The Pacific Coast of Costa Rica offers some of the best sportfishing in the world. I have lived in two of the three major sportfishing ports of the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.
Here is the best advice that I can give:
- If you can’t pay the money to go on a nice trip, save your money and stay home. Trust me. You won’t be happy with what you get. Sportfishing isn’t for budget travellers.
- Costa Rica has three major fishing ports on the Pacific Coast: Flamingo (in Guanacaste), Jaco, and Quepos (Manuel Antonio). Of these, Flamingo was the first, just as the Guanacaste Province was the first tourist development in Costa Rica. Second would be Quepos/Manuel Antonio, and third is Jaco. Jaco comes in third because there is no pier. However, a pier is being built at the Marriott in Herradura (about 10 minutes away). In my opinion, in the next 10 years Jaco will supercede Quepos as the southern sportfishing hub.
- Sportfishing in Quepos is good, but at a premium price. The pier in Quepos is always full of boats, and it looks very pretty. Also, Quepos/Manuel Antonio is a big money area. The hotels are better and more expensive. So, all of the captains there charge more. It doesn’t matter about the saturation, and they will not negotiate – because YOU don’t matter; there are three other people waiting to go, too. Quepos and Flamingo are equally priced at about $700-$1000 for a full day of fishing. Full day means that you are fishing for marlin and sailfish. Two good places to start in Quepos are Blue Fin Sportfishing and Jesse Billetti Sportfishing. Blue Fin always has someone that speaks English, and they have several boats. Jesse Billetti (The captain) is an American and an excellent fisherman.
- Yet, really, the best bang for your buck is in Jaco. Jaco is the red-headed stepchild of the Costa Rican sportfishing world. The only problem with Jaco is that there aren’t a whole lot of boats to choose from, but you will pay a couple of hundred dollars less for the same thing: a full day of sportfishing. The only person that I can recommend is Marcelo Mariet at Jaco Adventures.
