BY GENE, “EL JEFE,” HAPPY ENDING CANTINA
BRIEF HISTORY: My wife and I visited Cabo San Lucas for the very first time in the summer of 1986. The town was very small. There were only 3 paved roads. There were no golf courses, no supermarkets, no hospitals, no rental cars, etc., and only one gas station. The “highway” between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo consisted of one lane coming and one lane going. It was very dangerous, especially at night.
The Giggling Marlin, opened in 1985, was the only restaurant/bar/tourist attraction in downtown. This was before Squid Roe in 1989, Cabo Wabo in 1990, jewelry stores and timeshares. There was really nothing to do but either fish or swim in the Sea of Cortez lay on the beach or hang out by a pool. The unspoiled beaches were all wide open and accessible. It was paradise. The only foreign visitors were fishermen and their friends.
The original Hacienda Hotel was the only hotel on Medano Beach. It was near the entrance of the newly constructed marina. There were no ships docked in the marina because there were no docks and no facilities. The few fishing boats were anchored in the harbor. Ocho Cascades was still under construction and would soon become the first-time share resort in Los Cabos (Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo).
For the previous four years, I had been working full-time as a California-licensed private investigator conducting investigations all over the world. Business was good. Because of the unique nature of my business, we could easily live just about anywhere there was an airport. Our home was then in So Cal.
We were not looking to move from So Cal or invest in property in Mexico. We were just in Cabo San Lucas for a little R&R. It never dawned on us that Cabo San Lucas would one day become one of the world’s most popular resorts.
During our first full day in Cabo San Lucas, we happened upon Terrasol. It was under heavy construction. A small sales office in front had just begun pre-selling “very-far-from-finished” condos.
Long story short – we decided to buy three condos in the front-row corner building and move to Mexico, but only after we verified a private school (Colegio El Camino) had opened two years earlier. Our five-year-old daughter was about to begin kindergarten and our one-year-old son would start pre-school in a couple of years. Our twin boy and girl wouldn’t be born until August 1987.
In December 1986, when our condos were livable, we moved from So Cal to Cabo San Lucas. We brought our cars, belongings, and our 3 Honda ATVs and 2 Honda scooters we kept at our weekend getaway in Palm Springs, California. Honda ATVs were first sold in the USA in 1986.
Virtually every time I was out exploring Cabo on one of my ATVs or scooters, tourists would stop and ask me where I rented them. Remember, there was nothing to do but fish and sunbathe. I decided to try my luck by opening an ATV tour/scooter rental business. It would actually be the first such business in Mexico.
I flew back to So Cal, bought 60 Honda Gyro scooters and 25 ATVs, imported them into Mexico, rented space on Marina Blvd (where Happy Ending is now), hired employees, named it Chubasco’s, had a “Chubasco’s” neon sign made in So Cal (it was the first neon sign in Cabo San Lucas) and opened for business. We soon purchased the land as our business rapidly expanded.
We offered guided ATV tours directly from Chubasco’s to El Faro Viejo, Candelaria, etc., and rented scooters during the day. It seemed that just about every tourist who visited Cabo San Lucas became one of our customers.