Los Cabos To Reopen Famous Costa Azul Clifftop Lookout With Spectacular Overhanging Terrace

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Anyone who spends extensive time on the ground in Los Cabos knows that driving the Transpeninsular Highway offers some of the most stunning coastal views in all of Mexico. However, if you have cruised between San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas anytime in the last four years, you have been locked out of the absolute best vantage point in the region.

The Costa Azul viewpoint—a spectacular clifftop lookout offering panoramic views of the Sea of Cortez and the San José coastline—has been barricaded and off-limits to tourists since 2020.

Fortunately, the wait is almost over. The municipal government has officially announced a massive 10 million peso (roughly $500,000 USD) renovation project to completely rehabilitate the site, bringing back one of the destination’s most iconic roadside stops with some major architectural upgrades.

Why Was It Closed In The First Place?

The closure of the Costa Azul viewpoint originally began as a temporary health measure. During the height of the 2020 pandemic, authorities shuttered the lookout to prevent large crowds of tourists from gathering shoulder-to-shoulder to take sunset photos.

However, once the health restrictions were eventually lifted, the barricades stayed up.

The city council decided to keep the site closed due to a string of severe traffic accidents. The viewpoint sits directly adjacent to a fast-moving curve on the Transpeninsular Highway, and over the years, several vehicles had lost control and crashed directly into the viewing area. Some cars even ended up teetering on the edge of the cliff. Reopening the site without fundamentally changing its safety infrastructure was simply too dangerous for pedestrians.

The New Overhanging Terrace

To solve the safety issues and maximize the incredible views, the Department of Public Works is completely reimagining the space.

Because the city only owns a narrow strip of land at the site, they cannot expand the viewpoint backward into the hillside. Instead, they are building out over the ocean. Christopher Enríquez González, the Director General of Public Works, revealed that the new design will push the viewing area forward, creating a spectacular overhanging terrace (an área de volada).

This cantilevered deck will allow tourists to walk out safely beyond the natural cliff edge, offering completely unobstructed views of the water below.

To ensure visitors are protected from the highway traffic, the renovation includes a brand-new deceleration lane so drivers can safely pull off the main road. Additionally, a massive landscaping project will install a heavily fortified garden barrier designed to physically shield the pedestrian terrace from any potential roadway accidents. The highway itself will not be altered, preventing any new traffic bottlenecks.

Timeline and Broader Cabo Upgrades

If you are hoping to snap a photo on the new terrace during your upcoming winter vacation, you will need to be a little patient.

The 10 million peso budget is part of a much larger 150 million peso municipal beautification package. The local government is currently just waiting on the Los Cabos Tourism Trust (Fiturca) to officially release the funds. Once the check clears, the city will run a mandatory 25-day bidding process, followed by an estimated 120 days of active construction. If the funds are released soon, the new Costa Azul viewpoint should be ready to welcome tourists by the spring of 2027.

This clifftop terrace is just one piece of a massive effort to make Los Cabos more pedestrian-friendly. The city is also preparing to break ground on a major rehabilitation of the Historic Center in San José del Cabo, as well as the highly anticipated “Camina Cabo” project in Cabo San Lucas. That massive undertaking will completely remodel the downtown pedestrian experience, adding massive walkways and seating areas stretching all the way from the Marina’s Hotel Tesoro right up to El Squid Roe.