World Traveller February 2020

BAJA CALIFORNIA
aja California, one of the
longest peninsulas in the
world, hangs like a relaxed
arm by the torso of Mexico.
It's where the ultra-wealthy
come to be pampered.
And they do that well here. I had my first
four-handed massage, a 120-minute,
perfectly choreographed ballet of knuckles
and Popeye forearms that, I was told,
would make me feel like a new person.
I did, albeit a slightly flatter one, like
a ball of partially rolled-out pastry.
Los Cabos, the catch-all for the twin
towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del
Cabo, at the tip of the peninsula, became
a hideaway for the rich and famous in
the 1950s, when John Wayne would fly
down from Hollywood in a propeller
plane to weekend at the elegant hacienda
that is now the One&Only Palmilla.
This area, where the Sea of Cortez and
the Pacific Ocean meet, was a wild
desert of elephant cacti, vast beaches
and rusty-fissured canyons. It hasn't
changed much, apart from the influx of
luxury hotels, which began to open in
the 1990s and have boomed in the past
five years; recent newcomers include the
Four Seasons and the Waldorf Astoria.
And, as these grand palaces have risen
from the desert, so have the prices.
I was staying at the Montage Los Cabos
where rooms with huge terraces, giant
beds and colour palettes of pale stone
and blues sit above meticulously mown
lawns and infinity pools that look out over
the opalescent water of Santa Maria Bay.
Sandwiched between butterscotch cliffs
that glow at sunrise, this is one of the
area's few swimming beaches – most of
the Pacific ones are blighted by powerful
rip currents. Besides the massage and
lounging in the spa, I kayaked at dawn,
watched the release of 250 baby turtles on
the beach and ate fine-dining versions of
shrimp tacos al pastor, all while rubbing
shoulders with actresses, former US
senators and Hollywood producers.
I could have stayed cocooned in
the resort, but when Adele, Bono and
Leonardo DiCaprio weekend in Los
Cabos, they eat at Flora Farms, an allorganic
restaurant, farm and spa spread
across mango groves in the foothills
of the Sierra de la Laguna mountains.
Its 25 acres bubble with Americans
holding a wineglass in one hand and a
bottle in the other as they trail between
posh boutiques and cookery classes.
I settled for a lunch of sea bass with
farro, grape tomatoes and caramelised
garlic beneath the red corrugated-iron
barn roof, festooned with fairy lights
and strings of miniature sombreros.
Next door, hidden in the jungle, Acre is
another high-profile hotspot: a hip bar and
restaurant in moulded concrete, sprinkled
with blue-patterned handmade tiles. Chef
Alexander Branch has worked with the
Mexican celebrity chef Enrique Olvera, and
the roast lamb rack zinged with pumpkinseed
and mint romesco. If I had booked
one of the treehouse suites, I'd have had
more chance of spotting high-profile
guests such as Tim Allen, Sophie Turner
and Adam Levine. But being a mere mortal
surrounded by the glitterati is tough, so
I retreated to the new Nobu Hotel Los
Cabos, west of Cabo San Lucas. This lowkey-luxe
spot from the eponymous chef
has the clean lines and bold angles of a
modern-art museum. The minimalist
rooms, though, feel more Japanese than
Mexican, with honey-coloured wooden
screens, cream-stone sculptures, black
accents and deep Japanese bathtubs set
by a feature wall encrusted with pebbles.
I lounged in the maze of dark blue
pools, the crash of Pacific rollers in my
ears, slathered myself in freshly cut
aloe vera and sat sweating in the steam
room. Then I ate tuna tartare with
caviar at the signature restaurant as
dragonflies darted around my ankles.
The only thing not relaxing about
luxury hotels is the bill when you check
out, but there's another side to Baja that
won't bust the budget. An hour's drive
north, up the west coast of the peninsula,
is another duo of towns, El Pescadero and
Todos Santos, which make up a boho-surf
enclave and come at a far lower price.
They share 300 days of annual sunshine
and the same stretches of sand: Playa
Los Cerritos and Playa San Pedrito, both
a short drive away, are two of the best.
It takes barely five minutes on the
46 worldtravellermagazine.com