There is nothing quite like waking up in Los Cabos, stepping out onto your balcony, and seeing the massive, sparkling resort pool waiting for you just steps from the Sea of Cortez. For most travelers, the pool is the absolute center of the entire vacation. It is where you socialize at the swim-up bar in the afternoon, and where you finally catch up on that book you have been meaning to read. It is the ultimate zone for pure relaxation.
But because the pool is the main hub of the resort, it is also a highly shared space. When you have hundreds of people all trying to unwind in the same area, a few bad habits can quickly ruin the vibe for everyone else. You want to make sure you are contributing to the fun, relaxed atmosphere, not taking away from it. If you are heading down to the Baja peninsula this summer, here are five things you absolutely should not do at the resort pool.
Do Not Be The Sunrise Pool Chair Hog

We all know this person, and nobody wants to be them. This is the guest who sets their alarm for six in the morning, sneaks down to the pool deck in the dark, and throws a single towel and a pair of cheap sunglasses across four of the best lounge chairs right by the water edge. Then, they disappear. They go eat a long breakfast, head back to their room for a shower, maybe take a quick nap, and suddenly six hours have passed and they still have not even used the chairs they claimed.
This is incredibly frustrating for other vacationers who actually want to sit by the pool and enjoy the morning. Many Cabo resorts are finally starting to crack down on this by having pool attendants remove items left unattended for more than an hour, but you should not need a rule to be considerate. Be respectful of the other guests and only grab a pool chair when you are actually ready to sit down and use it.
Do Not Light Up A Cigarette Or Vape

If you have not been to Mexico in a few years, you might assume you can just light up a cigarette or hit your vape while lounging by the water. You absolutely cannot. Mexico recently passed some of the strictest anti-smoking laws in the entire world, making it completely illegal to smoke or vape in any public area. This federal ban explicitly includes hotel swimming pools, outdoor restaurant patios, and the beaches.
Lighting up a cigarette or a vape at your lounge chair is no longer just a minor annoyance to the person sitting next to you; it is a fast way to get slapped with a massive fine or even get asked to leave the property. The resorts take this very seriously. If you need to smoke, you have to ask the front desk exactly where the designated smoking zone is located, as they are usually tucked far away from the main pool and common areas.
Do Not Underestimate The Midday Baja Sun

The summer weather in Cabo San Lucas is absolutely gorgeous, but the sun on the Baja peninsula is no joke. The heat hits entirely differently down there, especially during the peak hours between eleven in the morning and two in the afternoon. If you try to just lay out flat on your back during these hours without taking a break, you are quite literally going to bake.
Severe sunburns and heat exhaustion are the fastest ways to completely ruin an expensive vacation. You have to be smart about your sun exposure. When the midday sun is beating down, make sure you cover up, pull an umbrella over your chair, or just take a break and head inside for a long lunch in the air conditioning. Always keep drinking plenty of bottled water between your rounds of margaritas to stay hydrated.
Do Not Blast Your Personal Speaker

Music completely sets the tone for a pool day, and every major resort in Cabo will have their own curated playlists running through the outdoor speakers. What nobody else wants to hear is your specific personal playlist blasting over top of it. Bringing a portable Bluetooth speaker down to the pool deck and turning the volume all the way up is a major etiquette fail.
Almost all high-end hotels have strict policies prohibiting the use of personal speakers in the common areas, and the pool staff will absolutely walk over and ask you to turn it off. If you really want to zone out to your own favorite songs or listen to a podcast while you get a tan, just bring a good pair of waterproof earbuds. Let the resort handle the background ambiance for the crowd.
Do Not Forget Basic Common Sense

When people get into total vacation mode, sometimes basic manners just fly right out the window. A luxury resort pool is a shared environment, so you always need to keep a baseline of common sense. Do not order a massive plate of messy nachos and eat it while hanging over the edge of the water, risking dropping food right into the pool.
If you are having a conversation with your group, keep the volume at a normal level instead of yelling arrogantly across the water. And for the love of everything, if you have been drinking at the swim-up bar for three hours, actually get out of the water and walk to the poolside washroom. Keeping things clean, classy, and considerate ensures that absolutely everyone gets to enjoy the perfect Cabo vacation they paid for.
Cabo Pool Rules
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Rebecca
Saturday 27th of June 2026
Also, realize that your conversation can be overheard and keep the vulgarities out. Otherโs may not appreciate hearing them. We were at the resort pool one year and there was a guy there every day that used the F-word at least once in every sentence. It was so annoying we would try to move to a different location. The more he drank the louder he got, so we would just leave the pool. Just like a personal choice in music, otherโs should not have to hear it.