CAPE COOL

This is a tale of two towns often mistaken for one. Before the hedonistic ’80s altered it everlastingly, Los Cabos was a serene, miniscule municipality. Those who knew about such things claimed it to be the most halcyon of seaside villages, not just on the Mexican coast, but perhaps on all of the continent. You came here to avoid pretty much anything you were trying to avoid, and to embrace a simple, pared-back reality among the sea spray. As with many such unspoiled destinations, the secret was destined to reach the outside world. And it did. Much of the Los Cabos legend was sensuously seeded by one Mr Ernest Hemingway, who fell deeply in lust with the tiny sheltered village on the tip of the Baja California Peninsula (the arm that hangs off Mexico’s right shoulder), drawn in by its big-game fishing.

Here the Sea of Cortez’s hot waters fuse