Los Cabos does not have dive bars in the traditional sense. Los Cabos has tourist bars that got old enough to become dive bars by accident. The resort corridor between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo was built for spring breakers and honeymooners, not for cantina culture. But give any drinking town enough time and the rough spots appear. Some of the best bars in Los Cabos are the ones the resorts pretend do not exist.
We drank our way through both towns to find the five dive bars worth your time. Three sit in downtown Cabo San Lucas. One hides on the highway outside town. One anchors the historic district of San José del Cabo. Bring cash, lower your expectations for decor, and raise them for character.
What Makes the Best Dive Bars in Los Cabos Different
Cabo San Lucas is a party town that runs on all-inclusive wristbands and bottomless margarita buckets. The main strip along Boulevard Marina is loud, bright, and designed to separate tourists from their money as fast as possible. Squid Roe, Cabo Wabo, Mandala. These are not dive bars. These are theme parks with liquor licenses.
The dive bars in Los Cabos exist in the spaces between the party venues. They are the places where the bartenders know your name. The drinks cost what drinks should cost. Nobody is trying to sell you a shot from a test tube. Some are run by expats who came for a week and stayed for a decade. Some are run by locals who watched the resort boom change their city and decided not to change with it.
San José del Cabo is the quieter sibling. Its Art District and colonial downtown have a slower pace and a drinking culture built around conversation, not volume. The bars here feel more Mexican and less spring break. The two towns are 20 miles apart. They drink like they are on different planets.
1. Latitude 22+ Roadhouse
Mike Grzanich came to Cabo with a nautical background and a philosophy he turned into a slogan: No Bad Days. He opened the original Latitude 22+ in downtown Cabo San Lucas. In 2004, he moved the whole operation to Kilometer 4.5 on the Transpeninsular Highway, away from the tourist strip and into the kind of roadhouse that belongs on a desert highway.
The bar is packed with decades of accumulated character. More than 500 license plates cover the walls. Business cards from every state and country fill the gaps. Fishing memorabilia, marine artifacts, and photographs hang from every surface. The patio looks out over the Pacific through palm trees. On game day, every screen plays American football. This is the bar where Cabo’s long-term expat community gathers to eat meatloaf and pretend they never left the States.
The food is the sleeper hit. Grzanich built the menu around slow-roasted Croatian prime rib. It is not what you expect to find at a dive bar on a Mexican highway, but it works.
What to Order
The Croatian prime rib on a weekend night. During the week, the ribs and the burgers hold their own. A beer costs 40 to 60 pesos ($2 to $3 USD). Entrees run 180 to 350 pesos ($9 to $17 USD). Bring your own wine if you want it. The bar does not charge corkage. The Thanksgiving turkey dinner at 500 pesos ($25 USD) is the best deal in Cabo once a year.
What to Know
Latitude 22+ is at Kilometer 4.5 on the Transpeninsular Highway, heading toward San José del Cabo. You need a car or a taxi to get here. It is not walkable from downtown. Open Monday through Saturday, 9 AM to 10 PM. Closed Sundays. Seating for 120. The patio fills up on weekends. Arrive by 6 PM for an outdoor table. Live music some evenings. Dogs welcome.
Details
Km 4.5, Transpeninsular Highway, Cabo San Lucas. Open Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 10 PM. Closed Sunday. Phone: +52 624 143 1516.
2. Slim’s Elbow Room
Slim’s claims to be the smallest bar in the world. Four barstools. Two standing spots at the front window. That is the entire operation. The bar sits in the Plaza de los Mariachis on Boulevard Marina, wedged between souvenir shops and mariachi bands waiting for their next booking. It is the size of a walk-in closet that someone decided to fill with tequila instead of coats.
Every inch of wall and ceiling is covered in signed dollar bills. Visitors write their names, their hometowns, and whatever seemed clever after the third shot. The bills have been accumulating for years. Nobody counts them. Nobody takes them down. The honky-tonk music plays from a speaker that is probably older than most of the customers.
Slim’s sells beer, tequila, and seltzers. That is the full menu. The house tequila is Cinco Perros, a smooth triple-distilled brand. Buy any piece of merchandise with the “World’s Smallest Bar” logo and the bartender pours a complimentary shot.
What to Order
A shot of Cinco Perros tequila. It is the house pour and it is smooth. A beer costs 60 pesos ($3 USD). Tequila shots run 60 to 80 pesos ($3 to $4 USD). Buy a t-shirt for about 300 pesos ($15 USD) and get a free shot. Do not order anything complicated. There is no room behind the bar for a blender.
What to Know
Slim’s Elbow Room is in Plaza de los Mariachis on Boulevard Marina, downtown Cabo San Lucas. Cash only. The bar is open evenings. The crowd spills out onto the sidewalk because there is nowhere else to stand. Come early if you want one of the four seats. Come late if you want the energy. This is a one-drink stop for most people. Two drinks if you got a seat.
Details
Plaza de los Mariachis, Boulevard Marina, Centro, Cabo San Lucas. Cash only. Open evenings.
3. Happy Ending Cantina
Happy Ending Cantina sits on the marina boardwalk and does not care what you think of the name. The walls are papered with signed peso notes from visitors who came for one drink and stayed for five. Bras hang from the ceiling, left behind by women who decided the cantina needed a souvenir. The decor is chaos. The prices are from another decade.
Two beers and two tequila shots cost 100 pesos ($5 USD). That is not a typo. The happy hour runs most of the afternoon. Beer pong tables line the back. Regulars show up before noon. By 3 PM, the bar has the energy of a place that has been open since last night, which it probably has. Happy Ending opens at 10 AM and closes at 3 AM.
This is the dive bar of dive bars in Cabo. No pretension. No craft cocktails. No dress code. The bartenders pour fast and remember your name by the second round.
What to Order
The two-beer, two-tequila combo for 100 pesos ($5 USD). It is the best deal on the marina. If you are hungry, the El Patron burger is the move. Nachos are generous. Tacos are solid. Budget 200 to 300 pesos ($10 to $15 USD) for drinks and food. The drink specials change daily. Ask what is on before you order.
What to Know
Happy Ending Cantina is at Boulevard Paseo de la Marina 22, Centro. Open 10 AM to 3 AM daily. The bar is close to the marina boardwalk and easy to find. The afternoon crowd is mellow. The late-night crowd is loud. The bar accepts cards and cash. Street parking nearby. The name will make your travel photos interesting.
Details
Boulevard Paseo de la Marina 22, Centro, Cabo San Lucas. Open daily 10 AM to 3 AM. Cards and cash accepted.
4. Baja Brewing Company
Jordan Gardenhire came from Colorado with his father Charlie and college friend Rob. They had a plan that sounded crazy in 2007: open a craft brewery in Baja California Sur, a state that had never had one. They opened Baja Brewing Company on December 5, 2007, in the historic downtown district of San José del Cabo. It became the first brewery in the state.
The original location still operates on Calle Morelos, a block from the town plaza. The building has an open-air courtyard, exposed brick, and the kind of casual atmosphere that makes you forget you are in a tourist destination. The brewing equipment sits visible behind glass. The taps pour eight draft styles brewed on-site. Escorpion Negro, a black stout, and Peyote Pale Ale are the standouts.
Baja Brewing is not a dive bar in the traditional sense. But it drinks like one. The prices are local. The crowd is mixed. The vibe is more neighborhood pub than resort bar. In a town where most bars exist to serve tourists, this one exists to serve beer.
What to Order
Start with an Escorpion Negro. It is a black stout with more depth than you expect from a Baja brewery. Then try the Peyote Pale Ale. A pint costs 80 to 100 pesos ($4 to $5 USD). A flight of four runs about 160 pesos ($8 USD). The food menu is pub fare done well. Burgers, fish tacos, wood-fired pizzas. Order the fish tacos with a Cabotella Ale.
What to Know
Baja Brewing Company is at José María Morelos 1227, San José del Cabo. Walking distance from the Art District and the town plaza. Open daily. A second location operates on Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas for those who want the same beer with an ocean view. The San José location is the original and has more character. Cards accepted.
Details
José María Morelos 1227, Centro, San José del Cabo. Open daily. Cards and cash accepted. Phone: Check bajabrewingcompany.com for hours.
5. Monkey’s Cave Bar
Monkey’s Cave, also called Monkey Business, is tucked behind the Giggling Marlin in downtown Cabo San Lucas. The Giggling Marlin gets the fame. Monkey’s Cave gets the overflow. And the overflow is where the fun lives. The bar is small, colorful, and cheap enough that cruise ship passengers who wandered off the main path end up staying longer than planned.
The decor is tropical and chaotic. Christmas lights mix with painted murals and bar signs from other countries. The music is whatever the bartender feels like playing. The dance floor is wherever the crowd decides it is. On busy cruise ship days, the bar fills by early afternoon. By evening, it has the energy of a house party that nobody wants to leave.
Monkey’s Cave does not try to be cool. It does not try to be authentic. It tries to give you cheap drinks and a good time. In a town full of bars charging resort prices, that simplicity is its greatest asset.
What to Order
Beer buckets. Five bottles in ice for 200 to 250 pesos ($10 to $12.50 USD). Individual beers cost 40 to 60 pesos ($2 to $3 USD). Tequila shots run 50 to 80 pesos ($2.50 to $4 USD). The cocktails are strong and simple. Order a margarita if you want one, but this is a beer-and-shots bar at heart. Do not overthink it.
What to Know
Monkey’s Cave Bar is at Plaza Marlin, Boulevard Paseo de la Marina, Centro, Cabo San Lucas. The entrance is behind the Giggling Marlin. Look for the colorful signage. Open daily from morning until late. The afternoon crowd skews cruise ship. The evening crowd skews local. Cards and cash accepted. No cover charge.
Details
Plaza Marlin, Boulevard Paseo de la Marina, Centro, Cabo San Lucas. Open daily. Cards and cash accepted.
Tips for Your First Visit
Drinks at dive bars in Los Cabos run 40 to 100 pesos ($2 to $5 USD). A full evening across three or four spots costs 400 to 600 pesos ($20 to $30 USD) with food. Compare that to the resort bars charging 250 pesos ($12 USD) for a single cocktail.
Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo are 20 miles apart on the Transpeninsular Highway. Taxis between the two towns cost 400 to 600 pesos ($20 to $30 USD). The downtown bars in Cabo San Lucas are walkable from each other. Latitude 22+ requires a car or taxi.
The best nights in Cabo are Wednesday through Saturday. San José del Cabo is quieter but good any night of the week. Cruise ship days (Tuesday and Thursday) bring crowds to the marina bars. If you want a local experience, avoid those days.
Most bars accept cards. Slim’s Elbow Room is cash only. ATMs are available on Boulevard Marina and throughout both downtowns. Bring pesos for the smaller bars.
For food before the crawl, check out our guides to the best tacos in Los Cabos and the best tortas in Los Cabos. Eat before you hit the strip. The dive bars serve food, but you are here for the drinks.