart of San José del Cabo). If 21k is too much of a test for your stamina, 5k and 10k sign-up options are also available.
Dates: February 9
Location: Starts and finishes at Plaza Mijares in San José del Cabo
Cost: 1050 pesos for the 21k
Carnaval in La Paz
Two cities on the Baja California peninsula boast notable Carnaval celebrations: Ensenada and La Paz. The six-day pre-Lenten farewell in La Paz is centered on the capital city’s malecón. It offers voluminous food and drink, plenty of live music from high-profile performers, and the coronation of a festival king and queen. This year’s theme is “El Mundo Baila.”
Dates: February 13 – 18
Location: La Paz
Cost: Free
Valentine’s Day Dinner at Sunset Monalisa
No restaurant in Los Cabos can top Sunset Monalisa for romantic dining and spectacular sunset views of Land’s End. Considered one of the world’s most iconic seaside eateries, it pulls out all the stops for its annual Valentine’s Day menu. However, space is limited and the prices aren’t cheap.
Dates: February 14
Location: Carretera Transpeninsular 5.5
Cost: 4,750 pesos
Baja Shakespeare
For 25 years, Baja Sur’s beautiful East Cape has welcomed visitors for fun-filled theater twists on cultural classics…often but not always Shakespeare. This year’s selection, Madre Mia, is as the name suggests, a Mexican-style take-off on everyone’s favorite musical filled with ABBA songs: Mamma Mia!
Dates: February 21 – 23, February 26 – March 1
Location: Hotel Palmas de Cortez Conference Center, Los Barriles
Cost: 500 pesos
Sabor a Cabo
The biggest food and wine festival in Los Cabos returns for its 16th edition to Club Campestre, the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course in San José del Cabo that has hosted several previous events. As usual, top regional restaurants and Mexican wine producers will provide the food and drinks. Live entertainment is also featured.
Dates: February 22
Location: Club Campestre, San Jose del Cabo
Cost: 5,700 pesos
Whale Watching Season
Annually in winter more than 5,000 blue, gray, humpback, and other whales migrate from their arctic feeding grounds to breed in the shallow water coves and inlets of beautiful Baja California Sur. In this regard, these leviathans of the deep are very much like the snowbirds who flock to cape cities Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo to escape frigid winter temperatures in the U.S. and Canada. They’re just much, much larger.
Dates: December 15 – April 15
Location: Sea of Cortés and Pacific Ocean
Cost: Free, with tours available at various price points
Surf Season on the Pacific Coast
Summer may be the best time to find great waves off Los Cabos’ Sea of Cortés-facing beaches. But beginning in November the surf scene is centered around Pacific Coast beaches like Cerritos, La Pastora, and San Pedrito. Surfing is indeed good year-round in this part of Los Cabos (La Paz municipality, to be exact). However, conditions are at their peak from November to March, thanks to seasonally bigger and more consistent swells.
Dates: November – March
Location: Pacific Coast surf beaches like Cerritos, San Pedrito, and La Pastora near Todos Santos
Cost: Varies according to the company for lessons and rentals
Windsports Season on the East Cape
While the Pacific Coast is Los Cabos’ wintertime surf mecca, windsports enthusiasts flock to the East Cape. Why? From November to March each year, strong El Norte winds blow hundreds of miles down the Sea of Cortés, creating optimal wind and kite surfing conditions in small East Cape communities like Los Barriles and La Ventana. The wonderfully named Lord of the Wind Competition may be a thing of the past. Still, the East Cape is the place to be if you love kiteboarding, kitesurfing, windsurfing, or similar pursuits.
Dates: November – March
Location: East Cape of Los Cabos
Cost: Varies for lessons, camps, and rentals
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.
