Hotel Palmas De Cortez
www.bajaresorts.com
US booking office 800-368-4334
Hotel front desk 011-52-624-141-02-14

The lodge style architecture of Palmas was pleasing as we drove up to the office. On the seaside of the little village of Los Barriles, Palmas has recently improved its already beautiful property. A new beachside pool with a swim up bar complements the nicely landscaped grounds. We rented a suite because there were 3 of us sharing a room. This was $210/night and included 3 full meals a day. The room had 2 queen beds and a single bed in a roomy space with a private patio that opened right onto the beach, AC and even a nice little refridgerator. The rooms were clean, you can drink the water from the tap and the food was OK. The boys decided to try a panga. At all the hotels we visited on the East Cape, renting your boat means lining up at that hotel’s “fishing office” at 6:30 pm or so. You go in, tell the manager what type of boat you want to rent; panga, super panga, cruiser ranging in price from $200 to $500 for an 8 hour day including lunch. You can read a bit more about this in Randall’s story Roosters of the Tropic of Cancer on this website. You also pick your lunch and order boat drinks (cost not included). Overall, our experience here was very good. I was a bit dismayed that a lodge who openly promotes their “pioneering catch-and-release program as a model for conservationists” was on the very day we checked in setting up as the central Bisbee office (and sponsor) for a $300,000 KILL marlin Tournament. We watched a number of unfortunate 100 to 250 lb fish hauled in and hung up on the passe gantry. It was a bit depressing. As a lodge situated and set up for fishing, I would be pleased to reccomend Hotel Palmas de Cortez.

The hotel booking office for Palmas takes cash/checks only. Also remember that at most East Cape Hotels you will be assessed a 10 to 12% tax and a 10% service fee which is supposed to be for staff gratuities.

Score: 8/10