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
We had a wonderful stay at the Villa Del Arco. Our room had an amazing view of the pool and ocean. It was perfect for our family. We did 2 timeshares, one at Cabo Villas and one at the Del Arco. We saved a lot of money booking thru you and you gave us the best deal around. I am so glad I found your web site and will be calling you next year to book another week at the Del Arco if available.
Shawna S., Scottsdale AZ
Your low rates surprised us (we go to Cabo often and usually use Orbitz or other such sites.) On this trip we booked through you at way lower rates and our suite had the best location of any of our trips! Thank you.
Shelley Sugar Land, TX
It was a wonderful trip Bob, made better by the quality of the resort and all aspects of the service from booking the trip through to landing back home.
We won't hesitate to turn to you again in the future.
A few things I thought worthy of comment:
-The vendors on the beach were as pervasive as ants at a picnic, but without exception were polite and deferred to a restated no, thank you.
-Service everywhere, on property and off, was excellent, with the occasional slowness I hope people would expect of a vacation destination.
-The food at La Perla and poolside was very good.
-The food at the Italian restaurant at La Palmar was okay, but not worth the walk from VDA.
-I wish the resort had informed us that the Japanese restaurant was closed on Thursday.
-People should be encouraged to take the drive to Todos Los Santos, if they have a car. The drive is desert pretty, but very much under construction. The town, once you get there, is beautiful and worth the investment of the drive. Early evening dinner in the courtyard at the Hotel California was fabulous.
-The Office restaurant is a must do. Much better in the evening, but good for lunch too.
-Really enjoyed the food at Pancho's. Didn't need any of the 575 tequilas, but loved the frozen coconut ice cream dessert.
-Costco is, down to every detail, a pure execution of an American Costco store.
-Walmart is a true Mexican adaption based of the Walmart theme.
-For good tennis (courts, pros and staff), you can't beat Palmilla Tennis. Its a hike from VDA, but if you have competitive players with you who need the workout, it's a good place to go.
-One thing I noticed, maybe due to my lack of Spanish language skills, was that I had a very hard time determining addresses for things. Asking Google Maps for directions without them, is hard.
Again, we loved it and we'll keep going back. Thanks for your help Bob.
Marty, Washington
Bob, Great time. I think Arco has upped their attention to detail....wonderful new SVS(I think thats the service). We felt llike we were at the Taj Mahal and royalty. Very nice touch!! And yes the towel colors are the same tan stripe. Thanks Again...til next visit.
Wende B., Navato, CA
Thanks for taking the time to come to La Gringa marina to meet us before our sunset cruise! We had a wonderful time in Cabo with our family. The penthouse suite at Villa Del Arco was beautiful. We had our New Years Eve dinner there, steaks on the grill and could see the fireworks from our room. It was great to have a hot tub right there. We ate most of our lunches at the Buccaneer and went into town for dinner. Your recommendations were helpful. The kids enjoyed the kayaks and jet skis. We appreciate all your help in arranging transfers and the sunset cruise. It was a very enjoyable trip for our family. Hope to see you again sometime.
Nancy S., Pennsylvania
As I sit in Los Angeles, shivering from the cold air, I'm dreaming of the warm breezes that blew into our Villa del Arco room, the amazing salsa, fresh grilled fish and lovely people of Mexico. We were completely overwhelmed when we walked into the end unit and saw the most amazing view of the ocean from our patio doors. Icing on the already sweet cake was having that wonderful personal hot tub on the patio. It was beyond our expectations! We encountered a couple of minor issues but the positive aspects of Villa del Arco far outweighed those issues. We enjoyed being just far enough away from The Office and Mango Deck to not hear all the noise yet it was close enough to walk to when we wanted some action.
I was a little apprehensive to pay up front for the condo instead of paying upon checkout but everything turned out wonderful! Thank you again for hooking us up in a ROCKIN' condo and putting an exclamation point on our wonderful girls vaca. LOVE CABO and will definitely use Destination Cabo again.
Debbie H
Debra Hoffman, El Sugundo California
There isn't anything you didn't think of. Everything is in a good place, we love it. The housekeeper was very thoughtful and pleasant. The villa is both clean and vibrant, we have never been to a villa that is so clean. Thanks for sharing your home with us. P.S. we will tell all friends about 1208!
Hi Bob,
We booked enough condos for 65 people for a wedding through Destination Cabo and saved so much money. We had to add one more condo when we checked in and were able to save nearly 50% from what the front desk was offering us. The property is beautiful and has everything you need. We absolutely had the best time ever. We are so glad we stayed at Villa del Palmar and that we used Destination Cabo to get our accommodations.
Jenn
We had a lovely time at the property. The location was great and it was so quiet. The security of the property was wonderful as well. I would tell anyone traveling with family that Villa la Estancia is an excellent choice
Kellye J
What a great trip! We absolutely loved Cabo. It was our first trip to Mexico and we weren't sure what to expect. Thankfully you had sent Destination Vacations Welcomes You To Cabo download. It was amazingly helpful to us in planning transportation, shopping and activities. Our transportation through Transpacifico was seamless including a planned stop at Costco! Our room at Villa Estancia was gorgeous and spacious. Our three daughters 18,15 and 10 had plenty of space to change their bathing suits hundreds of times without running into each other. We loved the pool, swim up bar and beautiful beach. The water was cooler than we had expected but it didn't stop our girls from playing and swimming in the waves. We loved the Villa Del Palmar Fiesta with the dancing and Mexican buffet. With so many activities to choose from, we have to plan another vacation back to Cabo. Maybe next time without the kids!
Thanks again for your prompt response and helpful information,
Lynne
Lynne K., Chanhassen, MN