Cactus Tours — Local services in Baja California Sur

My experience with Cactus Tours was unfortunately not as enjoyable as I expected. While there were a few positive moments, there were several important issues that impacted the overall experience and are worth pointing out for future visitors.

Transportation and punctuality The shuttle that was supposed to pick us up arrived late, and we had to stop to pick up many more passengers, which caused us to arrive late to our activity that was scheduled for 4:00 PM. Upon arrival, we had to wait in a long line for check-in, further delaying the experience.

Lack of transparency and unexpected charges During check-in, we were asked to sign a waiver, which included an optional life insurance fee of 240 MXN. However, this cost is never mentioned during the booking process, which felt misleading. You’re also required to leave all your personal belongings — including your phone and wallet — in a locker before the activity. While this may be for safety reasons, it becomes problematic later (see point on photos).

Misleading advertising on vehicles I booked two tours — one on an ATV and another on a UTV (RZR). For the UTV tour, the vehicle provided was a much smaller Can-Am model, completely different from the one shown in the promotional images. This is not disclosed at the time of booking, and if you want the larger, more appealing vehicle shown in the pictures, you’re informed only once you’re already there that you must pay an additional 3,000 MXN to upgrade. This felt misleading and unfair.

Overpriced photos and unethical behavior During the activity, there’s a stop where professional photos are taken, but you are not allowed to bring your phone, which forces you to rely on their photography service. At the end, they offer the photo package for $150 USD for 15 photos or $20 USD for just one, which I find extremely overpriced and exploitative. To make matters worse, after I posted about my experience on social media (which Cactus Tours reposted), one of the employees — Jazmín González, who had handed us the photos — commented “JAJAJA” on one of my posts, which felt like a mocking reaction to the fact that I didn’t purchase the photo package. I find this behavior from staff completely unprofessional and unethical.

Incomplete package delivery I booked a package that included two activities, a buffet, and a tequila tasting. However, we only did the two activities — there was no buffet or tequila tasting provided, which made the experience feel incomplete and disappointing.

Staff attitude The only redeeming part of the tour was Angélica, who guided us during one of the activities. She was kind, enthusiastic, and made our experience more enjoyable despite the other issues. I have nothing negative to say about her; she did a wonderful job.

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Conclusion: Cactus Tours seems to be designed more for foreign tourists than for locals. The hidden costs, the push for expensive upgrades, mandatory insurance (or an enormous deposit of $750 USD if not), the no-phone policy that pressures you to buy overpriced photos, and the lack of transparency all lead to a frustrating and overpriced experience.

For an average Mexican traveler, spending $100 USD in a day is not easy — these prices are clearly aimed at foreign visitors. If you’re planning to book, make sure you ask for full transparency and be prepared for additional charges that are not...

This is my second time. Last time I did ATVs and a camel 🐪 ride. This time the 4X3 ATV. First off, WOW. The scenery, the trail, the 4X4 vehicles, SO FUN. Darvin was an AMAZING guide. He let us stop in some great locations for photos and everyone gets to stop to feed the camels. Make sure you have a carrot home girl got a nibble of my shoulder but it was a love nibble 😂💗 you will get a little sandy. You may want a handkerchief to cover your mouth but honestly it wasn’t bad especially if you leave space between you and the person in front. Can-ams likely kick up more sand. Wear sneakers. You walk through sand. We would a million percent do this again.

Some additional information before you book.

A private shuttle is $250 round trip. At first this seemed steep but it is a 14 seater van and we were only 3 people staying at Nobu 30 minutes away. This paid up in the end when people were waiting to be picked up but our shuttle was there within minutes of saying we were ready.

Private tour is ideal. You can bring your phones to take pictures otherwise you have to put them in a locker. Plus you won’t be held back if other tourists can’t keep up.

We paid $96/person for the 4X4. Check pricing through your hotel and online to see what the rate is you may catch discounts online. Our guide was on the basic ATV and he seemed to catch better speed but his was smaller than the 4X4 and most likely they put a speed limit on tourist vehicles. For a true experience stick to the real ATVs and not the can-ams. I like the freedom of standing while riding. Downside is your thumb is your accelerator so your thumb may get weary. For a safer more relaxed ride get the can-ams. Those will run you more $ per a vehicle. I think you’re allowed 2 people on a regular ATV and up to four on the can-ams. Doubling-quadrupling people per ride will save you money. We like our own vehicle.

Additional fees Mandatory $25 port fee per person - a ripoff imo Can opt in for $35 insurance on the vehicle per car Can opt in for personal injury $10 per person Coffee shop - normal pricing, the smoothies were $10. The base seemed to be milk and made us all nauseous. Photos are $20 per photo or you get all for $129 on a USB and they will email them

After your tour we were directed to the area where we could do a tequila tasting. No further instruction was given we were kind of confused where to get photos or what the next steps were. We may have lost our guide when we went to get smoothies. We really wanted to tip him but couldn’t find him probably because he had another tour. If you want to tip your guide please do it directly following your trip. You may want to tip your photographer too. After getting back to the entrance/where the check in/store is, go get your photos, ask about your shuttle timeline then maybe do a tequila tasting or relax. You’ll want to get in que/know when the shuttle comes in case you have plans after. There was a group that had been waiting awhile before us but did not have a private shuttle and were irritated. It happens.

This is a must do in Cabo....

Pedro was our awesome guide for our 2x1 Horseback/UTV combo tour and we couldn't be happier with the whole experience. He went out of his way to ensure the best experience for our whole family and was courteous, well-mannered, super-communicative, and just good vibes all around. Really cool thing was that because my party included 2 teens, my 8 year old, and my wife, they ended up separating our party from the main UTV/ATV group so obviously we wouldn't slow them down and we could go at our own pace...essentially we ended up as a private tour without having to pay the additional price. What's great is my 2 teens got to take turns driving since their UTV was the "kids" UTV and then the adults/8 yr old would follow in the regular 4 seater UTV. They had a blast driving the dunes & trails behind Pedro, but with way more freedom than anything they've done similar in the past (sorry Autopia). Since we opted for the last tour session of the day @ 4pm, that allowed us to enjoy the awesome views just before sunset as we rode along the beach. The horseback experience was also just as memorable as we traversed both some small hills more inland but ended up along the beach trail as well...all first time experience for the kids and they all had their own well-behaved horses. As far as unexpected price gouging from other reviews , as long as you book direct with them all those additional fees are fully transparent on their site (park fee, insurance, photos). We ended up getting the insurance for both vehicles, didn't purchase any upgraded vehicles, and at the end didn't purchase the full photo package...no pressure from the staff to do more than what we wanted. But the photo package price is super reasonable ($160) compared to say other popular Cabo tours (i.e. Dolphin encounter is north of $350) but we opted to pay for individual photos instead ($20/ each). In hindsight, now that we're back home, we kinda regret not getting that package because the 2 prints we purchased aren't of the greatest print quality and if you get the full package, you at least get all the photos/videos digitally. Tequila tasting was cool and we ended up with a small souvenir, but again no pressure to buy anything if you don't want to. Lastly, didn't feel any aggressive pushing or guilt-tripping of having to tip a specific amount (as other ATV tour operators have this problem) as Pedro was super professional about how he approached that; just the general "any tips are welcome" line that almost all tour guides around the world say at the end of the tour. In summary, this was my family's favorite part of our Cabo trip..even edging out the Dolphin encounter and we highly recommend going through Cactus Tours as they were well-organized throughout the...