Sun Rider Sunset Dinner Cruise in Cabo San Lucas: Buffet and Open Bar on a Catamaran

Sun Rider Tours

Sunset Dinner Cruise

★ 4.5 (52) · from $115

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Prices and timetables checked 2026-10-17. Affiliate note: the booking button is a GetYourGuide link and I earn a commission on bookings.

The Sun Rider sunset dinner cruise is a big-boat party: a double-deck catamaran called the SunRider100, sold for up to 250 guests, with a Mexican buffet, an open bar and a dance floor, for $115 per person over 2.5 hours.

The detail that changes the decision is what sits outside that $115. A $5 dock fee is payable in cash on arrival, premium drinks cost $7 each and the lobster dinner is $20 extra, so a couple who add everything pay about $20 more than the headline price for two. The standard bar and the buffet are covered.

This page is one product inside my Cabo San Lucas boat tours comparison, and it belongs to the sunset cruise and dinner cruise groups. If you are still choosing a destination, start from the Harbour Advisor home page.

What is the Sun Rider sunset dinner cruise and what do you see?

It is a sightseeing loop of the Cabo coast timed for dusk, with dinner served on board and a crew that doubles as entertainment. The listing describes surround-sound music, a lit dance floor, a 360-degree upper deck and spacious bathrooms on a catamaran that holds up to 250 people.

• Scenery: the Arch, Lover’s Beach, Pelican Rock, Neptune’s Finger and the Land’s End rock formations, plus a sea lion colony.
• Photo turn: the captain turns the boat around at the Arch so passengers can shoot it from several angles.
• Commentary: an entertainer shares facts about the Arch, per the listing.
• Finish: a pass along El Medano beach, then back to the dock after dinner.

The listing also mentions that sea turtles, stingrays, dolphins and several whale species live where the Gulf of California meets the Pacific. It names whales only for the winter season and promises no sightings on any given night.

Where does the cruise leave from?

Check-in is at the marina boardwalk in front of the Sr. Frogs store, between the Cabo Dolphins stand and the craft market, and you should be there 30 minutes before the booked start. Marina boardwalk on Google Maps shows the area, and Marina Cabo San Lucas on Google Maps shows the whole harbour.

The listing includes no hotel pickup. Cabo has no metro or tram, so you arrive by taxi, rideshare or on foot along the marina walk. I do not give a walking time because the listing names landmarks rather than a street address, and I will not estimate a distance I cannot route.

What is the route, stop by stop?

The boat follows the usual Cabo out-and-back: out of the marina, past the Arch, along the Pacific side of Land’s End and home along the bay. The listing lists seven stops in this order.

The listing says the boat returns in time for the sunset to land during dinner. That is the point of the route order: the Pacific-side rocks come while the light is still high, and the bay is the finale.

The listing ends the tour along El Medano beach, so expect the closing leg to stay inside the bay rather than head out again.

How long is it and when does it sail?

The cruise lasts 2.5 hours and the listing publishes no fixed departure time, so read the time on your date in the booking calendar. Check-in 30 minutes earlier means roughly three hours from arrival to farewell.

The third column is my own arithmetic, not an operator schedule: I subtract about 1.5 hours so that the sunset arrives when dinner begins. Sunset values come from the sunrise-sunset.org API, which I queried for the 15th of each month in 2026 in the America/Mazatlan time zone, UTC-7 all year.

What is included and what costs extra?

The buffet and the standard open bar are included, and everything else is a cash extra. The buffet covers grilled beef and chicken skewers with cheese, beans, rice, hot sauces, guacamole, chips, tortillas and fruit.

One planning point: a drinker who orders three premium drinks and the lobster adds $46 with the dock fee, so the effective price per person for that evening is about $161. A non-drinker still pays the full $115, and one reviewer called the cruise quite expensive if you do not drink.

How does the Sun Rider cruise compare with other Cabo sunset cruises?

The Sun Rider sunset dinner is the roomiest and loudest of the sunset boats, not the cheapest and not the most personal. The table compares it with four sunset cruises I would shortlist next to it, using GetYourGuide prices and ratings checked on 2026-10-17.

If a quiet sail is your goal, the shared sailboat is cheaper and rated higher. If you want a steak or shrimp dinner at a table, the chef-dinner yacht costs $84 more. Browse all of them in my Cabo sunset cruise guide.

Is the Sun Rider dinner cruise worth it against the other Cabo boats?

For a group that wants music, food and an open bar in one booking, the Sun Rider sunset dinner is good value: at $46 an hour it sits only about $1 above the $44.85 median for shared trips. For anyone who wants a quiet view, no.

• Worth it for: groups of friends, birthday and bachelorette evenings, anyone who will use the open bar.
• Weak value for: non-drinkers, couples who want conversation, and anyone who wants plated food.
• Safer alternative: the sailboat with 4.9/5, if you can do without dinner.

605,763 cruise passengers arrived in Cabo San Lucas in the first seven months of 2025, on 161 ship calls.

That figure matters for the Sun Rider sunset dinner because 161 ship calls in seven months mean more than 600,000 passengers using the same harbour. A 250-guest boat is the format built for that volume, so expect a crowd on the dock, not a private moment.

When is the best time to go?

For a clear Sun Rider sunset dinner, January to April is safest, because the 2025 data shows zero rain days in those months, while September had 16 rain days and 142.6 mm of rain. The table also shows when the sun sets and what the water is like.

The listing says it runs in most weather and advises a light jacket in winter. That fits the 77°F average high in January against 92°F in July.

Open-Meteo’s marine model gives a mean daily maximum wave height of 1.7 m for October 2025 and 0.9 m for December, so the sea is calmest in the winter months when you need the jacket. The listing also warns guests prone to motion sickness to take precautions.

Winter is also whale season. The Mexico population of humpbacks breeds along Mexico’s Pacific coast and passes the Baja peninsula, according to NOAA Fisheries, which recommends keeping at least 100 yards from large whales. The next public holiday is Revolution Day on 16 November 2026 (Nager.Date), when I would expect more local guests.

What do passengers say?

For the Sun Rider sunset dinner, the pattern is happy with the crew and the drinks, mixed on the food, and split on value. GetYourGuide scores the guide 4.8, transport 5.0 and value for money 4.1, so value is the weakest mark.

• Crew: the most repeated theme, from attentive service to friendly staff.
• Drinks and music: several travellers mention unlimited drinks and dancing.
• Food: one reviewer found the buffet under-seasoned.
• Timing: one praised how each landmark got its time.

The review sample I could read is thin and skews positive (4 and 5 stars), so treat the 4.5 average as a guide for the party crowd, not a promise for quiet travellers.

Who should skip it?

Skip the Sun Rider sunset dinner if you want a calm, small-boat evening, if you dislike amplified music, or if you want a plated dinner. In those cases my Cabo boat tour list has better matches, such as a private yacht or the chef-dinner yacht.

How do you book the Sun Rider sunset dinner cruise?

1. Pick the date and read the start time in the calendar.
2. Carry $5 cash per guest for the dock fee.
3. Arrive 30 minutes before the start at the marina boardwalk.
4. Pack a light jacket from December to March.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Listing data from GetYourGuide (checked 2026-10-17). Open-Meteo historical weather and marine APIs, sunrise-sunset.org API, Frankfurter FX API. Los Cabos municipal government; NOAA Fisheries; Nager.Date.