Cabo San Lucas (popularly known as just Cabo) is a small city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula at 22.88° N 109.90° W, in the municipality of Los Cabos in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico. As of the 2005 census, the population was 56,811 people. It is the largest community in Los Cabos municipality, and the second-largest in Baja California Sur, after La Paz.

Cabo San Lucas is quickly becoming a high-end holiday destination with a number of resorts and timeshare clubs appearing along the coast between San Lucas and San José del Cabo.

History

It is thought that the first humans came to the southern end of the peninsula 14,000 years ago. When the first Europeans arrived, nomadic groups of Pericú survived on a subsistence diet based on the gathering of fruit, seeds, roots, and shellfish, as well as hunting and fishing. They lived a Neolithic lifestyle, without metals.

The Town's Founding
According to Hatsutaro's narrative contained in the book Kaigai Ibun, when he arrived to Cabo San Lucas, on May 1842, this place consisted of only two houses and about twenty inhabitants. However, American authors like Henry Edwards and J. Ross Browne claim that Cabo San Lucas' founder was an Englishman named Thomas Ricthie, aka Old Tom Ricthie. J. Ross Browne says that the Ricthie arrived to Cabo around 1828, while Henry Edwards says that he died around October 1874. On the web check Tres Semanas en Mazatlán

At the beginning of the 20th century a fishing village began to develop in that area. In 1917, an American company built a floating platform to catch tuna, and ten years later founded the Compañía de Productos Marinos, S.A., which gave rise to the village.

The Development Rush
The warmth of the waters at Cabo San Lucas, the beauty of its beaches, the abundance of sport fish, and other qualities, motivated a great number of both foreign and Mexican vacationers to spend their vacations in large-scale tourist developments there, starting from 1974 when the Mexican government created the infrastructure to turn Cabo San Lucas into one of the most attractive centers for tourism in Mexico.

Tourism

Cabo San Lucas has become an important vacation and spa destination, with a great variety of sites of interest, and timeshares that have been built on the coast between San Lucas and San José del Cabo. The distinctive El Arco de Cabo San Lucas is a local landmark. Cabo San Lucas has the largest Marlin tournament in the world. In the winter, pods of whales can be observed in the ocean. They bear their calves in the warm waters there.

Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo are served by Los Cabos International Airport. The town is also a popular port of call for many cruise ships. Cabo San Lucas has a small international airfield, which handles air traffic for general aviation flights and air taxi service.

In 1990, California based Rocker Sammy Hagar of Van Halen and Montrose fame, opened his own nightclub and restaurant, The Cabo Wabo Cantina with the three other members of Van Halen. In the mid-nineties he bought out the other owners, his bandmates, and assumed complete ownership of the club. To this day it is one of the most popular attractions in Cabo San Lucas. He is known to play live at the club at least once a year with his band, The Wabos on his birthday, October 13th, and shows often include many famous guests and friends from the music industry.

Other clubs in Cabo are El Squid Roe,The Zoo,Gigglin Marlin, NoWhere Bar, Tini bar, The Jungle Bar, are all bar/clubs including others that are popular.

The people mentioned on the MTV show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County take their spring break here. Small sections of the motion picture Troy were filmed on some of the beaches near Cabo San Lucas. Professional hockey player Brett Hull married longtime sweetheart Darcie Schollmeyer in Cabo San Lucas.

The area of Cabo San Lucas or "Cabo" is frequently mentioned on the TV drama The OC.

It is also the final destination of the main character of the TV comedy Arrested Development at the conclusion of the series.

In 2006, Hart and Huntington Tattoo Company, owned by motocross superstar Carey Hart (married to pop superstar P!nk), opened its doors and is located next door to the El Squid Roe night club/ restaurant. The Cabo location is the 3rd out of four to open in locations ranging from Las Vegas, Orlando and Hawaii. Hart and Huntington gained recognition as the first tattoo shop to be featured in a reality show series, Inked. Hart and Huntington is recognized worldwide as an upscale tattoo parlor that often caters to celebrities.

On April 26, 2007, Jon Stewart mentioned on his show, The Daily Show, that he is banned from Cabo San Lucas.

Prince mentions Cabo San Lucas in his song Future Baby Mama on his 2007 album entitled Planet Earth.

The Golden Corridor

Cabo San Lucas raucous party atmosphere and San Jose’s laid-back colonial style are bridged by a golf course- and resort-studded Tourist Corridor that stretches between the twin towns in 20 miles of pristine white sand beaches and craggy coves.

Exclusive hotels and gated residential communities attracting a wide clientèle of rich and famous weave seamlessly amid this wondrous landscape and comprise this region known as “the Corridor”. Many of these properties, which are considered some of Latin America’s top resorts, have become havens to Hollywood stars, Fortune 500 C.E.O.s and even the U.S. president during the 2002 Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC).

The most famous beach in Cabo San Lucas, Medano, is perfect for watersports, snorkeling, swimming, and sunbathing, while smaller beaches dot the coastal area between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. Some of these more isolated beaches include Barco Varado, Chileno, Palmilla, Santa Maria, and Vista del Arco. The natural beauty of Cabo San Lucas is also a major draw, and some of the best ways to experience it include: kayaking, sailing, camping, horseback riding, walking, hiking, and on cruises. There are health spas in Cabo San Lucas, providing an opportunity for those looking at real estate and homes for sale in Cabo San Lucas to relax and calm themselves. At night, Cabo San Lucas comes alive with a vibrant nightlife and excellent club scene, while those who enjoy more formal celebrations can enjoy the fine dining in the area.