Surfing in Cabo

Whenever we go to the beach, we always try to fit in one day of surfing. Mike & the kids love it! I’ve tried surfing before, but the last time the kids went, Mike & I tried standup paddle boarding instead. And this time I opted to stay on the beach to take pictures and manage any of the kids who needed to come out of the water for a break.

We headed to Playa Los Cerritos which is about 45 minutes from Cabo on the Pacific Ocean side. Since there were 10 of us, we had our concierge plan the trip, but you could also just show up at the beach and arrange a lesson once you’re there. That is what we did in Sayulita (just outside Puerto Vallarta) a few years ago and it worked out fine. There are fewer options at Playa Los Cerritos, but there were a few companies with pop-up tents on the beach. Compared to Cabo, this area felt desolate and we never would have thought to go here on our own. We pulled off the main road and took a very bumpy dirt road about a mile to the beach. There we found The Cerritos Beach Club with beachside restaurant, a couple of low-key hotels/bungalows, and a beach that seemed to go on for miles. Two of our instructors picked us up in a big van at our hotel and another two instructors met us at the beach and had chairs, umbrellas, and coolers already set up for us.

All the surfers got fitted with wet suits and began a dry land lesson – learning how to paddle on the board, ride through a wave, stand up on the board, and how to jump/fall off the board the proper way. All six kids plus the two dads were game for surfing.

With four instructors, the instructor:student ratio was pretty good and everyone got attention.

They promised that everyone would be able to stand up on the board and ride a wave by the end of the lesson and they were correct! From the pictures, these waves do not look very big or rough, but I thought the waves were a bit rough for beginners. Jackson, Kate & Ben had all been surfing several times before in so they are more like advanced beginners, but for anyone brand new to surfing I thought the waves might be a bit intimidating. The kids were brave and did a great job staying positive even when they got a bit tossed around!

Even with wetsuits, the cold water and rough waves tired out the kids. After about an hour in the water, the little ones were happy to sit and play in the sand.

It felt like we were very remote so it was surprising to see this large yellow hacienda perched atop a private bluff above the beach. It seemed a little bit out-of-place in this very laid back community. It wasn’t until we were back from our trip that I saw this aerial view of the hotel and realized just how spectacular it really is! Had I known what we were next to, I would have tried to check it out!

After some boogie boarding and more surfing, we were all starving and went to lunch at the Cerritos Beach Club. The quesadillas, tacos, and Coronas tasted amazing!

After lunch, we took some time to enjoy the view a bit more and then headed back to our hotel for some pool time.

Speaking of our hotel, we stayed at the Auberge Residences at Esperanza and this was pretty much my view the entire time. We had the pool basically to ourselves this entire first week of January and the kids took full advantage of the swim-up bar. They learned our room number very quickly, how to open a tab, how to swim through the pool one-handed while holding a drink above the water, and which variety of non-alcoholic drinks/smoothies/milkshakes were the best. We loved it here and thought it was extremely kid friendly. I would absolutely love to come back and stay here again!