Building Paradise: How Cabo Came to Be

Cabo is a small city in the state of Baja California Sur in Mexico. Right now the population is nearing 57,000 people and it is the largest community in Los Cabos, and the second largest in Baja California Sur. How did Cabo come to be associated with massive tourism in this late day and age? It is believed that the first people to visit Cabo came about 14,000 years ago. In the book "Kaigai Ibun" the narrator speaks of first arriving to Cabo San Lucas in 1842, and the small place only having two houses and about 20 people. Thomas Ricthie is often credited with discovering Cabo, however others say he arrived much earlier. 

Cabo was already destined to be something big, but what? It would take nearly another century for people to realize its potential. In the early 1900's a fishing village was started and in about 1917 an American company started catching tuna in the area. Little did they know when the Americans built a floating platform to help catch fish, they would later create the Compania de Productos Marinos, which would help to create the village of Cabo in time.

After a while, people started to take notice of Cabo's good qualities — its warmth, the clean beaches and the many, many fish! Mexican vacationers and other non-US travelers got the idea first — go to Cabo to enjoy fishing, swimming and sun! When the Mexican Government saw the potential that some businessmen were already exploiting and so started to create the infrastructure in 1974 that would later turn this small warm peninsula into a in a worldwide tourist attraction. From then on, more people got into the tourism business, including American businessmen, and now Cabo is a worldwide vacation destination!

Cabo has become not only an excellent place to vacation but even to live or come visit as a second home. Timeshares have been built all over the coast, and now many Cabo features are considered national landmarks. The aquatic life has never slowed down, as Cabo still boasts the largest Marlin tournament worldwide and whales are frequently sighted by tourists gazing at the ocean.

Cabo is serviced by the Los Cabos International Airport and is also a port location for the coming and going of cruise ships. You know Cabo must be a goldmine if Van Halen Rocker Sammy Hagar bought into it. In the year 1990, Hagar opened his own nightclub and restaurant in Cabo naming it the Cabo Wabo Cantina. It only took about five years for Hagar to realize he wanted this great place all to himself and so he bought out all the other owners and continues to own one of Cabo's biggest attractions to this day.

The beauty of Cabo San Lucas has long been known to mankind. It was only recently that he figured out that everyone deserves to enjoy a city this breathtaking at least once a year. It took Cabo some time to realize its destiny—as a tourist city, one that the entire world fell in love with.