A month in Los Cabos

No official statistic on monthly rents, deposits or utilities in Los Cabos was found, so this guide gives no rent figures. The taxes on top are set in law. IVA of 16% applies to lodging, and the VAT exemption for renting a home does not cover furnished property, so a furnished flat for a month is not exempt.

The state lodging tax of 4% applies whatever the length of the stay, under the state finance law, in hotels, guest houses and any other place used for lodging. The Los Cabos room fee is set per occupied room, house or apartment: twice the daily UMA, about MXN 235 in 2026, for a stay booked through a platform. The law does not say whether that is charged per night or once, so ask the host how it appears on a monthly bill.

Embrace It, MXN 488 per person in 2026, is charged once per visit, not per night. Mexican consumer law requires the total price, taxes and charges included, so ask for the monthly total in writing.

San José del Cabo suits a month with the airport about 13 km away and a historic centre with its Thursday Art Walk from November through June. Cabo San Lucas suits a month built around the marina and Médano Beach, about 44 km from the airport.

Todos Santos, about 76 km from Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific, is in the municipality of La Paz, where no room fee was found, and suits a month away from the resorts. On the East Cape, Los Barriles and La Ribera suit a quiet month of fishing and windsurfing, with dirt roads to most beaches and no fuel at Cabo Pulmo (via GetCar). These choices are editorial.

Visitors from the EU, the UK and the US need no visa for a tourist stay in Mexico. At the airport the immigration officer stamps the passport with the number of days granted, up to the legal maximum of 180, and the migration form (FMM) is issued in digital form, downloadable from the INM portal during the stay. The days written on the stamp, not the 180-day maximum, set how long the stay can last.

Officers may ask for a return ticket, a hotel booking and proof of funds. Visitors arriving by air pay a non-resident fee (DNR) of MXN 983 in 2026, which the airline collects. Tourists may not work in Mexico, paid or unpaid.

The state tourism law requires tourist service providers, among them furnished rooms, apartments and houses let for temporary stays, to enrol in the national tourism register. No registration number for listings was found as of September 2026, and how a residential lease under the state civil code would change the taxes is unverified as of September 2026.

Airbnb calls 28 nights or more a monthly stay: the first month is charged up front and later months 10 days before each period, under a long-term cancellation policy that generally asks for 30 days' notice of changes. Airbnb began collecting the state lodging tax in January 2019, according to a state government release of 2022.

The municipal water utility supplies neighbourhoods on a published daily rota (tandeo), and in September 2026 it ran an emergency rota for Cabo San Lucas neighbourhoods fed by desalination plant 1. For a month in a house or flat, ask how the water supply works.

UK government advice puts Mexico's hurricane season from June to November, and the municipality certified 18 hotels as temporary shelters in August 2026. For the car, no parking-meter programme was found in either town (via GetCar); ask whether the home has off-street parking.

Comparing prices without the charges. A platform stay in the municipality of Los Cabos adds IVA, the 4% lodging tax and a room fee of about MXN 235 per room, house or apartment at the 2026 UMA.

Rental scams. The state cyber police warned in July 2025 that reports of fraud in holiday packages and property rentals rise in the holiday season, and advised caution before sharing personal or bank details.

Driving the unpaved roads. Many rental contracts exclude them (via GetCar), and several beaches near Todos Santos and on the East Cape lie at the end of dirt roads.

Staying past the stamp. The days written on it set the limit, not the 180-day maximum.