Young & Dumb but In Love; Honeymooning in Cabo San Lucas 1993!!

Destination: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Date: December 1993

Forgive our grainy selfies as we Honeymoon in
Cabo San Lucas Mexico, December 1993

I guess our love of travel stems back to the very beginning of our relationship.  Before Trent and I got married my travel had revolved around trips to my grandparents homes in Maryland or Central California.  I guess we did sneak in a few trips to Utah while we were taking my older siblings to college but my travel was pretty limited.  When Trent and I started making our wedding plans he took over the job of planning our honeymoon, and of course I didn't care where we went, as long as I could be with him!  So in light of it being Valentines I thought I'd post about our honeymoon to Cabo San Lucas Mexico!

For me this was a very exotic location.  For one I'd never left the country, actually I take that back we did got to Tijuana once when I was twelve, but does Tijuana count?  Secondly, I was leaving the country with my new husband and no parents.  Crazy!  Well in my young mind it was!  Thankfully Trent had just returned from a two-year mission for our church in Guatemala so I felt like I was in the hands of a world traveler.

Trent found his catch at the Giggling Marlin
Cabo San Lucas Mexico December 1993

I can't say I have too much in the way of travel tips on this location but its fun to look back at the activities we did do while we were there.  The Giggling Marlin and Señor Frogs were popular locations and since they were known primarily for being bars we stayed away during the night scene.  We did go check them out during the day and took a few memorable photos but I don't think either is known for the delicacy so I don't think I remember liking the food very much.

I think that shirt I was wearing was in my rotation for the next 10 years!  Trent and I eating somewhere in
Cabo San Lucas Mexico, December 1993

In 1993 Cabo was under a lot of construction.  I think there had been a natural disaster within a few years of our honeymoon and so much of the area was being rebuilt.  At the time there was an "old" and a "new" part of the city.  We had a room in the "old" part and I remember that the $6 per person taxi ride to the "new" part of town was too expensive for our young blood.  So like a newly returned missionary, Trent introduced me to public transportation... the bus.  We felt like this was a great money saver at only $1.50 per person to the "new" part of town, though it took much longer to travel the six miles between.  I remember very vividly how pungent the smell was on the bus and just like the movies some locals did have a few chickens on board.  It was a crazy ride with loud Mexican music playing and made one of the greatest impacts on my memory.

Who wouldn't fall in love with this cutie!  Trent at the Malia Hotel
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico December 1993

Staying in the "old" part of Cabo had the draw back of older hotels.  We were enticed by the new and beautiful hotels on the "new" side.  At the time the Melia Hotel was a new hot spot and we sneaked onto the property to enjoy the facilities of the resort.  We felt we were so sneaky enjoying our Virgin Pina Coladas poolside and made a point of never taking a towel with us because having a towel of another resort was a sure sign of being an impostor.

While we were in Cabo we also went horseback riding on the beach.  Unlike the movies we were not given gallant steeds to take us on our seaside ride.  Our horses looked more like starving animals that should be featured in a Sarah Mclachlin TV ad but we didn't dare ask for healthier animals.  Being a country girl myself, and not off the ranch for very long, I was very disturbed by our rides so I made sure we took it slow and didn't press these Mexican horses too much. We never even broke into a trot.

On our glass bottom boat ride out to Divorce Beach and Lovers Beach
Cabo San Lucas Mexico December 1993

Another fun activity we did was go on a glass bottom boat ride.   Of course this was something that was totally new to me!  I guess I really expected the bottom of the boat to be clear like looking into an aquarium in the states, but I was sadly misguided.  Of course seeing through the water in the Pacific Ocean is much more difficult than the clear blue waters of the Caribbean.  Even if the water was clear it had to be still so that the sand wouldn't rush under us and block our view of anything underneath.  The funny thing was our glass bottom boat ride was through some of the most torrential waters where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez.  These glass bottom boats can be accessed by Darsena Marina and really are a fun, even though it was no aquarium experience!

Here there is a small stretch of land that hosts two beaches.  One side is called Lovers Beach where the water is calm and beautiful and faces the Sea of Cortez.  The other side of this beach is called Divorce Beach and it is choppy and rough, as the water crashes up on land from the Pacific Ocean.  Our glass bottom boat ride was a $5 ride to visit these two beaches and gave a very distinct memory of how different these two beaches were.

Because there is no dock on these beaches we had to jump out near the land and walk up to Lovers Beach.  Here it is calm, beautiful, and made me wish Trent and I had the place to ourselves.  On the other side, Divorce Beach, swimming is not recommended due to the terrible undertow, and that made me even afraid to get near the waters edge.  It was a great place to visit especially since we were Honeymooners!

Beach side in Cabo
Cabo San Lucas Mexico, December 1993

Of course there is more to Cabo than the beach and sitting poolside, but of course we were on a honeymoon and that is all we wanted to do!  On a return trip, Trent went on an amazing four-wheeling trip with his friends of the BYU Entrepreneur group.  I also hear that Cabo has an amazing golf course, and if I was to go back now I would make sure to find a five-star hotel and wouldn't worry about my taxi ride.  I also wouldn't have spent three hours walking the streets of Cabo looking for the "cheap" breakfast place our room attendant told us about while at our hotel on the "old" side of Cabo.  *We actually did finally find that breakfast place and it was the best $3 meal we ate the entire time we were down there.  However, all of this added to the adventure of the entire experience.

I would pack smarter shoes and would worry less about fashion, and more about practicality especially on some of those cobble stone streets of "old" Cabo.  I also wouldn't have bought a time share on my honeymoon just to hear the applause of those in the room at that darn Melia Hotel.  Good thing we got out of that contract with only a minimal loss.  We were young and dumb but we were in love and Cabo will always have a special place where we jumped off a huge cliff together and have landed almost twenty years later more in love than ever!

Happy Valentines, Trent!  You will always be my first and only true love!!

Safe, Happy, and Travel with your True Love Everyone!!