Costa Palmas Marina: How 300 Slips Are Changing East Cape Real Estate

The East Cape Gets Its First Megayacht Marina

For decades, the East Cape was defined by what it lacked. No major hotels. No golf courses. No marinas. Just empty beaches, offshore reefs, and the kind of quiet that makes people either fall in love or drive away. If you wanted to dock a boat in Baja, you went to Cabo San Lucas — IGY Marina's 380 slips — or Puerto Los Cabos in San Jose. The East Cape had pangas on the beach and not much else.

Costa Palmas changed that. The 1,000-acre development on the Sea of Cortez between Los Barriles and Cabo Pulmo is building the East Cape's first full-service marina — and not a small one. The full buildout plan calls for 300+ slips accommodating vessels up to 250 feet, with shore power up to 800 amps per slip. Phase 1 is open with 35 slips. The rest is coming.

Key Takeaways

• Costa Palmas Marina Phase 1 is open with 35 slips: 28 at Marina Village Docks (vessels up to 150 feet) and 7 at Four Seasons Docks (vessels up to 100 feet). Shore power reaches 800 amps per slip.
• Full buildout: 300+ slips across four dock sections — Marina Village (84 slips, 250 ft), Four Seasons (29 slips, 100 ft), FS Villa Private (59 slips, 100 ft), and Costa Palmas Villa Private (111 slips, 60 ft).
• The marina is 18.2 km (11.3 miles) north of Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park — a UNESCO World Heritage dive site with 800+ marine species and a reef that has seen a 460% increase in fish biomass since protection began.
• Costa Palmas anchors the East Cape's transformation alongside the Amanvari resort (Aman's first Mexico property) and the Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas. Together, they bring world-class hospitality infrastructure to a coast that had none.
• East Cape property values have risen 15–25% since Costa Palmas broke ground, according to local market analysis. Communities within 30 minutes — Los Barriles, Zacatitos, Punta Pescadero — are seeing secondary demand driven by marina access.

Phase 1: What Is Open Now

The 35 slips in Phase 1 are divided between two dock sections:

Marina Village Docks (28 slips)

These are the primary deep-water slips designed for larger vessels up to 150 feet. The Marina Village docks connect directly to the Costa Palmas commercial village — restaurants, shops, and the kind of dockside walkability that defines marina living in places like Marina del Rey or Nantucket. Slip holders have access to fuel, water, shore power, pump-out, and full concierge services.

Four Seasons Docks (7 slips)

Exclusive to Four Seasons guests and residents, these 7 slips handle vessels up to 100 feet. They connect directly to the Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas, allowing yacht owners to step from their boat onto the resort grounds. This is the kind of integration you see at places like the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey or the Rosewood Tucker's Point in Bermuda — the yacht is not separate from the resort experience, it is part of it.

The Full Buildout: 300+ Slips

The master plan for the marina includes four dock sections at full buildout:

Dock Section	Slips	Max Vessel	Access
Marina Village	84	250 ft	General / slip purchase
Four Seasons	29	100 ft	FS guests/residents
FS Villa Private	59	100 ft	Villa owners
CP Villa Private	111	60 ft	Villa owners

The 84-slip Marina Village section is the flagship — 250-foot vessel capacity puts it in megayacht territory alongside IGY Marina Cabo San Lucas (375 feet) and Puerto Los Cabos (250 feet). The 800-amp shore power infrastructure supports the electrical demands of modern superyachts — a specification that signals Costa Palmas is competing for the global yacht charter circuit, not just local sport fishermen.

What You Access from the East Cape

The marina's location on the Sea of Cortez side puts some of the most spectacular marine environments in the Western Hemisphere within easy boating distance:

• Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park: 18.2 km (11.3 miles) south. UNESCO World Heritage Site with the only living coral reef in the Sea of Cortez. Peer-reviewed research published in PLOS ONE documented a 460% increase in fish biomass since protection began, with top predators increasing 11x and carnivores 4x. Strict regulations: max 6 divers per vessel, mandatory park guide, 45-minute bottom time limits.
• Isla Cerralvo: The largest island in the southern Sea of Cortez, approximately 30 km offshore from the East Cape. Known for whale shark encounters (December–March), diving, and isolated anchorages.
• Espiritu Santo Island: Accessible via a day trip from the marina or from La Paz. Sea lion colonies, crystal-clear snorkeling, and one of the most photographed anchorages in Baja.
• Los Barriles: 30 km north. The sportfishing capital of the East Cape, with marlin, dorado, tuna, and wahoo accessible year-round from the Cortez side.

Jacques Cousteau called the Sea of Cortez "the aquarium of the world." From the Costa Palmas Marina, you are in that aquarium — not visiting it through a tour operator, but accessing it directly from your own slip.

What the Marina Means for East Cape Property Values

Infrastructure creates value. This is not theory — it is observable in every marina community globally. When a coast goes from "beautiful but inaccessible" to "beautiful with world-class marina infrastructure," property values respond.

Costa Palmas entry pricing is currently in the $1.5M+ range for condos and $3M+ for villas. The Amanvari residences, when they come to market, will set new high-water marks for the East Cape. But the secondary effect — what happens to property values in Los Barriles, Zacatitos, and Punta Pescadero — is where the investment thesis gets interesting for buyers who cannot or do not want to buy inside Costa Palmas itself.

A home in Los Barriles that was $350,000 three years ago is now $450,000–$500,000. The marina is a major driver: proximity to world-class boating infrastructure without Costa Palmas pricing. This pattern — luxury anchor development lifting surrounding communities — is exactly what Palmilla did for the Corridor in the 2000s and what Diamante did for the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas.