Los Cabos: Four Seasons at Costa Palmas — Trip Report

Overview

Costa Palmas is on the East Cape of Baja California Sur, on the Sea of Cortez side rather than the Pacific, about an hour by road from the airport at San José del Cabo. It is a different Los Cabos from the one at Land's End: a long, swimmable beach, a marina, a golf course, and a Four Seasons with low villas set back behind the dunes. The water is calm enough to swim in, which is not true of most of the Cabo San Lucas beaches. The trip was for Jeannie’s mom’s 75th birthday, so it was family, three bedrooms, and a long weekend planned around one table a night.

Where we stayed

Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas. The resort is low and spread out: stone, travertine and wood-slat roofs, with desert planting between the buildings and the beach a walk down through the gardens. We stayed in a three-bedroom villa, booked through Four Seasons Preferred Partner, with the amenities that come with it.

The resort sign at the entrance, cactus and grasses in front.

Travertine breezeway with a wood-slat ceiling framing palms and the sea — The breezeway from the lobby, framing the sea.

A bare tree throwing its shadow across the stone courtyard.

Steve, Jeannie and family under the breezeway with welcome drinks, the sea behind — Welcome drinks under the breezeway.

The beach and the pool

The beach is long, flat and wide, with a line of white umbrellas on the sand and the mountains across the water. There is a cooler for every beach chair, so cold water is never a walk away. The main pool sits behind the dunes beside a pavilion built on granite boulders.

Wind-bent palms over the lagoon, golf green, dunes and the sea — Wind-bent palms over the lagoon and the dunes.

The line of white umbrellas on the resort beach, mountains across the water.

Granite boulders at the edge of the pool, the pavilion behind.

The beach at dusk, villas behind the dunes.

A beer on ice in the cooler beside the beach chair.

Jeannie and family with coconuts under the white umbrellas on the beach — Coconuts under the white umbrellas.

Delphine, the beach club

Delphine is the beach club restaurant at the Costa Palmas marina end of the beach, under scalloped yellow umbrellas with a marble bar and loungers on the sand. Lunch is Mediterranean: hummus and grilled flatbread, burrata on toast, and a cocktail that arrives with a flower frozen into the ice.

The tender dock at Delphine beach club, seen from between the palms — The tender dock at Delphine, from between the palms.

Scalloped yellow beach-club umbrellas layered over loungers and the sea — The yellow umbrellas at Delphine, layered over the loungers and the sea.

Yellow umbrellas and loungers on the beach club sand.

Jeannie under the yellow umbrellas at Delphine.

Hummus, grilled flatbread and vegetables at lunch.

Burrata on grilled bread with asparagus and pea shoots.

A cocktail with a flower frozen into the ice.

Dinner

Dinner was outdoors every night. Estiatorio Milos, the Greek seafood restaurant on the beach, is the table at dusk with the champagne. The Nursery, the farm-to-table restaurant at the end of the garden walk and normally reserved for Costa Palmas homeowners, is the open-fire kitchen cooking under the trees. Mozza Baja, Nancy Silverton’s Italian restaurant at the marina, is the red lacquered tables and the palms wound with lights.

The garden walk to The Nursery, the farm-to-table restaurant for Costa Palmas homeowners — The walk through the gardens to The Nursery, the farm-to-table restaurant reserved for Costa Palmas homeowners.

Champagne on a beachfront table at dusk at Estiatorio Milos — Champagne at Estiatorio Milos, the beachfront table at dusk.

The open-fire kitchen under the trees at The Nursery.

Steve and Jeannie at dinner at Mozza Baja, under the lit palms — Us at dinner at Mozza Baja, under the lit palms.

Steve and Jeannie on a lamplit path at the resort, ready for a night out — Ready for a night out.

The family on the tender after dinner, night on the water — The tender home after dinner.

Celebrating Mom’s 75th birthday at Costa Palmas — Celebrating Mom’s 75th birthday.

The golf course

The Costa Palmas course is an 18-hole championship layout designed by Robert Trent Jones II. It runs through desert and dunes with the Sea of Cortez and the East Cape mountains in view, boulders in the fairways, and a clubhouse bar that looks straight down the holes. Every fourth hole has a cooler sunk into the ground beside the tee, under a cactus, with cold tequila shots inside.

The course from under a palm, the mountains behind.

The cactus cooler: an ice chest sunk into the ground beside the tee — The cactus cooler beside the tee, refilled with tequila every fourth hole.

The bar at the course, terracotta and timber.

The marina

The marina is a short walk from the resort. Tenders leave from the dock for fishing and the islands, and they will also run you across the water to the beach club and the restaurants, which is the better way to arrive for dinner. The water at the dock is clear enough to watch the fish from the path.

A guineafowl puffer, Arothron meleagris, in the marina water — A guineafowl puffer, *Arothron meleagris*, in the marina water.

Pro tips

Book the airport transfer ahead. Costa Palmas is an hour from San José del Cabo, and there is no taxi rank at the resort end.
Grab a drink at the bar outside the airport for the drive. There is one just past the exit; an hour on the road goes faster with a cold one in hand.
This is the swimmable side. Sea of Cortez, not Pacific. Most Cabo San Lucas beaches are not safe to swim; this one is.
Book through a Four Seasons Preferred Partner agency. Same rate as booking direct, and the amenities only attach that way.
Reserve Delphine for lunch. The umbrella tables on the sand go first.
Ask about The Nursery. It is reserved for homeowners; ask the concierge whether a table can be arranged.
Take the tender to dinner. The marina boats run to the beach club and the restaurants.

Book a trip like this

The resort participates in Four Seasons Preferred Partner, and this stay was booked through it. The rate is the same as booking direct; the amenities only attach when the booking is placed through a participating agency. Jeannie can research and book a stay like this one. See Book with Jeannie.