El Encanto de la Laguna: Homes & Condos, San José del Cabo

El Encanto de la Laguna is one of the most tightly held addresses in San José del Cabo: just 40 hacienda-style homes and 65 condominiums spread across a naturally terraced hillside, every one of them facing the Sea of Cortez. It sits minutes from Puerto Los Cabos, not out in the East Cape — a distinction worth getting right if you're comparing it to other communities.

Getting the Location Right: San José del Cabo, Not East Cape

It's worth clearing this up first, since older listings and even some of our own past content have gotten it wrong: El Encanto de la Laguna sits in the "La Laguna" area just east of downtown San José del Cabo — about 15 minutes from the Art District and roughly 10 minutes from the Puerto Los Cabos Marina. It is not part of the East Cape, which is a distinct region much farther northeast along the Sea of Cortez, centered around La Ribera and Cabo Pulmo. If you're cross-shopping East Cape land or homes, that's genuinely a different market with different pricing and infrastructure — worth knowing before you compare the two.

What El Encanto does share with its surroundings is direct beach access on the calmer Sea of Cortez side, where conditions are typically gentler than the Pacific-facing beaches around Cabo San Lucas — better suited to swimming, paddleboarding, and shore fishing most of the year.

Hacienda Architecture in a Restrained Setting

Unlike the large resort-style complexes that define much of the Los Cabos Corridor, El Encanto was designed with restraint. Warm stone, terracotta tile roofs, graceful arches, and generous outdoor terraces create a visual harmony with the Baja California landscape rather than competing with it. The community sits on a gently terraced hillside, so the natural topography — not height or density — is what gives nearly every residence an unobstructed Sea of Cortez view.

Amenities & Lifestyle

Security and privacy are central to how the community operates — 24-hour gated access, on-site management, and a genuinely low-turnover owner base. Foreigners can and do own here directly through a fideicomiso (bank trust), the standard structure for coastal property in Mexico's restricted zone; it's explained in more detail below.

Homes & Condos: What's Currently Available

Inventory here turns over slowly — Baja Smart's own community data notes that available properties are rarely listed, which is part of what keeps values stable. Recent and active listings give a sense of the range: a 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath corner condo (1,678 sq ft, built 2008) at roughly $1.3M, up to Casa Cielo, a 4-bedroom, 4-bath beachfront hacienda villa (built 2006) with an infinity-edge pool, listed near $4.95M. Between those two, expect condos generally in the $1.2M–$2M range and single-family homes and villas from roughly $2M up past $5M depending on lot position and ocean frontage.

Buying Process for Foreign Buyers

Because El Encanto sits within Mexico's restricted coastal zone, foreign buyers purchase through a fideicomiso — a renewable bank trust that grants full ownership rights, including the right to sell, rent, renovate, and pass the property to heirs. The rest of the process follows what most U.S. and Canadian buyers already expect: an offer, an escrow account, due diligence and title review, and closing with a notario público, typically running 7–9% of the purchase price in total closing costs.

Frequently Asked Questions