With young children, we left our golf clubs and our dreams of reeling in a big one at home. But we still managed to fill our days with activities, from searching for migrating whales to snorkeling to visiting a glass factory.

For about $40, my son and husband took a three-hour, all-terrain-vehicle ride with a group into the sand dunes, where they saw a deserted lighthouse near the Pacific Ocean. They came back sweaty and dirty and talking about speeding through trails and riding up and down hills.

Meanwhile, I was checking out the beaches.  Most people recommended Bahia Santa Maria or Bahia Chileno, both on the Sea of Cortez.  We also spent an afternoon snorkeling, wading in the waves and relaxing at Lover's Beach near El Arco. The inexpensive glass-bottom boat ride to the beach was enjoyable and gave us a chance to look down and see some beautiful tropical fish. As we approached Lover's Beach, we saw sea lions resting on the rocks and large crabs crawling nearby.

Later, while we were snorkeling, the kids yelled, "Look at the jumping stingrays!" Sure enough, dozens were jumping into the air and flapping on the water. It was loud. My son corrected the swimmers: Those are manta rays, not stringrays. He was right.

We saw a whale, the kids got to steer the boat, and we caught a full moon on the way back. When the wind blew, the crew handed us giant Mexican blankets to cover up with.

Another wonderful surprise about Los Cabos was how much our young children enjoyed going into town and just walking around. The town is filled with street after street of shops and flea markets, with reasonably priced jewelry, pottery, straw baskets and just about every kind of souvenir.