Not until the early 1990s did sailfishing off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast attract major international attention, and by the turn of the century, Costa Rica was billing itself as the “sailfish capital of the world.” Just after that, however, sailfish numbers began to take a major hit, and many anglers ended up more disappointed than excited.
But thanks to the adoption of regulations limiting the commercial exploitation of sailfish, sailfish populations have rebounded and remain strong enough to justify the country’s self-anointed title. For example, consider the one-day total from 43 boats during the second leg of the Los Sueños Triple Crown in 2016, when 1,103 sailfish were caught and released.
But there’s more to Costa Rica’s billfish story than sailfish alone. Marlin were, of course, always here and part of the action, but until recent years, Costa Rica wasn’t really known as a marlin destination. That has changed as well, in part thanks to the overnight trips to seamounts and FADs (fish-aggregating devices) far offshore, trips a number of charters now offer. When boats start raising close to 30 marlin in a day, the international billfishing community takes notice.
This is not to suggest that catching 30 marlin or dozens of sailfish in a day is a foregone conclusion off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. But are such days possible? Absolutely.
Costa Rica is fortunate to have two billfish seasons: The fishing peaks from November through April in the central and southern regions and from May through December in the north. There are fishing clubs such as the Club Amateur de Pesca and the National Fishing Club that have been around for decades, but tourists traveling to Costa Rica is also very common these days.
Billfishing in Costa Rica
Wherever you fish for billfish in the world, the approach is a little different; each location has its own style. Costa Rica is no exception.
Most charter captains here troll a combination of teasers, lures and natural baits, including bonito and ballyhoo.
No matter where along the country’s Pacific coast you look to charter a sport-fisher, keep in mind that communication is key to any good charter-fishing trip, and that should start before you step on the boat. Many wholesalers and captains rely on repeat business, so they want to be sure your trip provides more than a boat ride.
If all the info you need isn’t on an operation’s website, feel free to call and ask about such things as fishing hours, type of equipment, if fishing licenses are provided, if the crew are women- and child-friendly, and the level of English spoken on board.
Once you arrive for a chartered day and step on the boat, have a conversation with the captain and crew before you leave the dock. Be honest about your level of experience as far as fishing for billfish is concerned, and remember, there are no stupid questions—particularly if billfishing is a whole new ballgame for you. Most crews will be happy to give you as much or as little help as you want.
When a fish appears in the spread, often the captain on a tower boat is the first to see it, and will start shouting the position of the fish behind the boat to crew and anglers on deck. In these first crazed minutes, the captain’s adrenalin might have him frantically blurting this out in Spanish for the crew, using words that mean: short, long, left and right, depending on which teaser the fish came up.
Six words that can help during the melee of hooking up are often shouted out in Spanish:
- marlin = marlín (mar-LEEN)
- sailfish = pez vela (pays BAY-la)
- left = izquierda (ees-KYEHR-dah)
- right = derecha (deh-REH-chah)
- long = largo
- short = corto
Though most crews speak at least some English, it might not hurt to learn a few simple phrases in Spanish before traveling to Costa Rica because that is the native tongue. Long before you arrive at the coast, you will have probably already learned “Pura vida!” which is a Costa Rican greeting that basically means “Everything is great.” “Cerveza fría” will get you a cold beer. Crews love to teach and love to hear about the fishing you do back home, so don’t be shy. Their world is much smaller than yours. Share it.
Many Costa Rica charters practice bait-and-switch fishing, a particularly exciting method for catching billfish that requires a well-coordinated effort, with the captain keeping track of where the fish is, the mate keeping the fish interested, and the angler presenting the bait at the right moment. With luck, the sail or marlin is interested, but you need to wait for it to eat, turn and start to move away, while feeding it line. The use of circle hooks is required in Costa Rica when using natural baits, so calmly place the reel in gear and just start winding.
Read Next: Fishing Vacations for Anglers
If you understand everyone’s role in the process, you have a much better chance of hooking up the first fish in the spread rather than learning from your error.
A fishing license, which is required by law, can be purchased online at the website of the fisheries agency INCOPESCA (incopesca.go.cr) before your trip. A permit good for up to eight days is $15. The agency allows sport fishermen to keep a total of five fish per boat. (Selling fish is not legal for anglers or sport-fishing charter crews.) By law, all billfish must be released.
Costa Rica Fishing Operations, North to South
Today, there are more than 600 boats registered to charter for billfish and other gamefish in Costa Rica, most of those operating along the country’s 780 miles of Pacific coastline. Here’s a sampling of time-tested operations, most with a good variety of boats to choose from. All of these operations and crews speak at least functional English, and many individuals are fluent. “Cost” refers to one day of fishing unless noted otherwise.
Flamingo
Flamingo Bay Pacific Charters (fishincostarica.com)
- Area fished: Northern Guanacaste (Papagayo to Flamingo)
- Getting there: One-hour drive from Liberia airport
- Crew: Captain and one or two mates
- Season: May-October; peak for sailfish May-August, for marlin June and July
- Accommodations: Can be arranged by Flamingo Bay Pacific Charters in Flamingo and Tamarindo
- Tackle: Penn and Shimano
- Fly tackle: On some boats
- Average run to billfish grounds: 30 minutes to one hour
- Fishing day: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Phone: 506-8713-3386
Gamefisher Charters (gamefisher2.com)
- Area fished: Fishes both seasons, Flamingo in the North and Quepos in Central
- Getting there: One-hour drive from Liberia airport
- Crew: Captain and two mates
- Season: May-December; peak for sailfish and marlin June-August
- Accommodations: Beachfront condos or private houses can be arranged by Gamefisher Charters
- Tackle: Penn International reels, Shimano rods and reels, 20- to 80-pound
- Fly tackle: 14- to 18-weight, with Billy Pate and Able reels
- Average run to billfish grounds: About an hour (20 miles)
- Fishing day: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Comments: More than 50 years’ combined captain and crew experience; comfortable teaching newcomers or the most seasoned anglers; specialize in fly-fishing
- Phone: 904-410-1041
Fishing Nosara (fishingnosara.com)
- Area Fished: 3 to 30 miles from Nosara
- Getting there: 2 ½-hour drive from Liberia airport
- Crew: Captain and mate
- Season: Year-round; peak for sailfish and marlin July, August and November
- Accommodations: Private houses on a nature reserve are part of Nosara’s fishing packages
- Tackle: Shimano Tiagra conventional and Penn spinning
- Fly tackle: None provided, though some crews have fly-fishing experience
- Average run to billfish grounds: 30 minutes to an hour
- Fishing day: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Comments: Friendly, responsible atmosphere with local, English-speaking crew; on-site staff always available; deep water quite close to beach, often making for a short run to the fish
- Phone: 904-591-2161
Herradura
Maverick Sportfishing, Los Sueños Resort and Marina (mavericksportfish.com)
- Area fished: 20 to 40 miles from marina; up to 150 miles out on longer seamount trips
- Getting there: 1 ¼-hour drive from San Jose
- Crew: Captain and one or two mates
- Season: Year-round; peak for sailfish January-April, marlin November and December plus July-September
- Accommodations: Condos, private homes or Marriott Hotel arranged per anglers’ wishes by Maverick
- Tackle: Alutecnos conventionals with 20-, 30- and 50-pound-test
- Fly tackle: On select boats
- Average run to billfish grounds: One to two hours
- Fishing day: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.; two to three days for FAD trips
- Comments: Professional, well-maintained boats; benefits from close affiliation with Los Sueños Resort
- Phone: 866-888-6426
Quepos
Ifish, Quepos Marina Pez Vela (ifishquepos.com)
- Area fished: 15 to 40 miles off Quepos
- Getting there: 2½-hour drive or 20-minute domestic flight from San Jose
- Fleet: Represents large fleet sport-fishers from 26 to 57 feet
- Crew: Captain and one or two mates, depending on boat
- Season: Year-round; peak for sailfish January-April, for marlin November and December plus July-September
- Accommodations: Villas available
- Tackle: Shimano and Penn, 20-, 30-, 50- and 80-pound gear
- Fly tackle: On some boats
- Average run to billfish grounds: One hour
- Fishing day: 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Comments: Experienced, professional captain; Ifish organizes tournaments at the marina
- Phone: 506-2774-9006
Puerto Jimenez-Golfito Area
Crocodile Bay Resort (crocodilebay.com)
- Area fished: South to the Panama border and out to 25 miles or more
- Getting there: Six-hour drive or 45-minute flight from San Jose
- Fleet: Ten 24- and 25-foot Boston Whaler center-console Outrages, and 33- to 35-foot Strike inboard tower boats
- Crew: Captain only on outboard boats; captain and mate on tower boats
- Season: Year-round; peak for sailfish January-April, marlin November and December plus July-September
- Accommodations: 28 rooms and three private houses available as part of all-inclusive-package trips (daily rates also available)
- Tackle: Penn International 30s and 50s, Fathom levelwinds and Spinfisher spinning reels
- Fly tackle: Templefork 10- and 14-weight rods
- Average run to billfish grounds: About an hour
- Fishing day: 6:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Comments: Named by Sport Fishing magazine as one of the best places for a family fishing vacation; many of the staff have worked at the resort for more than a decade
- Phone: 800-733-1115
Zancudo Lodge (zancudolodge.com)
- Area fished: Southernmost Costa Rica out to 12 to 45 miles; up to 60 miles for FAD fishing
- Getting here: 45-minute flight from San Jose to Golfito
- Fleet: Five 32-foot Contenders with twin 300 hp outboards, five 28-foot open-fish pangas with single 140 hp
- Crew: Captain only unless mate or mates requested
- Season: Year-round
- Accommodations: 12 standard rooms, two junior suites, two master suites
- Tackle: Okuma Makaira 10-, 30-, and 50-pound lever-drag reels and Okuma Azores spinning reels
- Average run to billfish grounds: 30 minutes to an hour
- Fishing day: 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Comments: Many improvements made in this boutique lodge; lodge located on the beach
- Phone: 800-854-8791
Also, coast-wide, Fish Costa Rica (fishcostarica.com; 800-407-9438) can help anglers find the right operations for them. With 4 decades of arranging fishing trips, Fish Costa Rica represents many operations and captains, from inshore to FADs.
History: Fisheries Management Made a Difference
Early in this century, the number of fish caught by anglers off Costa Rica began a steady decline, leaving tourists disappointed and charter fleets scratching their heads. Then it was discovered in 2008 that more than 600,000 pounds of sailfish meat were being exported to the United States each year, often ending up in restaurants as smoked-fish spread. Most consumers had no idea the tasty fish they were eating was sailfish.
A small group of charter captains formed La Federación Costarricense de Pesca, or FECOP, a nongovernmental federation of sport-fishing interests to lobby the government, backed by science, to better manage Costa Rica’s territorial waters. (The country’s territorial waters are 11 times greater than the size of its land area.) The group lobbied INCOPESCA, the governing agency of Costa Rican fisheries, citing the importance of sport fishing to coastal communities. In March 2009, Costa Rica banned the exportation of sailfish. More than a decade later, sailfish numbers have come roaring back. Sailfish can still be taken as accidental bycatch and sold on the national market, but they must be released if they’re alive on a line when captured.
In 2013, FECOP showed the government that the country’s tuna resource was being given to foreign purse seine boats for as little as $37 a ton, and that the purse seiners also were affecting populations of pelagic species that attract tourists. When the purse seiners’ nets actually wrapped up some sport-fishing boats out of Los Sueños Marina as the seiners encircled a pod of spinner dolphins, it was the final straw. In 2014, a decree was signed moving the tuna boats out 45 miles from the coast to protect numerous seamounts, creating an area of 77,220 square miles where purse seiners could no longer operate. Their catch was limited to 9,000 metric tons a year, down from a one-time high of nearly 25,000 metric tons, and that catch had to be sold to the local cannery in Puntarenas.
Moises Mug, a scientist for FECOP, analyzed observer onboard reports for the purse seine fleet in 2018 and discovered that moving the purse seiners farther out was saving 25 tons of marlin annually from ending up as seiners’ bycatch. During the past 10 years, the recovery of various pelagic species off Costa Rica has been remarkable.
Costa Rica FADs
Then there’s the FAD issue. Critics of fish aggregating devices claim that they are akin to hunting in baited fields, putting too much pressure on the fish, and once commercial boats find the locations, they end up killing too many marlin. But more study is needed to really assess the situation. Toward that end, a Stanford University team led by Larry Crowder, Ph.D., made trips to Costa Rica every few months in 2019 to place satellite tags on marlin and sailfish.
At the time of this writing, biologists Danielle Haulsee and Hanna Blondin had placed tags on 33 marlin and 14 sails. They tagged many of the marlin on FADs. The tags were set to pop off and transmit data at intervals of six, nine and 12 months. As they return data, scientists should have a clearer picture of how FADS are affecting these fish.
