Los Cabos Officials Crack Down On Aggressive Service Providers At Beaches

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Last Updated 10 months ago

Los Cabos officials recently conducted an enforcement action against service providers at Pelícanos Beach in Los Cabos after a complaint was lodged that they were being too aggressive with visitors at the popular tourist beach.

Complaints of Aggressiveness

Tourists at the popular Pelícanos Beach in Los Cabos were surprised one morning when four men allegedly took over the entire beach creating their own informal tourist service business with umbrellas, food, and drinks on the beach.

Visitors claimed that after going to the beach to enjoy the sun and sand for a couple of hours, they were accosted and aggressively intimidated by the merchants on the beach.

The issue was several of the tourists wanted to lower the umbrellas to enjoy the sun on the beach. They were told it was not allowed.

Others claimed they were harassed by another man until they purchased the food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages being sold on the beach.

The price for the products on Pelícanos Beach in Los Cabos was approximately $18 for umbrellas and diving equipment and an additional $3 to $12 to pay for the food.

This was all in neglect to the fact that informal tourist service businesses such as these were last made illegal on El Medano beach in Los Cabos back in 2022.

Action to Protect Tourists

It took a couple of days until July 20 when the officials from the Public Security Directorate, along with the Mexican Navy and Tax Inspection division, showed up at Pelícanos Beach on a morning to find out what was disturbing tourists at the public beach.

During the enforcement action, law enforcement officials documented the activity in a report and seized several umbrellas and other items on the beach.

They also pledged to investigate every tourist complaint of informal tourist service businesses received, especially when complaints of harassment or intimidation of local visitors to Los Cabos were involved.

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Ultimately, the local authorities responsible for the enforcement action followed the direction they were provided and will be turning over the case for additional investigation by the Fiscal Inspection department.

That department in Los Cabos is directly charged with ensuring the proper registration and supervision of businesses allowed to operate on the beaches of the resort destination.

What the Rules Are About Beaches

The laws in Los Cabos explicitly allow for public access to beaches.

Article 18 of the Land Transit Law of the State and Municipality of Baja California Sur requires landowners to provide access to public beaches as a legal easement of passage.

This law was recently enforced in La Paz when several of the public beaches were found being obstructed from tourists and locals by commercial landowners.

In order to access what the law considered public beaches, tourists had to pay a fee or even be a guest at the resort property where the beach was located.

This was similar to the situation at Pelícanos Beach in Los Cabos.

Quick enforcement of the Land Transit Law of the State and Municipality of Baja California Sur restored access to the beaches from the informal tourist business providers.

What Tourists Should Know

Visitors to Los Cabos should feel free to report activities that seem unusual to local municipal authorities for investigation. Simply asking a police officer nearby can usually answer or resolve the situation easily.

If tourists find themselves in a place where they feel their access to a public beach is being restricted or not allowed without an entry fee or payment, they should immediately contact local officials to complete a quick report.

Easy to find contact information for Los Cabos government offices is located on the web at loscabos.gob.mx.

Alternatively, tourists can find a local official or tourist office for more information about the process.