Adventures in Cabo recap: Part two

I’m confident that Dave and I will vacation in Cabo again. In fact, we’ll probably return to Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Resort & Spa. But next time, we’ll go for longer.

Before taking our first trip to Cabo, we got plenty of recommendations from friends on activities and places to check out while we were there, for instance Nikki Beach and The Office. But we didn’t do any of those things. In fact, we only left our resort once, and that was enough.

In a setting like the one shown below, there isn’t much reason to leave.

In case you missed it, I already shared the highlights of the first half of our trip in my part one recap, which detailed the amazing food, all-inclusive and adult-only setting and all the relaxing we did by the pool.

However, we also did a few things of note …

Memorable moments on a timeshare tour

On Tuesday morning, Dave and I agreed to go on a timeshare-presentation breakfast and tour for Pueblo Bonito resorts (the parent company of the resort we were staying), and we nearly bought into the plan.

I used to work as a copywriter for the vacation ownership division of Starwood Hotels in Orlando, so I know all about timeshare and how it works. And honestly, if you plan to take a lot of vacations for the rest of your life, there are huge advantages to buying into a program. You can pay off your accommodations at today’s rates and pass down the deed in the future. However, I digress …

Even though we seriously discussed the opportunity, we were able to pull ourselves together and walk away without making that huge financial commitment on the spot. But we absolutely enjoyed the sales process and presentation session. For two people who work in sales-related careers, it was good to see the methods of selling something like a vacation, which is based heavily off emotion.

Our salesman, Peter, was a Canadian who has lived in Cabo for more than 15 years with his blonde-hair, blue-eyed family. He did an awesome job selling us and educating us on timeshare.

Below are some of his creative worksheets, which basically told us that all signs pointed to purchasing.

But Peter’s blue eyes didn’t close the deal this time.

As a gift for attending the timeshare tour of the lovely Pueblo Bonita Sunset Beach Resort, we got a free bottle of tequila. The tequila is brown, and we’ll probably never drink it. We brought it home and dubbed it our “timeshare tequila.” It shall live on the shelf forever as a memento of our first timeshare tour.

We also got a $300 U.S. dollar spa credit to use at our resort, which we redeemed for a 50-minute couples massage. Thank goodness we did, because Pueblo Bonito had an incredibly luxurious spa, and it was one of the best massages I’ve ever had.

Yes, that’s right: Tequila and massages, all because we went on an informational tour of a nice resort.

Cabo Adventures in the sea

Also on Tuesday, Dave and I went on an excursion. My wonderful Mom (who you’ve now gotten to know through her own words while I was away), bought us a special Cabo outdoor adventure as a two-year wedding anniversary present. Through the company Cabo Adventures, we went on a snorkel and sea trip out of the downtown Cabo marina.

Here’s a look at the high-speed boat, which took us out on the Sea of Cortez (the body of water between the Baja California and Mexico coasts).

The boat was full of a group of about 11 travelers, as well as a funny tour guide and captain. We rode the choppy waters out about 20 minutes from the marina. Once there, we had the chance to snorkel, kayak or stand-up paddle-board.

Dave and I chose to snorkel and kayak. The water was really clear, and we could see a lot of corals and fish swimming about. I couldn’t believe how close the school of fish would swim to us. It scared me a bit. I live in fear of seeing the scary fangs of barracudas in the water, but luckily, we made it out of this snorkel trip unscathed.

The last part of our three-hour trip included some sight-seeing of Cabo’s most well-known landmarks. The Land’s End rocks shown below are absolutely postcard perfect.

It was nice to get out and do something active during our trip. But as soon as it was over, we were eager to get back to our spots on the lounge chairs at our resort, where our all-inclusive delights awaited us.

And that was the only time we left the Pueblo Bonito property during all five days.

The rest of our vacation was spent relaxing and eating awesome food at the resort’s signature restaurant Siempre. Throughout the course of the trip, I ate a whole lot of seafood. In addition to my daily lunch of world’s best fish tacos, I also tried some new-to-me seafood varieties, including croaker fish and parrotfish. And I dined on many of my go-to favorites including salmon, sea bass, scallops, shrimp and more.

I could go into more detail about the eating, (such as the most delicious whole grain rolls with colorful dipping sauce that preceded every meal shown below), but suffice to say, it was all darn good.

While we went to the same restaurant every night, we had a different server each time.

There was one night when our excellent waiter, Bryan, not only chatted with us a lot, but also surprised us with this decorated and tasty signature dessert.

But the fun didn’t end there …

People watching at its finest

One of the funny things about staying at a small resort is that you see the same people over and over.

On our honeymoon to Sandals more than two years ago, Dave and I made nicknames and back stories for all of our fellow vacationers. So of course, we did the same during this trip.

Here’s a snapshot of our fellow campers:

• There was the loud family from Chicago, who smoked and seemed to be everywhere we were, no matter what. It was two parents and two adult kids, who were fairly obnoxious. The young guy looked straight out of Jersey Shore, and the girl had a ton of Mickey Mouse tattoos. Hmmm …
• Then there was the young couple who were clearly no fun to be around at all. They came to dinner and each played on their cell phones without speaking the entire meal. No joke. Not only must they have some excellent international data plans (we didn’t use our phones at all), but they also must not have too much to chat about while vacationing in paradise. So bizarre.
• Then there was the strangely dressed young woman with her older Mom, who also didn’t speak to each other, but stayed in very close proximity. We called the younger woman “Princess Jasmine,” because it seemed like her Mom was controlling her and she wanted to break free and let loose. Poor girl …

I wonder if anyone had nicknames for us? Because we sure did spend a lot of time in these spots.

All in all, our Cabo trip was the most fun vacation we’ve ever had (well maybe it ties with the honeymoon, of course).

And it reminded us how important vacations are. Over the past year-and-a-half of living in San Francisco, our travel and days off have been spent visiting friends and family in Florida. Although we cherish that time, it was pretty nice to get away to some place tropical for no reason other than to chill.

We’re definitely going to Cabo again. And the timeshare salesman who gets assigned to us, just might have a good day.

Until next time, Pueblo Bonito …

Questions of the day

Have you ever gone on a timeshare tour? What are your thoughts? And do you have any vacations planned for the summer?

Finally, what’s your favorite seafood to eat?