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El Arco is the natural rock archway carved into the granite cliffs at the very tip of the Baja California peninsula, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. It's Los Cabos' most photographed landmark, reachable only by boat from the Cabo San Lucas marina, and the surrounding rocks are home to a resident colony of California sea lions.
Visitor guide
El Arco, also called Land's End, is the natural rock arch at the southern tip of Cabo San Lucas, where the Baja California peninsula ends and the Pacific Ocean meets the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. It is the best-known landmark of Los Cabos and stands among a line of granite rock formations at the end of the peninsula.
According to Wikipedia, the arch is a granitic rock formation at the southern tip of Cabo San Lucas, locally called El Arco, meaning the arch, or Land's End. The basement rock of Los Cabos formed through intrusive igneous processes about 115 million years ago, in the Cretaceous period, and the arch was shaped by natural erosion. Wikipedia describes it as three stories tall and lists an elevation of about 61 meters for the site. At this point the Pacific becomes the Gulf of California, so one side of the arch faces the rougher Pacific and the other the calmer Sea of Cortez.
Lover's Beach, Playa del Amor, lies on the calm Sea of Cortez side beside the arch, and Divorce Beach is on the rougher Pacific side. Local tradition uses these names for the contrast between the two coasts, and they are well known even though the names are informal. The sea around the formation is rich in wildlife, and the rocks are a popular gathering spot for sea lions, which can often be seen from the water.
The arch is widely used in hotel and tourism advertising across the Los Cabos corridor and is the city's best-known landmark. The whole area is in a hot desert climate, and Wikipedia notes that whales travel from the north to calve in the warm waters of the Gulf of California in winter. The surrounding waters also host rays, sharks, mahi-mahi and striped marlin.
The arch is viewed from the water. Wikipedia notes it can be reached by land or by boat from the beach of the last Pacific hotel, but that reaching it on foot involves climbing large rocks and that entry by small craft can be dangerous when the sea is running. Water levels near the arch change significantly, and staying close to its sides is not recommended. For these reasons most visitors view it from boat tours that depart from the marina or from Medano Beach.
Sea conditions vary by day and season, so boat tours are the usual way to see El Arco up close. A private tour with a driver can handle the road transfer to the marina or beach, while the boat trip itself is with an authorized operator.
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