Monday, January 1, 2018, Cabo San Lucas/San Jose del Cabo, Baja Sur

- January 01, 2018

We arrived 6 AM in the bay of Cabo San Lucas. Our alarm was set for 7 AM. When we pulled back the drapes of our stateroom we were greeted by a sun river.

Arch of Cabo San Lucas. A well-known area landmark, this rock formation jutting out from the ocean is shaped like an arch.

Sandy beach on the point and the famous arch (above) and sandy beach (below).

Cabo San Lucas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaβo san ˈlukas], Cape Saint Luke), commonly called Cabo in American English, is a city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. Cabo San Lucas together with San José del Cabo is known as Los Cabos.

Cabo houses a range of wildlife, including rays, sharks, birds, and a range of fish, such as mahi-mahi (dorado), and striped marlin.

Archaeological excavations have shown evidence of continual human habitation in the area for at least 10,000 years. When the first Europeans arrived, they encountered the Pericú people, who survived on a subsistence diet based on hunting and gathering seeds, roots, shellfish, and other marine resources. They called the location Yenecamú.

According to the narrative of Hatsutaro, a Japanese castaway, in the book Kaigai Ibun (written by Maekawa, Junzo and Bunzo Sakai and narrated by Hatsutaro), when he arrived at Cabo San Lucas in May 1842, there were only two houses and about 20 inhabitants. However, American authors such as Henry Edwards and John Ross Browne claim that Cabo San Lucas's founder was an Englishman named Thomas "Old Tom" Ritchie. John Ross Browne says Ritchie arrived there about 1828, while Edwards says that he died in October 1874.

A fishing village began growing in the area. In 1917, an American company built a floating platform to catch tuna, and ten years later founded Compañía de Productos Marinos S.A. The plant operated for several years.

Cabo San Lucas has the highest paying marlin tournament in the world called the "Bisbee's Los Cabos Offshore." This tournament takes place every year in the month of October.

In the winter, pods of whales can be observed in the area. They bear their calves in the warm waters of the Gulf of California after completing their 6000-mile migration from Alaska and Siberia.

San José del Cabo, the more subdued sister city to Cabo San Lucas, was the shore excursion area we chose for today. The oldest Spanish mission on the Baja Peninsula, San José was an important city during the Spanish colonization and a stopover for ships heading farther into the Pacific. We tendered ashore and met our guide for a drive along “El Malecon,” the highway that connects all the resorts between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. We explored its charming pink church, inviting town square, and low adobe homes that evoke an old colonial atmosphere.

St. Joseph church, San Jose del Cabo (above) and sanctuary (below)

Manger scenes outside St. Joseph church (above) and on main street (below).

A Spanish mission here, founded in 1730, replenished galleons making the long journey to the Philippines. We walked through the main plaza, enjoyed the town's artistic flair and browsed art galleries before returning to our ship. We made a stop at a local pharmcia to buy some Treda, a local med to combat Montezuma's Revenge. We always carried some in Mexico in years past so wanted it along for the remainder of our cruise for "just in case."