Cabo has changed again !

[easyrider]

We haven't been to Cabo for a few years and this trip we noticed big changes. The city has grown with subdivisions going in for both wealthy locals and foreigners. There is a new toll road from the airport to Cabo with a cost of about $5.00 usd. There is a new subdivision behind Costco. There are new resorts going in everywhere. On the Pacific side there is a new Hard Rock and Nobu Resort. In the marina there is a Dreams and the marina malecon goes all the way to the marina entrance. Santa Maria Bay has new resorts and homes all around it. Chileno Bay has been developed and is really the best snorkeling spot around the area, imo. Cerritoes Beach Club has burnt down a few years ago and the area has lost its appeal to us. Todos Santos seemed about the same.

In the past there were many people soliciting for presentations. I heard a new rule has curbed this somewhat. Presentation budgets were cut as many resorts now have to pay the sales staff a salary instead of commision. The offers to attend a presentation are about half or less than in previous years.

Many of the restaurants get their products from Costco. We bought 12 fresh prawns for about $33.00 usd. Beef is really expensive at Costco as well. Wine is priced right ! The rotisserie chicken taste the same and we did buy a couple of these so far. La Comer has taken over Mega locations in Cabo. It seems that Walmart has the better produce selection.

We drove to Los Barriles the other day. This area has changed but still seems like an expat area. There is a Four Seasons going to be built in the area of Buena Vista near the turn off to Cabo Pulmo. The back road to Auga Calliente is washed out so the way in is through Santiago for now.

The big rains has turned Cabo very green. Its kind of like a jungle with giant cactus.

Haven't made it out for the nightlife. In the past we would whoop it up until 2 am but now we seem to like the beach in front of the resort and the resort amenities. In bed by 11, lol.

Bill

 

[easyrider]

 

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[easyrider]

The panorama shots won't load but if they did you could see how Medano Bay and the marina has developed. I think the development is actually too much. Soon it will be very easy to trade into Cabo. Really, it is already easy to trade into Cabo so I guess the next step for the resorts is to slide downhill regarding the older resorts. The resort we are at has significantly gone downhill. Two of the pools are not heated and the elevators have been out of service randomly. I really don't consider the Arco an older resort at maybe 12 years old but it is compared to the new resorts. Oddly, all of the pools at the VDP Cabo are heated. We went to the sports bar for football at the VDP Cabo and they had really jacked up the prices to where no one was there other than people doing all inclusive. The entertainment is secluded off in an enclosed area so they are really trying to make people pay to see the shows. In the past some of these shows were on the beach but now they are cheap enclosed buffets.

It will be like Kissame and Orlando trading pretty soon, imo.

Bill

 

[Karen G]

Thanks for the photos. Where are you staying?

Oops, I see you're at VDP--I must have been posting at the same time you were.

 

[jlp879]

What is that beach in the first photo you posted? I can't seem to place it. Thanks.

 

[easyrider]

We are at Villa del Arco. The beach in the picture is Cannery Beach at the south entrance to Cabo Marina. The new Malecon on the north side of the marina goes out into the bay past the new beach in front of Dreams Resort. The unfinished project in the mid marina area is still unfinished but every where else has been developed.

Bill

 

[Karen G]

The unfinished project in the mid marina area is still unfinished but every where else has been developed.

Glad you mentioned that unfinished project--I think it has been there since we first went to Cabo around 1998. I wonder if it will ever be torn down or finished.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We are at Villa del Arco. The beach in the picture is Cannery Beach at the south entrance to Cabo Marina. The new Malecon on the north side of the marina goes out into the bay past the new beach in front of Dreams Resort. The unfinished project in the mid marina area is still unfinished but every where else has been developed.

Bill

Thanks for the update. I had Villa del Arco on my list to trade. Will remove it since it has gone downhill.

 

[easyrider]

Thanks for the update. I had Villa del Arco on my list to trade. Will remove it since it has gone downhill.

The Villa del Arco would be a hard to get trade in the winter season anyway. The elevator worked for a few hours yesterday, lol. It seems the Villa del Palmar, which is on the same stretch of beach as the Villa del Arco, has been having cheapo Philepo promotions.

The Neptune seafood restaurant in the building above the beach is also located next to the swamp. The smell is terible. We had reservations but when we arrived we decided the smell was too much. The view is fantastic but the smell is like a sewage overflow.

The stove in our unit has three out of four burners working. The jetted tub shoots water onto the bed. The screen fell off twice. The couch is dirty but we have it covered with a sheet which is something we do regardless.

The bed is perfect.

I feel kind of sorry for the points members on the upper floors. To use an elevator from building 1 they have to walk over to building 3. I have counted 57 stairs to the 4th floor in building 1 which is where we are at. The view is really good so we don't mind.

Bill

Bill

 

[easyrider]

 

[easyrider]

 

[easyrider]

 

[easyrider]

 

[easyrider]

Medano Beach pictures. The only place that isn't being developed is the grave yard next to the beach. At sunrise there are so many things to see. Yesterday it was a group of manta reys jumping around. Surf fishing has been slow because of the full moon.

 

[PamMo]

Glad you mentioned that unfinished project--I think it has been there since we first went to Cabo around 1998. I wonder if it will ever be torn down or finished.

The Grey Ghost is waiting for a miracle investor to take over the property.

The quote below is from the May 2019 Gringo Gazette - https://www.gringogazette.com/?q=content/que-pasa-cabo-78#sthash.KOp7GXkB.dpbs

What about the Grey Ghost?

That’s how we call the unfinished building sitting in the middle of the Cabo marina. Since we regularly get questioned about its fate, here’s the story and the latest news.

Originally baptized as The Place at Cabo, its construction came to a stall in the early 90s. It was owned by Mexican developers based in Acapulco, the 50s sooo popular tourist destination. To finish it, they got financing in U.S. dollars. Much to their disgrace, the peso got highly devaluated in 1992 and they found out they couldn’t handle the debt, so they left town.

The employees left behind filed a lawsuit – well, their workers’ union, known as CROC for their looong name in Spanish – and so did IMSS, Mexico’s social security agency. The bank that lent them the money did so, too.

Mexican law states that in cases like this one, the workers come first. If the building is sold, abandoned workers get the money first, then the IMSS and then the bank. Since in Mexico banks don’t care about selling real property and usually take any money left, the fate of the building was always in the union’s hands.

The CROC fenced the place, installed their offices in it, and sat and waited for an offer. They were expecting to collect past due salaries from the date the construction was stopped, plus Christmas bonuses, vacation time and more. The whole enchilada. Buying the building would be so expensive that it took all these years for someone to come up with a sweet deal.

That was Grupo Questro, the developers of the San Jose marina, the Cabo Real housing and golf course development, the Dreams, Hilton, Casa Dorada and ME Cabo resorts. Following years of negotiating, they closed the deal, paid the union, and hired a bunch of construction experts to find out if the half-finished building had to be demolished or just finished.

Much to our delight, the building can be finished without blowing it up and bring down on us a ton of dust. All Grupo Questro needs now are investors that will go in a joint venture with them. Hard Rock hotels were interested but instead purchased a lot inside the Diamante development on the road to Todos Santos.

So, we’re back at ground zero. Waiting for developers to arrive. Keep your fingers crossed, or as we say in Mexico, light up a candle for the Virgin Mary to make a miracle.​

 

[Karen G]

Thanks for the update PamMo!

 

[mjm1]

The Grey Ghost is waiting for a miracle investor to take over the property.

The quote below is from the May 2019 Gringo Gazette - https://www.gringogazette.com/?q=content/que-pasa-cabo-78#sthash.KOp7GXkB.dpbs

What about the Grey Ghost?

That’s how we call the unfinished building sitting in the middle of the Cabo marina. Since we regularly get questioned about its fate, here’s the story and the latest news.

Originally baptized as The Place at Cabo, its construction came to a stall in the early 90s. It was owned by Mexican developers based in Acapulco, the 50s sooo popular tourist destination. To finish it, they got financing in U.S. dollars. Much to their disgrace, the peso got highly devaluated in 1992 and they found out they couldn’t handle the debt, so they left town.

The employees left behind filed a lawsuit – well, their workers’ union, known as CROC for their looong name in Spanish – and so did IMSS, Mexico’s social security agency. The bank that lent them the money did so, too.

Mexican law states that in cases like this one, the workers come first. If the building is sold, abandoned workers get the money first, then the IMSS and then the bank. Since in Mexico banks don’t care about selling real property and usually take any money left, the fate of the building was always in the union’s hands.

The CROC fenced the place, installed their offices in it, and sat and waited for an offer. They were expecting to collect past due salaries from the date the construction was stopped, plus Christmas bonuses, vacation time and more. The whole enchilada. Buying the building would be so expensive that it took all these years for someone to come up with a sweet deal.

That was Grupo Questro, the developers of the San Jose marina, the Cabo Real housing and golf course development, the Dreams, Hilton, Casa Dorada and ME Cabo resorts. Following years of negotiating, they closed the deal, paid the union, and hired a bunch of construction experts to find out if the half-finished building had to be demolished or just finished.

Much to our delight, the building can be finished without blowing it up and bring down on us a ton of dust. All Grupo Questro needs now are investors that will go in a joint venture with them. Hard Rock hotels were interested but instead purchased a lot inside the Diamante development on the road to Todos Santos.

So, we’re back at ground zero. Waiting for developers to arrive. Keep your fingers crossed, or as we say in Mexico, light up a candle for the Virgin Mary to make a miracle.​

Thanks for sharing this update. Interesting. We were just down there and were wondering about the status of the building. Hopefully they get some investors and finish the project. We enjoyed walking around the marina but that would definitely be an improvement.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[easyrider]

One of the reasons why all of the developers are interested in the Baja areas is there is a huge tax incentive to develop coastal property because of Hurricane Oddie. New developments are sprouting up every where. Yesterday we drove to the new Vidanta development north of Playita. This is on the dirt road to Cabo Pulmo. It is being built in the middle of beautiful nowhere. We stopped at Zac's which is a sports bar in the subdivision just south of Vidanta. The next subdivision is Encanto which is a very nice area with 2 - 4 bedroom homes and a condo building. Playita has really changed. I remember when it was a sand bar with a panga fleet. Now it is a multi-million dollar marina.

The other day we drove out to Playa El Suspiro and saw the new Hard Rock and Nubu resorts. This used to be where we drove atv's. All sand dunes. Someone said this was where the beach landing in the movie Troy was filmed. Totally developed now.

After goofing around north of Playita we went to the car show in San Jose. Pretty cool cars with two that I really liked.

Bill

 

[jssquared]

Easy rider - can you share the progress of the Vidanta resort. I have heard there is one building, set a bit far back from the water, that is nearly complete. Is there other infrastructure that has been uilt or other buildings? Thanks so much for your insight.

 

[easyrider]

Easy rider - can you share the progress of the Vidanta resort. I have heard there is one building, set a bit far back from the water, that is nearly complete. Is there other infrastructure that has been uilt or other buildings? Thanks so much for your insight.

It looks like one building is in progress meaning it is in the concrete block and red iron stage. This is all I could see from the beach near Zacito's Bar. We didn't drive over to the Vidanta property from Zacito's because of the small car I rented.

Bill

 

[jssquared]

This is a structure there that can be viewed on Google Maps. This has been the image for at least a year. Wonder if there has been more progress that is not visible: https://www.google.com/maps/place/V...392f1bff39218!8m2!3d23.0990266!4d-109.5601884

 

[easyrider]

This is a structure there that can be viewed on Google Maps. This has been the image for at least a year. Wonder if there has been more progress that is not visible: https://www.google.com/maps/place/V...392f1bff39218!8m2!3d23.0990266!4d-109.5601884

Yes, this is the building near Zac's. It is about 5-6 stories tall right now. No one was working on site it but it was Sunday. The cranes are set up and equipment is on site.

The subdivision to the south of the Vidanta property is where Zac's is. Zac's is a pretty nice sports bar where every one in the area gathers as there isn't any thing else. The area is called Zacitos. This is off the old road to Cabo Pulmo about 2-3 miles. There is absolutely nothing in this immediate area regarding activities. There is a guided horse tour. Its about a 30 minute drive from San Jose. The area is absolutely beautiful because of the rains. Cactus and desert flowers are blooming. Everything is green. The Sea of Cortez and beach in the area look like it might be good for surfing as there are waves breaking out a ways.

Bill