How Los Cabos celebrates Día de Muertos
November 1 remembers children and November 2 adults. Families build altars (ofrendas) with photos, marigolds, candles, pan de muerto and the favorite food and drink of the people they are remembering, and many visit and decorate graves at the local panteón.
The municipality runs its own program. In 2025 the Instituto de la Cultura y las Artes organized a celebration called Mictlán en el Desierto, the Cabo San Lucas delegation organized a festival and parade, and the fifth Festival Náutico de Día de Muertos ran November 1 to 4 on the Cabo San Lucas bay with floating altars and dances from Indigenous communities. The 2026 program had not been published when we checked.
Who it suits and how to be a good guest
Kids take to it easily, since face painting and catrinas are part of the fun. Cemetery visits are real family moments, not attractions. If you go, keep your voice down, ask before photographing people, and don't walk on graves.
Resorts and restaurants run brunches and themed dinners. Some are lovely, some are costume parties with marigolds. Our take: see at least one public altar display in town before you settle for a hotel version.
Getting there from Médano Beach
From the villa, the Cabo San Lucas marina is a 10 to 15 minute walk along the beach and boardwalk, which is where you'll see anything happening on the bay. Downtown plazas are a 5 to 10 minute taxi ride. San José del Cabo, with its own altars around the plaza and the Thursday art walk, is 30 to 40 minutes by car; see our San José del Cabo art walk page.
For dinner nearby, Maria Corona and Mi Casa are classic Mexican options in town.
What to bring and when to go
Go in the late afternoon and stay into the evening, when the candles are lit. Bring cash for pan de muerto and marigolds if you want to add something to a public altar, and a light layer for the breeze on the water. The first week of November is also when Cabo hosts the World Wide Technology Championship golf tournament, so traffic and restaurant bookings are tighter than usual.