Saturday – January 31, 2026 – Cabo San Lucas
Today’s featured photo shows the famous El Arco (Arch of Cabo San Lucas) in the background with Kelsey and Jan in the foreground seated on our catamaran “Cabo Adventures”.
The sunrise today was beautiful. We haven’t seen as many sunrises as last year due to our location on the ship and the direction of travel, so it is nice to see one.
Cabo does not have a pier to support cruise ships the size of MSC Magnifica, so we tendered today. As far as I know, we will have only 1 other tender – our second day in the harbor of Sydney, Australia. Cabo is equipped to handle cruise ships with a fleet of “Tender Taxis”. As a result, our ship did not have to use many of their tender craft. We boarded one of the Cabo Tenders and headed to the main dock area in port.
Once on the dock we waited our turn to walk to a catamaran for our ride to view the famous Arch of Cabo. The boat we boarded is named Cabo Adventures XXV. I think the XXV may indicate the year it was placed in service because it looked new. There were 3 decks from which to watch as we sailed to the area of the Arch. I chose the top hoping to be able to get less obstructed views. The Arch is the point where the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California meet – one side is the ocean and the other the gulf. There were many others who also viewed the Arch with us – you’ll see that in the photos.
After returning to the dock, we boarded a brand-new bus which would be our home for the remainder of the excursion. Our guide today was Jorge – longtime resident of Cabo with 3 children ages 28, 31 and 35. He informed us we would be stopping at a pearl shop to learn about the pearl business. Cabo is known world-wide for the quality of its pearls. One of the largest pearls ever recovered was found here and given to Queen Elizabeth as a gift and is part of the royal crown. At the pearl shop we were told how pearls are formed – both naturally and artificially. Each of us received a folded piece of paper – one of those contained the word “Winner”. Once we opened our papers and the winner was discovered, the store employee brought out an oyster that contained a pearl, pried open the oyster and removed the pearl. He explained that it is unknown what a pearl will look like until the shell is opened – both color and shape. This pearl was a dark gray in color and round. The “winner” was given the pearl and we all left the shop.
Next up was a visit to a shop with frozen treats – popsicles of many flavors. Jorge suggested we try the mango as it was near the end of that season and they would not be available much longer. Jan, Kelsey and I chose mango and viewed the other choices in the cold case. The kiwi and strawberry had thin slices of those fruits imbedded in the popsicle – very colorful. The mango tasted great!
We finished our popsicles as the bus headed for The Glass Factory. We watched as a master glass worker (who has worked with glass for 35 years) created a Mexican turtle complete with sombrero and tequila bottle. It took only 7 minutes from a blob of molten glass to a finished product. You’ll see plenty of photos as he created this piece. His product had to be placed in a “cool-down” furnace so that the glass did not crack. The primary furnace was 1,500 degrees F – cool-down furnace was 500 degrees F. You’ll find plenty of photos of the artisan as he created the turtle and 1 photo of the result resting on sand in the cool-down furnace. Following the demonstration, we shopped for and purchased several items – 2 tequila shot glasses, a drinking glass and a turtle like the one we saw created in the demo. Now we had something that could be used to drink the tequila we purchased in Puerto Vallarta.
Our bus took us to a spot where we could taste either tequila or mezcal. We chose to try the mezcal and in the end bought 3 types – mint, chocolate and passion fruit. Mezcal is also made from agave, but the process is different and the specific agave varieties are also different. These mezcal were much sweeter than the tequila. We should be able to use our shot glasses to appreciate these.
Our final stop was a restaurant near the dock. There we were given fruit juice, a cheese quesadilla, beans and mild or spicy salsa. Once we finished our quesadillas, we boarded another Cabo Tender and returned to Magnifica. While we were away a couple private yachts had anchored near us. One of them had a helicopter that matched the color of the yacht (white). I asked a friend if he would like something like that – he said “Only it I could get it in black.”.
The entertainment this evening was a ventriloquist named Serge Massot. His show was different – not just a “dummy” but also audience participation. He brought 3 “volunteers” on stage and gave them “voice” in response to questions he would ask. One of the “volunteers” was a woman from Orlando, Florida we had dined with – she seemed to have a good time on stage.
Today’s photos can be viewed here.