MEXICO
Mexico is one of the most biodiverse in the world, with a rich variety of ecosystems and wildlife, including the jaguar, the largest cat in the Americas.
ENSENADA
Closest Airport
We visited as part of a 5-night cruise. We did a pre-set tour of the area that we all had fun with (2 kids 3 and under; grandparents and parents). Overall, wouldn’t necessarily visit again unless on a cruise that made a stop—but may stay on the ship at that.
Casa Blanca:
The self-proclaimed origin of the margarita and an iconic building. It included a tour and tasting, but there was space for the kids to move around which was nice.
Warf:
Pretty architecture with lots of boats for the kids to look at. All of the restaurants price gauge ($25 USD for a shrimp cocktail) but don’t put the prices on the menu so beware. It also wasn’t the cleanest.
Shopping District:
Felt distinctly like a tourist trap, we were dropped off and picked up. It was very hot and outside of the shops there was not much shade and there were no bathrooms except small toilet stalls in the stores.
Closest Airport
CABO SAN LUCAS
Closest Airport
We again did a tour as part of our cruise in 2024. We walked around the shopping center which was very touristy (as expected). The overall area was stunning as our cruise ship pulled up, you can tell it's very tailored to American tourists (everywhere takes USD), so if you want a more authentic experience I’d explore other parts of Mexico, but for an inclusive vacation this was pretty good.
Cruise of the Arch:
Which was fun for the kids to be on a boat but a bit nerve-wracking as parents as the boat was fairly open-sided so keeping littles in the seats and their things from falling overboard wasn’t as easy as expected. The trip included juice and snacks which was very nice. The arch was very cool, kind of take a photo and leave but say you saw it. Overall, it was a well-done hour tour.
Beach time:
Beaches there are not super kid friendly because the water current is so strong, so you can’t exactly swim and splash around. We had to be very careful with the girls. We got a cabana which was nice for shade. The hawkers were everywhere and it wasn’t very clean so our daughters weren’t able to play in the sand in peace like they/we wanted to but we still had a lot of fun at this stop of the tour.