Fishing in the Nicoya Peninsula & Santa Teresa
It would be easy to mistake Santa Teresa as simply a surf town. It certainly has its fair share of breaks and an extensive percentage of the population surfs. But Playa Carmen, Santa Teresa’s primary beach, and the surrounding area from Mal Pais to Playa Hermosa embody many other treasures that easily diversify the experience. One gem the area has is the various fishing adventures into waters teaming with some of the most coveted fish in the world. Whether you’d prefer to keep atop your land-legs or want to dive right in with an offshore kayaking adventure, Costa Rica Beach Rentals makes setting up world-class tours so easy you’ll be crossing any number of those eternally elusive fish off the bucket-list.
For the more casual fisherman, one can book a group fishing tour in a panga, out of Mal Pais fishing village. This small outboard craft is usually covered for shade and having benches that can usually take a max of 8 people. Fruit and water are often provided with alcoholic beverages available upon request. Also available upon request, are more extensive trips and private full-day tours to known, far-away, big-catch locations, like off the coast of Jaco, and out to where giants lurk, above the continental shelf. Rods and reels are always provided, ready to go, although tour guides are more than happy to allow patrons to bring their own equipment. Catches will change based on season, but expect to reel in various types of tuna, including the coveted Yellow-fin, Mahi-mahi, Barracuda, Sailfish, the fighting Jack Trevally, Rooster fish, and more!
One of the experiences visitors to the Southern Nicoya, and more specifically Santa Teresa area, have at their disposal is absolutely incredible kayak fishing. Not only is the experience far more intimate, often being dragged further out to sea in large battles with big catches, but the close proximity of the Continental Shelf, shipwrecks, volcanic holes, and many varying reef means top-notch fishing is around every corner. In Mal Pais, particularly, there are a few guides who have appeared in Sea Kayak worldwide publication multiple times for notable catches. Stick close to shore or push yourself for the “big one” and paddle all the way out to an offshore deep reef, either way, atop a kayak is where the most biodiversity of catches will be found. A recent visitor caught 12 different species in one day! An absolute extreme adventurist will find a kayak tour is one of the only opportunities to fish the crocodile inhabited Rio Bongo, where freshwater prey can be pulled out of the water amongst prehistoric beasts of the jungle and sea.
If you catch the bug and want to fish in between all your kayaking and offshore boating, stop into any of the local groceries, known as “supers”, and pick up and hand reel and some local hooks, weights, and lures. The whole kit can be purchased for under $30, and you’ll be off to try your hand at what the locals call fishing with a “yo-yo.” Just head out to any of the beaches and keep your eye out for where the birds and other fisherman are. There are also rocky outcrops from the fishing village of Mal Pais to the ledges beyond Playa Hermosa to cast off. Locals will gather in high concentration where fishing is good and the experience can feel more like a community than any form of competition. The hard-fighting Roosterfish is the prize here, despite being a catch & release sportfish, but Snapper, jacks and other local tropical fish are yanked out of the crashing waves regularly as the technique involves timing tugs on the line with the swell to aid in manually reeling in big catches. Upon request, Costa Rica Beach Rentals can set you up with a guide to teach the technique in a more private fishing hole.
Needless to say, we at Costa Rica Beach Rentals have been on a few tours and we’re big fans! Some of our customers visit annually, specifically for fishing tours and we go often ourselves as a local pastime. Take a look at all the fantastic rentals we have to offer and when you begin to plan your perfect Costa Rica Beach Rentals vacation, let us know so we can make sure you don’t miss out on some of the world’s most beautiful beaches, best surf breaks, and top-tier fishing! Stop back in often too! We’re always getting new rentals and updating our blog with fun and fantastic things to do all over Costa Rica!
