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 just got back from Cabo -- wanted to let you know we had a WONDERFUL time. The place was everything you said it would be, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I want to thank you both for being so professional and handling everything very thoroughly.
There's always a nagging bit of doubt whenever you go over the Internet -- the 'will I really have a place to stay' thought-but it was PERFECT!
Darrin and Michele M, Poway California
We had a wonderful trip and the accomodations were very nice. We enjoyed the room location by the pool. The restaurant was excellent and the staff very good. Thank you for your assistance.
jill Blackmon
Bob, thanks again - everything was perfect in Cabo with your help. I would recommend you to any of my friends and relatives to use your service if traveling to Cabo. Hope we can team up again Joe
Joe W., Houston
We had a great trip. Yes, we did the timeshare analysis. We were told it would be 90 minutes. It lasted over 3 hours. Way too strong a sell that really turned us off. They introduced us to 6 separate individuals. Each one with a stronger sell. The last woman basically insulted us by telling us that we must just want to overpay for all future vacations. Once we got out of the timeshare meeting nightmare we had a great time. The resort was beautiful and airport transfers worked out great!
John B., New Jersey
We immensely enjoyed our vacation in Cabo. We would definitely go back. In fact, when we asked our children where they liked better, Cabo or Disney World, they both said Cabo hands down!!!
The resort was beautiful, and I felt fully prepared for what awaited us, thanks to you. The service was great, the beaches were some of the best I have ever been on. The girls enjoyed the Kids in Paradise program (at Villa del Palmar). They even made some new little friends that they are keeping in contact with through the mail. I parasailed for the first time, which was awesome. And we rented a car for a day and drove to Todos Santos. It was definitely a calm and relaxing vacation - one I look forward to taking again.
Thank you for all your help and we will definitely keep you in mind when we are ready to return to Cabo.
Kelly Bolger, Independence Missouri
As I have already relayed to you, my family and I absolutely loved your condo unit 1501 at Villa del Palmar. We had a wonderful time there. The resort was nice. We didn't participate in the All Inclusive Plan as we go into town for dinner each night, but we did enjoy breakfasts at the cafe and lunches on the beach. The only complaint I could have is the beach service is extremely slow and not very accurate with your orders, but it didn't bother us all that much. We are very interested in renting this unit again next year.
Milissa, Seattle
I just wanted to drop you a quick email to let you know we had a wonderful time in Cabo. Villa Del Arco was beautiful and we could not have asked for a better room or room location. I also wanted to thank you for quickly taking care of the small snag for us at check in so quickly. I was starting to sweat it but it turned out seamless. We are interested in maybe staying at the Villa Group hotel in Cancun next year during Christmas break. Would you be able to help us with those reservations?
Laurie
Laurie, San Jose CA
Hi bob. We had a wonderful time. I was a bit skeptical at first when I found you website that somehow I was going to get scammed. Obviously we did not. I would absolutely 100% recommend destination vacations based on my experience
We did take the tour but were not prepared to invest. I did conclude that I would like to take advantage of their introductory package but am unable to find the person to whom I spoke. Perhaps with some more digging I can find that person.
I believe the gals name was Donna to whom I last spoke and gave me the intro package offer. They only allowed me to take a picture of it. I would have some more questions before I could invest for sure or not
Thanks
Thomas K, [email protected]
Cabo was fabulous!! Everyone was very pleased with the resort and had a great time. The next time we go back to Cabo I would like to stay at the Villa Del Arco. That was beautiful!! But, the Villa Del Palmar was perfect with all of the kids.
Patty , Hastings, MI
Everything went very well. We did end up upgrading which made a big difference. Thanks for all your help and I would lean on you the next time we go as well !!
Thanks again,
Mike
Mike Biskupski, Minnesota