Los Cabos by private jet: the arrival, step by step

Anyone who has landed in Los Cabos on an airline knows the routine: the long walk, the immigration hall, the queue at customs, and then the gauntlet of timeshare salespeople before you find your driver. A private arrival skips nearly all of that. It is still an international arrival, with real formalities, but they happen at a different pace and in a different building.

Before the wheels touch down

Most of the arrival is decided before you leave home. In the days before the trip, your operator arranges the permits Mexico requires for a charter flight and collects passport details for everyone on board. A local handler at Los Cabos International (SJD) is booked to meet the aircraft. Your advisor confirms where you are staying and books or coordinates the transfer.

On the day, you meet the aircraft at a private terminal at home. For flights from the western half of the US the trip is short, about two to three hours from Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston or Denver. From New York it is about five and a half hours on a jet with the range to fly nonstop.

Landing and taxiing in

SJD sits inland, north of San José del Cabo, in the dry hills between the mountains and the sea. After landing, private aircraft leave the runway for the general aviation area, a separate ramp away from the airline gates. The crew shuts down, and the handler is usually at the foot of the stairs within moments.

Stay on board until the crew or the handler says otherwise. On busy days the ramp is full of aircraft and vehicles, and they will walk you across safely.

Immigration

Immigration is the first formality. Officers review the passport of every passenger and record your entry and permitted stay. Depending on the rules in force on the day, the record may be digital, a stamp or a form. Your handler explains which, and helps with anything that needs filling in. Keep any paper you are given safe until you leave Mexico.

Everyone needs a valid passport book, children included. A US passport card does not work for international flights, which surprises a few travelers every season.

Customs

Next, your bags are checked. The crew and handler unload the luggage and bring it into the private terminal, or to the inspection point, where customs officers review it as they would for any international arrival. Personal belongings for a holiday are normal; large amounts of cash, goods for sale and restricted items must be declared. If you are bringing medication, keep it in its original packaging with the prescription.

Out to the car

Once you are cleared, your bags go straight to the car waiting outside the private terminal. There is no carousel and no long walk. The drive depends on where you are staying: hotels in and around San José del Cabo are close, the resorts along the Tourist Corridor are roughly 20 to 40 minutes away, and Cabo San Lucas is about 45 minutes in normal traffic.

If you are arriving in the late afternoon, ask for the sunset side of the car. The drive along the corridor as the light drops over the Sea of Cortez is a good start to any trip.

Timing your arrival

Private flying lets you choose your arrival time, so choose it with the ground in mind. Midday on a peak Saturday is when the private ramp is busiest, and a departure an hour or two earlier can mean an emptier terminal on arrival. Landing in daylight also gives you the drive along the coast at its best, with time to settle in before dinner.

Remember the time difference too. Los Cabos keeps its own time zone, which is behind the US East Coast, so a morning departure from New York lands in the early afternoon local time. Your advisor confirms local times in the itinerary so the driver and the hotel know exactly when to expect you.

What to keep in your carry-on

The handler and crew take care of the luggage, but keep a small bag with you for the formalities: every passport, any entry paper you are given, prescriptions in their original packaging and your phone with the hotel's address. If you are traveling with a pet, keep its records in the same bag. Sunglasses help too; the light on the ramp at SJD is bright even in winter.

What can slow things down

• Peak days. Around the winter holidays, Presidents' Day and spring break, the private ramp is busy and every step takes longer.
• Missing details. A passport that was not sent in advance, or a passenger added at the last minute, means extra checks on arrival.
• Undeclared items. Anything that needs declaring, from large sums of cash to restricted goods, is simplest when it is declared.
• Pets without paperwork. Animals are inspected on arrival, so have their records to hand.

If you are connecting onward

Some travelers continue from Cabo by boat or to a villa on the East Cape, a longer drive along the coast. If that is you, tell your advisor so the transfer is booked for the right vehicle and the right time, and so the arrival is planned for daylight when the roads are easiest.

And the way home

Leaving Mexico is simpler: the handler meets you at the private terminal, passports are checked, and you board. The return flight lands first at a US airport where Customs and Border Protection can clear private aircraft. For many travelers from the West that is their home airport or one close to it; from the East Coast, the aircraft may stop to clear customs and refuel on the way.

That is the whole arrival. It takes far less effort than the airline version, and you start the holiday on the ramp instead of in a queue.