Cabo San Lucas is known as “The Marlin Capital of the World” and it is home to some of the best sport fishing in general. Anglers come from around the world to catch the striped, black, and blue marlin and many more of the 5,000 different species living in the Sea of Cortez. Whether you are a rookie angler or a seasoned pro, everyone can have a great time reeling in the biggest catch of their life out on the Los Cabos waters. Sport fishing in Cabo San Lucas has brought in some of the best charter boat companies, tournaments, and anglers from all over. You can charter a smaller 4 man boat or celebrate with all your friends on one of the state-of-the-art all inclusive yachts that can host up to 25 guests. If you are planning a trip to Cabo San Lucas, do not pass up the opportunity to go sport fishing, it is an adventure you will remember forever.
Cabo San Lucas Fishing - General Information
Los Cabos Charter Boats: It is highly recommended that you reserve a charter boat far in advance, and at latest up to one week before you arrive in Cabo San Lucas. You can reserve anything from a shared charter to help lower the costs if you only have one or two people all the way up to 8, 12, and 25 person super yachts. View a list of Cabo San Lucas sport fishing charters or read advice on sharing a fishing charter.
Cabo San Lucas Fishing Costs: A smaller vessel that will fit up to four people will generally cost around $500 for an eight hour day, not including taxes, fees, gratuity, cleaning and freezing, etc. If you have a large group, expect to pay upwards of $1,500 for a whole day on a nicer boat or $2,800+ for a yacht. It is expected that you tip your captain anywhere between 10-20% of the total charter price, which he will share with his deckhand. Tipping should be related to their quality of service, not for the amount of fish you caught on the trip. If you plan on keeping any fish, you will have to pay for the cleaning and freezing once you get back to the docks; price depends on size of fish.
Catch and Release: Although the Los Cabos area is well known for its abundance of large sailfish, you are only legally allowed to bring in one sailfish per day. Most anglers will catch and release all of their sailfish and bring in the smaller game fish that are great for eating like tuna, Dorado, Wahoo, and yellowtail. Bring your fresh fish back to your resort’s restaurant and for a small fee they will cook your fish for dinner that evening… nothing better than fresh fish that you caught with your own hands.
What to Bring: After several margaritas the night before and an early meeting time with your captain, people will often forget the bare essentials. Here are several items that you must remember if you want the fishing trip to be fun for your group: sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, warm clothes for the early morning, camera, Dramamine for sea sickness (take one hour prior to setting sail), lunch and beer if you didn’t pay in advance for them to be included, and towel for when you get wet.
Cabo San Lucas Fishing Season: Sport fishing is great year around in Baja, but there are several months where the big prized marlins are biting. If you want to catch a blue or black marlin, your best bet is to head down sometime between June and October. View our entire Cabo San Lucas fishing calendar for a complete breakdown of what fish are biting and when. Read over our insider fishing tips to ensure a successful adventure your next time visiting Baja California.
Complete Cabo San Lucas Fishing Guide
Reviews
Thank you so much for such an easy and worry free vacation on such short notice. The villa was beautiful and very comfortable. The additional amenities (USA phoneline & internet access with computer) kept us very accessible to all of our work responsibilities.
Transportation was also effortless and ran exactly as planned.
We had such a wonderful time and would have liked to stayed longer. The only thing we wish we could have organized in advance is grocery shopping and to have the groceries in the villa when we arrived.
Thanks again,
Shelley
Shelly , Denver
Bob,
We had a wonderful vacation in Cabo. The condo was very nice, we all loved it! Everyone at the resort was very helpful and lovely! We certainly will come back and go through Destination Cabo!
We travel quit a bit and my only 3 topics of improvement which I'm not sure you can do much about:
wi-fi. Typically at high end resorts, paying for wi-fi no longer exists, felt nickel and dimmed having to pay $10/day/per device. The pool attendants are very kind and helpful, would be nice to not let people come down at sunrise and lay towels on chairs only to sit empty most of the day. If the pool attendants helped guests find chairs as they arrived, I think everyone would have a chair when and where they wanted. Perhaps even adding more cabanas: we would have rented a cabana, they only had 2 seats per cabana and would only let us reserve 2 of them, with 6 of us, did not work. I would also suggest the facility buy new towels for the condo, we had plenty. however, they are looking rather worn.
What we loved: The catered dinner on Christmas Day was amazing!
Your tips on everything including Costco and Walgreens saved big $$
Not buying the inclusive package was fantastic advice
Restaurants: our 20 something kids enjoyed Tabascos for lunch, Panchos for dinner was very good as was LaDolce.
Your transportation recommendation was terrific, service awesome
We all had a great time, everything you presented on your website was accurate.
Thank you for your help in making our Christmas memorable and Happy New Year!
Wendy
Wendy, Seattle
The Villa del Palmar was lovely, and we had a wonderful room overlooking the ocean. Thank you again for your graciousness and attention to detail. We will contact you the next time we take a vacation.
Melanie Marshall, Sunnyvale California
I wanted to just send you a little note thanking you for being so great to work with on our vacation. We had an absolute blast! It was everything you said it would be and you delivered on all your promises too. That is VERY important these days. Our next vacation is going to be somewhere in the Caribbean so if you can facilitate that, we would love to go through you again. Also, we would entertain a cruise there as well.
Michelle F., Oregon
We had a great time. Meeting up with 12 of our far-flung friends was a real treat. The price was very reasonable for the quality of room and food we enjoyed there. The social scene around the pool was lots of fun, and is probably the biggest reason we would consider coming back to Villa Del Arco.
Dan, Ohio
We had a great time and everything was perfect. The villa was awesome and the transportation provided was great. I appreciate your assistance and will contact you next time we head down south.
Thanks
Jeff
Jeff Galloway, Washougal Washington
We had a great time, the condo was amazing and spacious which was great for both children and adults. We also like the fact that is was on the lower floor, always a big plus when a 2 year old is around. We enjoyed the fact that a back door was available to walk to the pool and SPA.
The service from La Estancia personnel was very good. They are very attentive and always make sure things happen in a timely manner.
We had an issue with the internal internet, but the hotel sent one of their technician and he was able to reset the modem. The other issue we had was the washing machine which needs to be either fix or replaced. Fortunately the hotel includes a room full of washing machines so this was not a big deal.
We would definitely like to go back to your place and recommended to future guest.
Joel , San Diego
Wanted to let you know we had a wonderful time at La Estancia. The staff is top notch. The facility very well taken care of, beautiful. Our room was huge!
We also booked transport with Transpacifico, and would recommend that to everyone! The only way to go! Only wish I would have read my voucher again before getting off the plane. DO NOT listen to anybody coming out! Go directly to your driver is right!!
Overall, we would come back and loved our stay!
Thank you very much!
Heidi
Heidi Houser, Preston Washington
Bob,
Everything was exactly as you promoted. I was happy with the accommodations and your service. I especially appreciated the planning/tip information you sent to me.
Thank you!
Maria
We really enjoyed our visit and the resort was very clean and the proximity to the marina and downtown was spectacular.
Sherry W., Alphretta, Georgia