Cabo San Lucas Cruise Port: 5 Mistakes to Avoid Before You Get Off the Ship

Planning a Cabo San Lucas cruise stop? In this video, we share everything we learned visiting Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Navigator of the Seas during our 7-night Royal Caribbean Mexican Riviera cruise from Los Angeles to Cabo, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta. @RoyalCaribbean Cabo is a tender port, so getting off the ship can take a little planning—especially if you have an independent shore excursion or want to get ashore early. We explain how the Cabo tender ticket process worked on Navigator of the Seas, how early we recommend getting in line, and why passengers with a Royal Caribbean shore excursion may have a different tender process. Once ashore, our biggest advice is simple: have a plan for Cabo! The Cabo San Lucas marina can be busy and full of vendors offering water taxis, fishing trips, glass-bottom boats, snorkeling tours, beach trips, and other excursions. Instead of just wandering around, consider planning a Cabo Arch boat tour, visiting downtown Cabo San Lucas, relaxing at a Cabo beach, or finding some great Mexican food like tacos and elotes. For our day in Cabo, we booked an independent glass-bottom boat tour to El Arco / the Cabo Arch through Shore Excursions Group. The excursion cost us around $40 per person when we booked it and took us around Land’s End, past the famous rock formations and beaches, and toward the Pacific Ocean side of Cabo. We’ll show you what the tour was really like, how crowded the Arch area can get, and whether we thought this inexpensive Cabo excursion was worth the money. We also happened to visit shortly after Hurricane Genevieve in July 2026, when unusual ocean conditions had contributed to a temporary beach appearing near El Arco—something that doesn’t always exist and may disappear again as the sand shifts. And if you’re considering a Mexican Riviera cruise in July or August, be ready for the Cabo heat. Cabo San Lucas can feel extremely hot and humid in the summer, especially if you’re coming from a dry climate like Utah. We’ll share our tips for staying hydrated, avoiding the worst midday heat, and knowing when it’s perfectly okay to take the tender back and enjoy the cruise ship. In this video: • Cabo San Lucas cruise port tips • Cabo tender port explained • Navigator of the Seas tender tickets • Royal Caribbean Cabo excursions • Independent Cabo shore excursions • Cabo San Lucas marina • Cabo Arch / El Arco boat tour • Glass-bottom boat tour Cabo • Land’s End Cabo San Lucas • Cabo beaches and downtown Cabo • Cabo San Lucas weather in August • Mexican Riviera cruise tips • Navigator of the Seas Mexican Riviera • Cabo, Mazatlán & Puerto Vallarta cruise • What to do in Cabo from a cruise ship • Cabo San Lucas cruise mistakes to avoid Navigator of the Seas is moving to Singapore in late 2026, while Voyager of the Seas will continue offering Mexican Riviera cruises from Los Angeles, so these Cabo cruise tips should remain useful for future Royal Caribbean sailings as well. Have you visited Cabo San Lucas on a cruise? Tell us in the comments what you did—and what we should try when we return! 👍 Like the video if it helped 🔔 Subscribe to Travel with Nick and Tony for more cruise tips, Royal Caribbean reviews, casino offers, shore excursions, and ways to get more value out of every vacation. #cabosanlucas #CaboCruise #royalcaribbean #navigatoroftheseas #MexicanRivieraCruise #mexico #CaboArch #ElArco #cruisetips #shoreexcursions #voyageroftheseas