About Sportfishing Costa Rica
Sportfishing Costa Rica is a small, independent guide to fishing in Costa Rica: the charter boats, fishing lodges and marinas on both coasts, the fish and when they run, and the towns where the boats leave from. It started in 2013 and was rebuilt in 2026, with every listing rechecked.
What this site is
Costa Rica packs a lot of fishing into a small country: sailfish and marlin off the Pacific, roosterfish on the rocks, big yellowfin in the south, and tarpon and snook in the Caribbean rivers. What's harder is working out where to go, when, and who to fish with. That's what this site is for.
We cover the charter boats, fishing lodges and marinas, coast by coast, from the Gulf of Papagayo to Golfito and from Barra del Colorado to Puerto Viejo. Alongside them are guides to the game fish, the seasons, the fishing towns and the rules every visiting angler should know, plus a few ideas for the days you're not on the water.
A bit of history
Sportfishing Costa Rica went online in 2013. Most of the original profiles and fish guides were written between 2013 and 2016 by Annie Watts, and the site was started by Geoff McCabe. By 2026 many of those pages had fallen out of date: boats had been sold, captains had retired and marinas had been built or renamed. So the editors went back through every page, checked every business again, and rewrote the site from scratch.
Businesses that are still running got a fresh profile at their old address, with current contact details. The ones that have closed were taken down, and their old addresses now lead to the closest section of the site.
How we pick listings
We list a charter, lodge or marina only after confirming it's operating now, using its own website, its official social pages and recent independent reviews. Contact details come from the business's own site or official pages. We don't publish prices, because they change too often, and nobody pays to be listed or ranked. The details are in how we check listings.
A member of Pizote Press sites
Sportfishing Costa Rica is part of Pizote Press, a small group of independent Costa Rica travel guides. Each one sticks to the subject it knows best, from diving and sailing to beaches, wellness and, here, fishing. We share writers and fact-checking habits, and each guide keeps its own voice.
The pizote is the white-nosed coati, the ring-tailed forager you'll see on trails and beaches all over Costa Rica. It pokes its nose into everything, which is roughly how we like to check a charter boat.
Corrections and suggestions
Boats change hands and new crews start every season. If something here is out of date, or you run a fishing business in Costa Rica we should look at, write to us at editor@sportfishing-costarica.com. We check every suggestion the same way before it goes up. More on the contact page.