Cabo Airport Transportation: The 4 best and cheapest transfers

You’ve booked your hotel for a beach break in Cabo. Now you want to know about your Cabo airport transportation options.

Specifically, what’s the best way to get from the airport to your hotel or resort?

Taxis, shuttle buses and semi-private or private Los Cabos airport shuttles are your main options (apart from renting a car).

Best Cabo airport transportation?

The fastest, cheapest and most convenient way to get to your hotel is to book one of the Cabo San Lucas airport shuttle services in advance – a semi-private or private transfer with a reputable company.

Your transfer company driver will be waiting for you outside the airport terminal, with a welcome sign with your name on it. (Note that you must pass by all the timeshare vendors inside the airport first.)

Semi-private transfers:

Semi-private transportation is usually in a nine-person van; you may have to share with another couple or group.

Private transfers:

Private Los Cabos airport transportation is usually in a Suburban or other large SUV or van.

See our complete Los Cabos travel guide here! Find tips on restaurants, local buses and more…

Los Cabos airport shuttle reviews

These four are reputable transfer companies we have tried and been happy with:

1.  Cabo Transfers
2.  TransCabo
3.  Cielito Lindo
4.  Blue Dreams

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1.  Cabo Transfers

Cabo Transfers offers a professional, quality transfer service within Los Cabos – on our many visits to this desert-meets-the-sea resort destination, we’ve used Cabo Transfers several times.

Their website is easy to use. Simply plug in your transfer choice (e.g., private airport shuttle) and your hotel, and you’ll be given a quote. You’ll be asked for your flight arrival and departure information, and they will email you confirmation of your transfer(s) with pick-up times and details noted.

When traveling as a couple (without other family members or companions), we’ve booked the shared shuttle and we’ve never had to wait very long. Sometimes we’ve been the only clients and enjoyed a private shuttle for the shared shuttle price!

Vehicles for the private transfers are a Suburban or Expedition (up to six passengers), Toyota Hiace (up to 10 passengers) or Sprinter (up to 17 passengers). They come with free WiFi and TV screens in the seat backs if you want to watch a video.

All vehicles are air-conditioned and have working seatbelts. They’re clean, comfortable and stocked with ice-cold bottled water, beer and soft drinks (extra cost, depending on the service). Drivers are courteous and polite (and enjoy practising their English on you).

As well as airport transfers, Cabo Transfers offer other driving services; we used them last month to transfer from the Grand Velas Los Cabos to another resort.

Cost:

$21 for a one-way shared airport transfer or $85 for a private transfer (up to six passengers) to Medano Beach hotels in Cabo San Lucas ($25 and $90, respectively, for the Pacific-side resorts).

A grocery stop costs $40 for one hour of shopping at a supermarket close to your resort. (Costco and Walmart are on the way if you’re staying in Cabo San Lucas.)

Bottom line?

Cabo Transfers offers the cheapest semi-private transfer service.

Website for Cabo Transfers:  See here

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2.  TransCabo

One of the first companies to get into the business of driving guests around in the area, TransCabo offers a premium Cabo airport transportation shuttle service. They have a fleet of over 50 recent models in different sizes (all clean and air-conditioned).

TransCabo representatives are easy to spot. When you leave the airport, just look for their bright orange shirts.

For the shared Los Cabos airport shuttle, no more than 10 people per van are booked, with no more than three stops on the way to your destination – and you might luck out and have the vehicle to yourself.

Cost:

$24 for a one-way shared airport transfer or $126 for a private transfer (up to seven passengers) to Medano Beach hotels.

Transcabo can provide infant car seats or baby car seats (they need to be reserved in advance). Ask for the cost of this service.

Bottom line?

TransCabo are trusted and reliable (receiving a 2018 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor).

Website for TransCabo:  See here

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3.  Cielito Lindo

Cielito Lindo is a great option if you’re traveling as a couple or two couples and you want private car services from the airport to Cabo.

As with all agencies here, reservations must be booked in advance (Cielito Lindo requires three days’ notice for individuals and seven days’ notice for groups). Again, you’ll receive email notification about how to meet the driver, who’ll be waiting for you outside the airport terminal.

Your vehicle will be meticulously clean – and a welcome bottle of cold water will be waiting for you.

As Cielito Lindo is a travel agency, they also offer other services like stocking your villa with groceries before you arrive and private sightseeing tours to Todos Santos and La Paz.

Cost:

$68.90 for a private transfer for one or two persons to Cabo San Lucas ($79.50 for up to four people). A half-hour grocery shopping stop arranged in advance costs $30.

Bottom line?

Cielito Lindo offers the cheapest private Los Cabos airport transfers for a single person, couple or small group (up to four people).

Website for Cielito Lindo:  See here

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4.  Blue Dreams

Blue Dreams is a private transfer company that started in Cancun in 2005.

Blue Dreams now also operates in Los Cabos, and it’s used by select luxury resorts like Grand Velas Los Cabos to transfer their guests (the Grand Velas booked Blue Dreams to pick us up from the airport for our recent stay).

Expect to be welcomed with a chilled facecloth and cold bottle of water, followed by a very comfortable ride.

Cost:

$90 for two people to, for example, the Resort at Pedregal in Cabo San Lucas.

Bottom line?

Blue Dreams is a good choice when only the best will do (and price is no barrier).

Website for Blue Dreams:  See here

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Other Los Cabos airport transportation options?

Taxi from airport to Cabo San Lucas:

Taxis in Los Cabos are large blue or turquoise (occasionally white) vans that seat eight to 10 people. But, gulp, Cabo taxi fares are steep.

A taxi from the airport to Cabo San Lucas will cost you $85+ USD (about double the price of a shared airport shuttle if you’re traveling as a couple).

Los Cabos Express:

Shuttle buses are operated by Los Cabos Express, which sells seats on large buses ($16 p.p.). You often have to wait for the bus to fill up, which stops at many resorts along the way.

The good news is that if you’ve forgotten to pre-book a transfer, and you don’t want to fork out for a taxi, you can buy tickets for the shuttle bus inside the airport when you arrive.

The first time we visited Cabo, this is how we got to our resort. We don’t recommend this option, however, because it takes much longer than one of the pre-booked (shared) Cabo San Lucas airport shuttles in a smaller vehicle – which only cost a little more per person.

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Lay of the Land

Where’s your hotel or resort located?

Los Cabos is made up of three main areas:

• Cabo San Lucas
• San Jose del Cabo
• Corridor – the 20-mile stretch of coastline connecting the above two resort towns

Have a look at the map below and you’ll see that Cabo San Lucas is the furthest away from the airport (which explains why the transportation or shuttle from the Cabo airport to your hotel is more expensive than, say, to a Corridor or San Jose del Cabo hotel).

Where’s the airport?

There are two airports serving Los Cabos.

The Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) is Cabo’s main airport and the airport you’re likely to fly into; the Los Cabos airport code for this airport is SJD.

It’s about 28 miles from Cabo San Lucas (a 40- to 45-minute drive) and eight miles from San Jose del Cabo (20-minute drive).

There’s also a much smaller airport closer to Cabo San Lucas for very small aircraft; the Cabo San Lucas International Airport code is CSL.

Pssst… Discover the best beaches in Los Cabos here!

Beware the sales people selling Los Cabos timeshares!

After you’ve collected your baggage at the Los Cabos airport, you must pass by a slew of timeshare vendors before you exit.

Don’t get waylaid by them – unless you want a free taxi ride (and a tour or other incentive) in exchange for giving up a half-day of your precious vacation time in Cabo to attend a timeshare presentation.

Want to know how to bargain in Mexico the right way? Read this

Note: The timeshare vendors are clever. As you glance around, unsure about how exactly to exit the airport, they will approach you and ask if you need help finding your driver. Following them is an invitation to getting ensnared in discussions with them. If you’re not interested in talking about timeshares, simply say “no thank-you” and continue walking straight through and out of the airport.

Just outside the terminal doors, you’ll see all the transfer company drivers holding signs for their passengers.

Locate your driver, and soon you’ll be on your way to a sunny Cabo holiday!

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