Cabo del Este

About 95 km south of La Paz along the numerous beaches of the Sea of Cortes and facing Punta Pescadero is the area known as rancho Buena Vista and Los Barriles. En 1953, the Rancho Buena Vista hotel starts with twelve rooms and an airstrip, followed in 1958 by the Bahia de Palmas hotel, thus opening the gates to tourism on the East Cape or Cabo del Este as it is known locally. From Buena Vista y Los Barriles, located 64 km north of San Jose del Cabo, many side routes open up leading to various hotels and anchorages scattered along the Bahia de Palmas and the spectacular East Cape coastline.

Access to this tourist corridor, where villas and summer homes have been built, is usually made by land or air, either through the small private airfield operating near Los Barriles or the San Jose del Cabo airport. Geographic points of reference are Punta Pescadero to the north and Cabo Pulmo and Los Frailes, just below the Tropic of Cancer.
In the past, the rural communities in the region were dedicated and to cattle ranching and fruit growing.

In the early seventies, the construction of a small road connecting the local settlements and towns served to reduce their isolation and development followed.

At first, the initiative to develop tourist service was taken by foreign visitors who fell in love the region and established simple friendly hotels. The lack of any major infrastructure for tourism and the predominance of pristine beaches caught the attention of the outsiders.

Years later, in the early seventies, the increasing demand resulted investment in first class hotels, such as those found at Punta Colorada, Cabo Pulmo, Los Frailes and Cabo del Este which offer over three hundred rooms in four star hotels and a 200 boats sport fishing fleet.

Fishing is the primary tourist attraction of the region, which is known as the "Marlin's World Capital". The coastline still preserves the charm that San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas had two or three decades ago. Sport fishing for marlin primarily, as well as dorado, roosterfish, tuna and sailfish is at peak from may to October. Many tourist continue, however, to prefer the safe and clean sandy beaches for swimming and scuba diving, sailing and windsurfing. In the surrounding hills, activities include mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding, climbing and bird watching.

The suburban area of Los Barriles - Buena Vista has supermarkets, restaurants, small mall, laundries, gas stations, a tour operator, currency exchanges and many other visitor services.