About Best of Cabo
The Art of Knowing Cabo
We exist for the traveler who won't settle for ordinary — because Baja California Sur never has to be.
200+
Verified listings
5
Regions covered
12+
Years in Baja
0
Paid placements
Our Mission
Cabo through the eyes of people who never left
Best of Cabo was built by a team of photographers, travel writers, and long-term Baja residents who grew tired of seeing their home described through the lens of all-inclusive package tours and generic travel blogs. The reality is richer, stranger, and more beautiful than any brochure suggests.
There's a taco stand near the marina that's been run by the same family for forty years. There's a sunset boat charter whose captain knows where the humpbacks feed. There's a boutique hotel in Todos Santos where the courtyard looks like a dream you've had before. There's a cliff-side restaurant at the Waldorf Pedregal where you choose your dinner from a live seafood display while the Pacific crashes thirty feet below.
We know these things because we live here. Best of Cabo is our attempt to share that knowledge with everyone who arrives wanting more than the obvious — and to make sure that first-timers and returning visitors alike leave knowing they found the best version of the place, not just the most convenient one.
Who's Behind This Guide
Built by someone who actually lives here
Best of Cabo is produced by Bryan Rayburn and Rayburn Media Group — a travel media company with deep roots in Los Cabos. Bryan spends four months of every year on the ground in Baja California Sur, and has spent years building relationships with the people who actually run this place.
That network includes property developers shaping the next generation of Los Cabos real estate, restaurateurs and chefs pushing Baja cuisine into international conversation, fishing captains who know these waters by heart — and business owners and entertainers including Sammy Hagar and his partners, whose fingerprints on Cabo's culture run deeper than most visitors realize.
The guide exists because the insider view of Cabo — what's actually worth your time, what to skip, where the locals eat, and what the next great thing is before it gets discovered — is genuinely different from what you'll find on any aggregator. That difference is what Rayburn Media Group is here to publish.
4 months per year in Baja California Sur
Property developers, chefs, fishing captains, hoteliers, and business owners across Los Cabos
Direct relationships with Cabo's entertainment and hospitality community
Every listing verified firsthand — no press kits, no paid placements
Rayburn Media Group — travel media production & destination marketing
sales@rayburnmedia.com
What We Stand For
Six principles behind every recommendation — the guide lives or dies by these
Locally Rooted
Our team lives in Baja California Sur year-round. Every recommendation comes from firsthand experience — not press kits, not comped stays, not affiliate agreements.
Uncompromising Curation
We don't list everything — we list the best. If it isn't genuinely exceptional, it doesn't make the guide. A shorter, honest list beats a long, indiscriminate one.
Photography That Matches the Place
Baja California Sur is one of the most visually striking places on earth. We believe the photography has to be worthy of the destination. Every image is shot on location.
The Full Spectrum
Five-star tasting menus and family taco stands. Luxury resort pools and hidden surf breaks. We cover the full range because the full range is what makes Baja extraordinary.
No Paid Placements
Editorial positions are never for sale. A restaurant can't buy its way into the dining guide. A resort can't buy a five-star rating. The guide earns its trust by protecting it.
Built With Locals
Chefs, fishing captains, hotel managers, expats, and third-generation Baja families all contribute to what we know. The guide is as much theirs as ours.
How We Build the Guide
The vetting process behind every listing
The guide has one standard: would we send a close friend here and stand behind the recommendation? Everything else is secondary. That means the process is slower and more expensive than publishing a comprehensive directory. We think that's the right trade.
Baja changes constantly — chefs move, resorts renovate, the hidden gem becomes the tourist trap. We treat the guide as a living document and review existing listings on a rolling basis. A property doesn't stay in the guide by inertia. It stays by continuing to earn its place.
Local Research First
Every listing starts with a referral from someone who actually lives here — a chef, a fishing guide, a long-term expat, or a hotel manager who knows what's good. We don't start from travel aggregators.
In-Person Verification
No listing goes live without a firsthand visit. For restaurants, that means multiple meals across different service times. For resorts, overnight stays. For activities, the actual experience.
Ongoing Review
Cabo changes. Restaurants turn over. Properties improve or decline. The guide is updated continuously — a listing that was exceptional two years ago gets re-evaluated before it stays in the guide.
No Paid Placement
Editorial positions cannot be purchased. A business that reaches out to 'get listed' goes through the same vetting process as one we found on our own. The guide's value depends on that being non-negotiable.
Coverage Area
Five regions. One peninsula.
Cabo San Lucas
The Marina · Land's End · Médano BeachThe iconic marina, the Arch of El Arco, Médano Beach, and the most celebrated dining and nightlife scene on the Pacific coast of Mexico. This is where the peninsula ends and Baja mythology begins — cliff-side fine dining, five-star resorts tucked into volcanic rock, world-class sportfishing from the marina docks, and a nightlife strip that has hosted everyone from Sammy Hagar to Beyoncé. Cabo San Lucas is the anchor of the guide and the reason most visitors first make the trip.
San José del Cabo
Art District · Estero Sanctuary · CorridorTwenty minutes up the Corridor from Cabo San Lucas, San José offers an entirely different rhythm. The Thursday Art Walk through the colonial Calle Obregón gallery district, the Estero San José bird sanctuary and estuary, organic farm-to-table dining, and boutique design hotels that attract the traveler who prefers character over scale. The Corridor between the two towns is where the most dramatic coastal resort properties sit — the Waldorf Pedregal and The Cape among them.
Todos Santos
UNESCO Biosphere · Surf · Farm-to-TableAn hour north of Cabo on the Pacific side, Todos Santos occupies a singular position in the Baja landscape — a UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve town that has attracted a creative community of artists, chefs, and architects without losing its essential character. The surf breaks are world-class. The farm-to-table restaurant scene is operated by people who moved here specifically to cook. The Hotel California is here, though the Eagles connection is disputed. The magic is not.
La Paz
Whale Sharks · Espíritu Santo · The MalecónThe capital of Baja California Sur is the peninsula's most underrated destination. Swimming with whale sharks in the bay — one of only a handful of places on earth where it's reliably possible — is reason enough. So is Espíritu Santo island, a UNESCO World Heritage site an hour offshore where sea lions and pristine reefs define what uninhabited looks like. The malecón sunset walk along the Sea of Cortez is the most peaceful hour you can spend in Baja.
Cerritos Beach
Surf Break · Boutique Stays · Pacific SunsetsMidway between Cabo and Todos Santos, Cerritos is the Pacific coast's most approachable surf break — consistent enough for beginners, with enough shape for experienced surfers, and a stretch of beach framed by the kind of boutique hotels and palapa restaurants that define what a low-key Baja afternoon is supposed to feel like. The sunsets face due west over open Pacific. There is no marina, no mega-club, no crowds. That's the entire point.
What's in the Guide
Six sections covering everything that matters — start anywhere
Resorts
→The finest properties from the Waldorf Pedregal to boutique design hotels across the corridor.
Dining
→From El Farallón's cliffside seafood to the best taco stand on Calle Hidalgo.
Activities
→Sportfishing, whale watching, ATV tours, snorkeling, and everything in between.
Nightlife
→Live music, mega-clubs, rooftop bars, and the Cabo Wabo Birthday Bash.
Travel
→How to get here, when to come, and what to know before you land at SJD.
Services
→Concierge, transportation, real estate, and the people who make the trip seamless.
“The Sea of Cortez is the world's aquarium. The Pacific side is its most dramatic coastline. And the people of Baja California Sur are among the warmest you'll ever meet. Our only job is not to get in the way of any of that.”
Bryan Rayburn — Best of Cabo
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