LOS CABOS, Mexico 鈥� The southern tip of the Baja California peninsula looks good and lively these days, but let me remind you how bad it was.
Hurricane Odile struck Los Cabos late Sept. 14, howling at 200 kilometres per hour.
It killed at least five people and forced the evacuation of about 30,000.
It tore off the roof of one airport terminal, shattered countless windows, flooded the desert with rain and high tides and scattered red roof tiles along the 29-kilometre tourist hotel corridor between the population centres of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.
The damage was worst near San Jose, but the entire region was crippled, with looting for days and power and water outages for weeks.
International flights didn鈥檛 resume until Oct. 8. Many of the area鈥檚 most luxurious hotels are still closed, including Esperanza, One&Only Palmilla and Las Ventanas al Paraiso.
Yet today, if you wander the Los Cabos area (population 238,000), you see gorgeous beaches, stark desert and business as usual 鈥� the bathers and vendors on Medano Beach, the creamy sand and fresh-scrubbed rock formations at Land鈥檚 End, the cruise ships looming in the deeper water, the water taxis puttering in the shallows, the marina touts hawking fishing expeditions, the mariachi struggling to be heard above Mick Jagger on the sound system.
At the far quieter Bungalows Hotel in Cabo San Lucas, a family business where I stayed in early February, all 16 guest rooms are in service after many repairs, the pool is full, the bougainvillea is in place and general manager Erik Alonso is once again hugging guests each morning as they arrive for breakfast. There鈥檚 still a missing palapa to replace on the upstairs deck, Alonso said, but since he reopened, business is running ahead of the previous year.
Within a few weeks of the hurricane, 鈥渄owntown looked like nothing happened,鈥� Alonso said.
As I headed out on the peninsular highway to San Jose, I saw more reconstruction and boarded-up doors as well as dozens of workers swarming the walls and roofs of the Hilton, the Hyatt Place and the Dreams Los Cabos Suites, all expected to reopen in coming months.
As February began, about 20聽per cent of the 14,000 hotel rooms in Los Cabos were still out of commission, most of them in and near San Jose. With some exceptions, such as the Resort at Pedregal, which reopened Jan. 31, the fanciest hotels seem to be reopening at the slowest pace.
鈥淚t was the fishermen who came back first,鈥� said Tracy Ehrenberg, owner of Pisces Sportfishing in the Cabo San Lucas marina.
Even though the company鈥檚 boats have been forced to launch from a different dock since Odile, 鈥渨e are very, very close to last year鈥檚 numbers.鈥�
Pisces鈥� luxury yacht rental income so far in 2015 is down 20聽per cent from last year, Ehrenberg said, but its sportfishing income is ahead eight per cent.
If you鈥檙e accustomed to spending less than $400 per night, you need not worry about delaying your Los Cabos plans. The sand, surf and desert scenery are as enticing as ever 鈥� fish jumping, zip-lines singing, restaurants serving, airport operating. Two new golf courses opened in December: Quivira Golf Club (designed by Jack Nicklaus) and El Cardonal at Diamante (designed by Tiger Woods).
If you鈥檙e accustomed to spending more than $400 a night on lodging, however, you may have a harder time finding an available room before June.
Overall, Los Cabos Tourism鈥檚 commercial director, Julieta Hernandez, estimated, hotel rates are largely unchanged from last year鈥檚 average rate of $225 a night. With 20 per cent of the hotel rooms out of action, beaches and sidewalks are less crowded, and vendors are competing for fewer customers.
鈥淲e got a really good deal on this,鈥� Betty Ostlie of Fargo, N.D., told me one afternoon as she collected a fruity cocktail at the swim-up bar of the beachfront, all-inclusive Holiday Inn Resort in San Jose.
She and her husband had come to celebrate their 40th anniversary. They鈥檇 had some doubts, because the resort鈥檚 largest pool and many guest rooms were still being repaired. But those worries fell away, she said, as hotel staffers decorated their room with flowers and left towels that were folded to look like swans. (The resort鈥檚 room rates for mid-April begin at $219 a night for two, all meals, drinks and taxes included.)
A tip: Whatever you鈥檙e paying, be sure to call the hotel鈥檚 front desk in advance for a detailed facilities report, not a call-center representative two time zones away.
And just because you see rubble or rebar doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 hurricane damage. For all the area鈥檚 natural wonders, most city blocks of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo have never been particularly lovely.
Thanks to galloping growth and lax government regulation since the peninsular highway was built in the 1970s, the area has always had plenty of potholes, half-completed buildings and improvised infrastructure. I stood at the corner of Benito Juarez and Constitucion in Cabo San Lucas, wondering whether the twisted street signs were hurricane damage. (Later I asked Erik Alonso. He wasn鈥檛 sure either.)
Of course, you鈥檒l find charm and grandeur too. In the exclusive Pedregal neighbourhood of Cabo San Lucas, I arrived at the recently reopened Resort at Pedregal through a torch-lighted tunnel, then stepped out to its El Farallon restaurant, which clings to a cliff side and offers jaw-dropping Pacific views. A chef showed off the day鈥檚 catch while a violinist played.
At the end of a dirt road outside San Jose, Flora鈥檚 Field Kitchen serves organic meals on an idyllic patio with dangling blown glass and 鈥渢he amazing Alba, world famous typewriter poet,鈥� ready to versify on request.
Meanwhile in Wild Canyon, an adventure park at the end of聽the dirt road between San Jose and Cabo San Lucas, eight zip-lines, a bungee-jumping rig聽and聽other attractions are back聽in聽use after frenetic reconstruction.
鈥淭he hurricane? You want me to cry?鈥� said Leon Robles, owner of Wild Canyon. Though the park structures鈥� foundations held, 鈥�80聽per cent of our infrastructure (above ground) broke or fell or was damaged somehow.鈥�
Wild Canyon鈥檚 1,082-foot-long wooden suspension bridge, which had opened nine months before, was mangled 鈥渓ike something in an Indiana Jones movie.鈥�
Moreover, Robles said, his insurance did not cover weather damage to structures. Facing about $1 million in damage and lost revenue, he said, he had no聽choice but to rebuild and reopen as fast as possible. By mid-November, the zip-lines were running. By late December, the suspension bridge was open.
Apparently, the fast work gave Wild Canyon an edge over competing attractions. So far this year, Robles said, his business is up 30聽per cent from 2014.
Times seem to be tougher among the water taxis. Capt. Armando Ramirez, a 10-year veteran who came to Baja from Sinaloa, estimated the business is down 30 per cent from last year. Arturo, another veteran water taxi worker who declined to give his last name, thought his shortfall was more like 50 per cent.
But Cabo is still Cabo. As Arturo鈥檚 boat neared Lovers Beach, a couple in the bow mixed a batch of Cognac-and-Red Bull cocktails and handed out plastic cups so all aboard could drink a toast to nothing in particular.
