An idea for Christmas 2026: Todos Santos

Between the two houses, we would have our own living rooms, kitchens, pools, hot tubs, and outdoor areas. The stretch of beach in front of Gaviota feels unusually private.

Sueños has one king room, three queen rooms, and a rooftop reed room, plus an upstairs living room and kitchen, a downstairs indoor-outdoor kitchen and bar, a pool yard, and rooftop dining. Gaviota has two king rooms, one queen room, a TV room, and oceanfront outdoor space.

The ocean in front of Gaviota is rough, so most swimming will be in the pools or at Cerritos, the nearby surf beach. Gaviota can be the beach house; Sueños, with more gathering space, can be the main meal house.

Beyond the bedrooms, we have a TV-room sofa, a sofa bed, an air mattress, and floor space for sleeping bags. All 20 of us will fit, but not with a private hotel-style room for every household. Our fam has never had a problem piling the kids—and sometimes adults—together. That's half the fun!

The owners know the potential headcount and are fine with a larger group and flexible sleeping arrangements.

Shared non-airfare costs are divided evenly per traveler, then each family's airfare allowance is added. Pallav and Veena each have five travelers; their totals differ only because the Columbus airfare allowance is higher than the San Francisco allowance.

I'm very open to adjusting the per-person cost to increase adult cost and reduce kid cost; I just wanted to keep things simple for now.

The food budget breaks down to $10 for breakfast, $30 for lunch, and $50 for dinner. Some meals will be at home and some at restaurants; cheaper home meals and children's portions should offset pricier adult restaurant nights. The $90 average also includes snacks and moderate drinks.

We can stop at Walmart or Costco in Cabo for bulk essentials on the way from SJD. Near the houses, there are small mom-and-pop grocery stores (picture Hyderabad), plus Agricole, a really nice organic grocery on a nearby farm.

The airfare portion uses these Christmas-week planning allowances, all for round-trip flights into Los Cabos International Airport (SJD):

These airfare allowances do not include checked bags. Each family should replace its allowance with a live search before booking.

For daily use, three seven-seat passenger vans and one full-size car give us 26 seats and let smaller groups split up. Those vehicles can also carry most of us and some bags between SJD and the houses. When several families arrive at once, we'll supplement them with one 16-passenger Sprinter; SJD Taxi currently quotes $390 one way, or $780 round trip before tips and add-ons. Flights into SJD tend to cluster between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., so coordinating the main arrival window should be easy. We'll confirm luggage capacity before booking.

Each rental would be booked by a different eligible Amex cardholder using Premium Car Rental Protection for primary damage-and-theft coverage, plus Avis Mexico's Essential plan for third-party liability. We'll confirm the exact terms and holds before booking.

The estimates exclude travel insurance and optional non-food activities such as surf lessons, horseback riding, massages, and excursions.

If a different-size family drops out, I'll rerun the numbers. If the group gets small enough to use only one house, that would be a different budget entirely.

Going the other direction, we can probably absorb a few additional relatives, especially children, if everyone stays flexible. At 20 people we are already in cozy mode; past 22, we should expect to add another nearby house. The four local vehicles have 26 seats, so sleeping space, linens, and places at the table are the tighter constraints.

As long as we don't need another house, vehicle, or larger airport transfer, one additional relative from Detroit would budget roughly $2,200–2,800 for seven nights or $2,800–3,400 for ten nights, including a $900–1,400 airfare allowance. Everyone else's share would fall slightly because the fixed costs would be divided among more people.

These are comparisons for level-setting, not recommendations. Ordinary cruise cabins are roughly $1.5–2.6k per person, or $7.5–12.8k for a family of five, including airfare. Private-suite versions and most resorts cost more.

Cruises and resorts include more food, activities, childcare, and logistics. Todos Santos gives us our own common spaces, a more flexible schedule, and more control over meals and sleeping arrangements.

The averages below are based on all 20 people and seven nights. Every row includes lodging, meals, moderate alcohol for ten adults, local transportation, and airfare allowances. Cruise estimates also include a pre-cruise hotel night, gratuities, and port transportation. Travel insurance, excursions, and optional paid activities are excluded.