What to Wear in Cabo San Lucas in January

Pack for the drive inland. SMN's averages for its Cabo San Lucas station give January a 26.6°C afternoon and a night that falls to 12.8°C / 55°F, the coolest month by a narrow margin over February. The real cold sits in the sierra. When the season's third winter storm reached Los Cabos on 23 January 2026, Protección Civil forecast 12–15°C in the municipality and 5°C around Miraflores and Santiago, and its advice was "mantenerse bien abrigados": stay well wrapped up. That is where January's fiestas happen. Layer denim over a cardigan over cotton, wear leather boots, and strip back to the cotton by afternoon.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Indigo denim trucker jacket

   When the third winter storm of the season arrived on 23 January 2026, Protección Civil forecast 12–15°C in the municipality and as low as 5°C in the sierra around Miraflores and Santiago, with gusts of 30–40 km/h. Denim stops that wind in an open plaza at dawn, and the two flap chest pockets keep pesos and a phone close while you stand.

2. 
   02

   Rust-orange cotton V-neck cardigan

   SMN's station averages give a January day that runs from a night falling to 12.8°C / 55°F up to a 26.6°C afternoon, nearly 14°C apart. A cardigan is the layer you unbutton first and carry last. Cotton rather than wool suits the warm half of that day, and rust sits between the indigo jacket and the tobacco trousers without matching either.

3. 
   03

   Cream long-sleeve cotton top, crew neck

   Santiago's first ranch festival began at 4pm in the town plaza on Saturday 31 January 2026, two hours before sunset, with saddle and flour-tortilla contests and folk ballet to stand through. Long sleeves in plain cotton keep a low sun off your arms once the jacket and cardigan come off. Cream shows cleanly under both layers.

4. 
   04

   Tobacco linen-cotton wide-leg trousers

   Linen-cotton breathes through a 26.6°C afternoon, and a wide leg slides over boots without bunching. Tobacco is close to the colour of a plaza after the horses have been through it, so dust does not show by evening. A drawstring waist suits a day of flour tortillas, which the Miraflores monograph lists among the delegación's signature foods.

5. 
   05

   Dark chestnut leather Chelsea boots

   La Candelaria's fiestas close with the traditional cabalgata, a procession on horseback, which in 2026 rode on Monday 2 February, Candlemas. Closed leather keeps your feet clear of hooves when riders pass close to the crowd. Elastic sides pull on in a cold car before sunrise, and the low stacked heel stays planted on loose ground.

6. 
   06

   Palm-straw ranchero hat

   Shade for an open plaza through a 26.6°C afternoon. At 4pm in late January the sun sits low in the west, and a flat brim about a hand wide covers your eyes and the back of your neck. Choose a plain leather band: the Santiago festival honours the Sudcaliforniano ranchero, and a hat banded in silver conchos reads as the US Southwest instead.

7. 
   07

   Rust-brown button-front midi skirt

   For the fiesta evening. In 2026 La Candelaria's fiestas opened with a camp on 31 January, held arts events on 1 and 2 February and crowned their queen on the Sunday. A midi length worn with the boots covers you to the ankle on a night that falls to 12.8°C / 55°F, and the shorter front lets you walk in boots without catching the hem.

8. 
   08

   Dark brown leather satchel, crossbody strap

   Miraflores, a pueblo since 1858, lists leatherworking, talabartería, among its crafts, and Santiago's 2026 saddle contest judged entries on finish and detail. A structured leather satchel belongs in that company. Its crossbody strap leaves both hands free at the contests, and the push-lock flap stays shut through a dusty afternoon.

A suggested look — cream long-sleeve cotton top, rust-orange cotton cardigan, dark indigo denim jacket, tobacco wide-leg trousers, dark chestnut leather chelsea boots.

What to avoid

• Open sandals near the horses at the cabalgata
• A coast-only wardrobe for a day in the sierra
• The sierra roads during a winter-storm warning
• A trip built on a 2027 ranch-festival date not yet announced
• Bare arms after sunset, on a night that falls to 13°C / 55°F