Rideshare apps work in both towns but cannot pick up at the airport, and the rule is enforced on the spot. Drivers who accept a fare there tend to ask passengers to walk off airport grounds to a fast highway, which is not something to do with luggage. Airport taxis exist, but they run on negotiated fares rather than meters, so the price is whatever you agree at the kerb. Meanwhile the arrivals hall is worked by people offering free transport, welcome drinks or help with your resort check-in, all of which lead to a timeshare presentation rather than your hotel. None of it is dangerous. It is simply the part of the trip nobody plans for, and it sets the tone of the first day.
There is also an option the usual advice leaves out. A public bus route runs from both terminals into Cabo San Lucas and continues between the two towns and the beaches in between. It is slow, it is not a resort product and it will not stop at a lobby door, but it exists and costs a fraction of anything else on offer. For most arrivals the sensible answer is still a transfer booked before departure, which removes the kerbside negotiation altogether. It is worth taking time to compare flight, room and transfer options for Los Cabos at https://destination.chat while your dates are still open, since the arrival hour and the choice of base shape everything after them.
The two towns really are different trips. Cabo San Lucas is the marina, the nightlife and the rock arch at the tip of the peninsula, and it holds the one beach in town that is reliably swimmable. San Jose del Cabo, up the coast, is quieter and older, built around a colonial square and a gallery district, with a beachfront that looks inviting and mostly is not. That part deserves to be taken seriously: much of this coast carries a strong undertow, the arch and the small beach beside it are reachable only by boat and only when the sea allows, and a flag system on the sand tells you which is which on the day. Whale season runs from winter into early spring on permitted operators working under distance rules, and much Mexico travel writing still treats the whole coast as one swimmable beach.
Where you sleep decides how often you need a vehicle. Cabo San Lucas stacks high-rise resorts and boutique hotels behind the marina, within walking distance of Medano Beach and the bars. Along the Corridor, golf resorts and villas sit in deliberate isolation around Palmilla, calm and beautiful and far from anything you did not already book. San Jose del Cabo keeps boutique hotels and guesthouses in the lanes around the Plaza Mijares and the gallery quarter, with the airport close by. Todos Santos, an hour north on the Pacific side, has small inns and guesthouses among the orchards, where the surf beaches are for looking at rather than swimming.
The car question follows from that. In either town centre a rental mostly sits in a car park, since both are walkable and the bus links them. On the Corridor it earns its keep, because the resorts are spaced along a highway with nothing between them, and it earns it again for Todos Santos and the east cape, where the timetable thins to almost nothing. The fast road from the airport is a toll road; the free one is slower and rougher. On the water, the boat trips to the arch and the whale excursions run on the same permitted operators the resorts resell, so the choice there is about convenience rather than access. Checking transfer, car and activity options at https://destination.chat before you fly settles the airport run, the rental window and any excursion at once. Personally, I would book the transfer and skip the car unless a Pacific day is on the list.
Season and paperwork are what remain. Winter brings the mildest heat, the whales and the highest rates, while summer is hot and much cheaper with a real hurricane risk running into early autumn. Two charges sit outside the headline price. The state levies a visitor fee on foreign arrivals staying longer than a day, paid online through its official portal rather than at a desk, charged once per stay rather than per night, with a code to show if anyone asks. A lodging tax is added to the hotel bill on top of that. The immigration formality has also changed shape, since arrivals by air are now issued the entry record electronically instead of on paper, while land crossings still use the paper form. The habit to avoid is the friendly desk in arrivals offering to sort out your transport.
Q: Can you use a rideshare app from the airport?
A: No. The apps run in the towns but cannot pick up at the terminal, and the rule is enforced. Drivers who accept a fare there often ask passengers to walk off airport grounds to a highway. Book a transfer or use an authorised taxi instead.
Q: Is there a public bus?
A: Yes. A route runs from both terminals into Cabo San Lucas and continues between the two towns and the beaches along the way. It is slow and will not reach a resort door, but it costs a fraction of a taxi.
Q: Is there anything to pay before arriving?
A: The state charges a visitor fee on foreign arrivals staying more than a day, paid online and once per stay, with proof kept on your phone. It is separate from immigration and from the lodging tax added to your hotel bill.
Q: Which beaches are safe for swimming?
A: Fewer than the photographs suggest. Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas is the dependable one, while much of the rest of the coast carries a strong undertow and is posted accordingly. Check the flags before going in.
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