Cabo San Lucas in December: The Quiet-Luxury Season

December is the month Los Cabos seems made for. The heat of late summer has long gone, the autumn storms are a memory, and the air over the peninsula turns dry and clear, with a light so sharp that the granite at Land's End looks cut from paper. The sea is still warm enough for a long swim, the first whales of winter begin to pass the cape, and the town, for the first two weeks at least, keeps a quietness it will not know again until spring. For travelers who prize composure over spectacle, there is no finer month to be here.

The weather in December

December in Cabo San Lucas is reliably dry. Rain is rare, the sky is usually cloudless, and the humidity that defines the summer has fallen away. Daytime temperatures typically settle in the high seventies to around eighty degrees Fahrenheit, warm enough for lunch on deck in linen, while evenings cool toward the low sixties, which is to say cool enough for a light layer on a terrace after dinner. The sea, at its warmest in late summer, holds in the mid-seventies through much of the month and cools gradually toward the new year.

These are the shortest days of the year, with the sun setting a little before six. It is not a drawback. It gives the day a natural shape: the morning at sea, lunch at anchor, the return to the house in the gold of late afternoon, and dinner by the time the stars are out. Mornings bring the calmest water. In the afternoons a northerly breeze can freshen on the Sea of Cortez side, and the Pacific beaches remain, as always, better admired than swum.

A month of two halves

December in Los Cabos is really two seasons. The first half, from the end of the Thanksgiving week to around the middle of the month, is among the quietest stretches of the high season. The weather is already at its best, the marina is calm, the most sought-after tables are easier to come by, and fine villas and yachts can often still be arranged on reasonable notice. For couples, for a small family, or for anyone who wants the peninsula at its most composed, these are the weeks to choose.

The second half is another matter. From around the twentieth, Los Cabos fills for the holidays. Private aviation into San José del Cabo builds, the anchorage in front of the town grows lively in the evenings, and the week between Christmas and New Year becomes the most requested of the year. It is festive, and it can be wonderful, but it rewards planning measured in months rather than weeks. Our note on New Year's Eve in Cabo, privately describes how to see the year turn from a deck at anchor or a terrace above the bay.

The first whales

The permitted whale-watching season in Los Cabos opens on December 15, and the humpbacks that winter here are already arriving. Sightings early in the season are less frequent than in the peak months of January through March, but a morning on the water in the second half of December often brings the first breaches of the year, and gray whales begin to pass along the Pacific side on their way to the lagoons further up the peninsula. Our guide to whale season in Los Cabos sets out the species, the rules of the water and how best to see them.

For a December morning with the whales, the patience of the day matters more than the size of the yacht. Contessa, at 85 feet and welcoming up to 18 guests, is an intimate way to begin. Lady Katana, the 100-foot Maiora, offers whale cruises hosted by a marine biologist. Sovereign, at 130 feet, adds at-rest stabilizers that keep the deck steady through long minutes of watching, and an onboard chef for the lunch that follows.

These are the shortest days of the year. It gives the day a natural shape: the morning at sea, lunch at anchor, dinner by the time the stars are out.

On the water, and beyond it

The rest of December's sea is just as generous. The water along the Corridor stays clear, and the coves between Cabo San Lucas and San José, Santa María and Chileno among them, are at their most inviting in the calm hours before noon. The sportfishing fleet still leaves the marina at first light, and our concierge can arrange a tournament boat and captain at short notice for those who want a morning offshore after marlin, tuna or dorado.

For a longer passage, December suits the yachts chartered by the week. Rising Dawn, a 141-foot Majesty with six staterooms and a crew of nine, and As You Wish, the 164-foot Westport flagship with a crew of eleven, each welcome twelve guests and are built for the unhurried week. On settled days the coast north toward Cabo Pulmo becomes an inviting horizon, and Experiences sets out the Sea of Cortez expedition, composed for three to seven nights aboard.

Ashore, in the festive season

Mexico keeps December with real devotion, and Los Cabos is no exception. On December 12 the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe brings processions and music to the churches of both towns. From the sixteenth through Christmas Eve, the posadas recall the search for shelter with candlelit walks, carols and piñatas, and Nochebuena, the late dinner on Christmas Eve, is the heart of the holiday for Mexican families. In San José del Cabo, the historic center, with its plaza, mission church and galleries, wears the season especially well, and the Thursday evening art walk through the gallery district makes for an easy, unhurried evening.

The table is in full season as well. Our concierge holds priority reservations at El Farallón, Cocina de Autor, Flora Farms, Acre, Sunset Monalisa and Nobu. For an evening that stays at the house, a private chef can compose a Christmas Eve dinner in the villa, the menu written around the family rather than a set course. And the weather makes December an ideal month for golf, with priority tee times arranged at Quivira, Diamante Dunes and El Cardonal, Querencia and Palmilla.

Where to stay

In December the house becomes the center of the trip, and the season rewards space. In Pedregal, Villa La Datcha, beachfront with ten bedrooms for up to twenty guests, a private spa and three chefs and six butlers included, is made for a multigenerational holiday. On the Corridor, Villa Cielito sits on the swimmable beach at Chileno Bay, with seven bedrooms for up to sixteen. Each is presented in the villa collection, and our guide to San José del Cabo or Cabo San Lucas helps settle where to base.

Planning December

A few principles shape a good December. For the first half of the month, a few weeks' notice is often enough. For the holidays, villas and the weekly yachts are best reserved many months ahead, and flights or private aviation into San José del Cabo arranged at the same time. If the whales matter, plan more than one morning on the water, since they keep their own schedule. And leave the evenings open: the light goes early, and the best of December is often the hour after it does.

When you are ready, our concierge will compose the month around your dates, from the first morning at sea to the last dinner of the year. Plan my charter, explore the fleet, or inquire about a December stay in Los Cabos.