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! Kate and I had a great trip to Cabo for our 1 year anniversary. We definitely will be returning and wouldn't hesitate to book through DestinationCabo again! Thank you so much for your help, really everything couldn't have been easier for us from the transportation to check-in to check-out. The room was very nice too! One small snafu was just that for most of our first day, the hot water wasn't running, but the hotel had it fixed by that evening so it wasn't a big deal.
Mike Sprouse, LA
Great trip, great accommodations, great service, beautiful weather. We had a great time and thanks for coordinating. Would definitely go back again.
Joe B., Falls Church, VA
Great place..the ride was there, the place is beautiful and super clean and every thing else is top notch. The girls were impressed and the bed is big and very comfortable..you spoke the truth. And the view from the room is just about the best in the house.Only the penthouse might have been better.
We had a really great time on our family vacation. The two bedroom suite we had was absolutely beautiful. The view was super. We could see the ocean and the pool. I really liked that the bldg. we were in (3) was shaded in the evening so we could sit on the deck and relax. The Villa del Arco was a really nice choice. The nachos and Guacamole at the pool were very good. The service was great too at the pool. We met some great people. I liked that this resort was not constantly noisy with the music or people. The view out to Lands End was great. We went to town couple times and we had so much fun. Love the culture. Our kids are 18 & 22 and they loved it too. Love the food and the drinks and the shopping.
We definitely will be back.
Thank you Bob for setting us up at a really nice place-we had a super family vacation.
Patty Steinkamp from Iowa
Patty Steinkamp, Iowa
Bob,
I meant to contact you before this, but we've had some busy times since we got back. We were down there to celebrate our 25th anniversary, but this year is also my parents 50th and we were busy with that. We had an awesome experience. Everything went very smoothly. We loved the resort. The service was wonderful. Somewhere I had read a review that the concierge was only there to try to sell timeshares and not be helpful, but that was not the case at all for us. Julia was who we primarily dealt with and once we told her we weren't in the position or interested in buying right now due to children in college, she never pursued it, and was very helpful making local calls to confirm reservations we had. The others were also helpful when we had questions and never pushed us. Your advice was helpful especially getting through the timeshare pitches at the airport. We absolutely loved our time in Cabo and will definitely return and try to book through Destination Vacations!! Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Lori
Bob,
Everything went real well. The people at the Palmar were very helpful and courteous. I successfully avoided all the time share creepers. The grounds and pools were beautiful and the rooms were nice. The weather was great. It was obviously spring break time when we were there, but we already expected what comes with that and since we brought 3 teenagers with us we only contributed to the problem.
Thx for everything -
Nat & Tricia
The resort was great. I did read about unfriendly staff when checking in, and was prepared for that to happen. It never did happen. Everyone at del arco was helpful, friendly, and pleasant. Thank you for a wonderful vacation.
Greg Gursey
Thank you Bob. It was a great trip and very easy booking our accommodations thru Destination Vacations, will use again next year on our next trip to Cabo.
Kelly Lee, Wilton, CA
It's Kim. Just wanted to tell you everything went smoothly, and this place "is to die for". OMG!! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Kim, Los Angeles
Our stay at Villa Los Arcos was excellent. The food was exceptional (and even though our package was a special offer that did not include any costs for the inclusive package, I would recommend the inclusive package to anyone planning a vacation there, as it eliminated a lot of headaches such as meal planning, taxi fares and having to watch every nickel). With 3 hungry teenagers along for the trip, this was totally the way to go. The accommodations were outstanding, in excellent repair, and the staff at Los Arcos was friendly and accommodating. Of the three resorts that are all in the same area, I found the staff at Los Arcos to be the friendliest. The staff at the sister neighboring resort (I can't recall the name) were not nearly as outgoing and friendly, possibly because of the genre those resort were more geared to (younger kids and parents).
Thanks for lining us up with this package. It was an outstanding price and a great deal.
John T., Benicia, CA