Nadando Los Cabos

Nadando Los Cabos is an open water sea swimming event held along the coastline of San José del Cabo in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Staged as the opening stop of the Baja Swim Series, the gathering features sea courses measuring 2,000, 7,000, and 14,000 meters. The point-to-point 7-kilometer swim sets off from Puerto Los Cabos, while both the 2-kilometer sprint and the endurance 14-kilometer challenge launch directly from the sand at Playa Palmilla. All three courses culminate at the same finish line set right on the beach at Playa Palmilla. Open to anyone with open water swimming skills, the route sends competitors through crystal-clear waters bustling with marine life.

The San José estuary and the desert sea

About eight kilometres down the coast from the race area, a rare freshwater system shapes this arid marine environment. The San José River flows underground for 40 kilometers from the Sierra de la Laguna before surfacing into Mexico's third largest sandbar estuary behind a one-kilometer sand bar. This coastal wetland creates an unexpected lush oasis in the midst of the parched Sarcocaule desert. Along this stretch, the shoreline alternates between sweeping sandy beaches and craggy rock promontories that jut directly into the open ocean.

Aguada Segura: galleons and corsairs off San Bernabé

During the 16th century, Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno named the area Puerto de San Bernabé, establishing a vital maritime shelter on the Pacific coast. Known to transpacific navigators as Aguada Segura, the river mouth served as a crucial fresh water station where Manila-Acapulco galleons replenished their casks after months crossing from Asia. The Jesuit mission of San José del Cabo Añuití was founded beside the estuary in 1730, only to be heavily damaged in 1822 during an attack by the Chilean insurgent ship Independencia before its final abandonment in 1840.

Warm November water and the long cove of Playa Palmilla

In the shoulder season of October and November the sea off Los Cabos is warm, and November brings stable, dry conditions. Playa Palmilla is a stretch of soft white sand nearly a mile long, set along a protected cove where the water barely ripples. The southern part of Playa Palmilla has areas roped off for swimmers, separated from the boat launch zone used by local fishermen. Local fishermen launch small pangas from Playa Palmilla at dawn and return with fresh snapper and grouper. At low tide it is possible to follow the shoreline of Playa Palmilla towards San José del Cabo or to explore the tide pools among the rocks near the reef. The Baja Swim Series writes that humpback whales travel from thousands of kilometres away to give birth and raise their calves in the waters off Los Cabos.

Playa Palmilla: sheltered cove, reef life, and celebrity retreat

Swimmers complete their race in the protected waters of Playa Palmilla, a crescent-shaped Blue Flag beach tucked into a natural cove. The soft sand shelves out along a very gradual slope into calm, shallow waters, creating sheltered swimming conditions that also host the swim leg of the annual Ironman triathlon. Snorkelers explore the rocky points flanking the ends of the beach to spot tropical fish among the reefs. Out in deeper water beyond the bay, migrating humpback whales regularly breach between December and April. Back on the beach, rows of thatched palapas offer cool shade near the historic Hotel Palmilla. When the resort first opened in 1956, it was a secluded 15-room hideaway accessible only by boat or private plane, hosting famous guests like Lucille Ball and John Wayne above these calm ocean waters.