Quepos Location

The town of Quepos, also known as Manuel Antonio, is located along Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast. For all Quepos fishing packages you will want to fly in and out of the Juan Santamaria Airport in San Jose (SJO). From there we will take you down to Quepos in a private, air conditioned van with a professional, insured English-speaking driver. The drive time between the SJO Airport and Quepos is approx 2.5-3 hrs depending on traffic. If your flight arrives early enough we can also fly you from San Jose down to Quepos on a short, 25-minute domestic flight.

Quepos Fishing Info

Perhaps more than any other beach in Costa Rica, Quepos is responsible for putting fishing in Costa Rica on the world map.  The combination of calm seas for offshore fishing, highly productive inshore fishing, the Manuel Antonio National Park, wildlife, and beautiful beaches was hard to beat – and still is today! For the anglers who have been fishing Costa Rica since the 90s and early 2000s, chances are they remember walking out on the big cement pier, “El Muelle”, and then putting their knees and ankles to the test walking down the floating ramp (which was often wet) to board their fishing boat. Today Quepos is the proud home of the Marina Pez Vela, a world class marina that features 195 wet slips, shops, restaurants, and new luxury condos. The Marina Pez Vela hosts several international billfish tournaments each year, including the biggest offshore fishing tournament in the world, the Offshore World Championship, every year since 2013.

Offshore Fishing in Quepos

Most days, the run to the offshore fishing grounds will be 22-30 miles away from the Marina Pez Vela in Quepos, which typically takes 45-60 minutes depending on the boat. Some weeks the best action can be as far as 40-45 miles away or as close as 12-15 miles. Offshore fishing from Quepos typically consists of slow trolling plastic teasers and ballyhoo rigged on circle hooks. Most boats will set some variation of a spread with a plastic teaser or squid daisy chain just off each side of the stern and then two to three lines with ballyhoo on each side of the boat. If you come across a pod of spinner dolphins that are swimming with yellow-fin tuna the crew will quickly take down the spread and allow you to start fishing with cedar plugs, poppers, or keep trolling ballyhoo depending on how they are feeding. Many dorado are caught while trolling for billfish, but if you spot a log or some other garbage flow you can slowly troll or cast around it to see if there are any lurking. Fishing out of Quepos gives you easy access to fish a popular offshore pinnacle called The 26, which is gernerally a great spot to speed troll for wahoo. Every year, especially in the green season, lucky anglers are surprised by black marlin who are also fishing the reef for a snack.

Inshore Fishing in Quepos

When inshore fishing in Quepos you’ll stay much closer to home and will always have the coastline in sight. Quepos is home to some of the best inshore fishing in Costa Rica due to the various rocky islands spread along the coastline, reefs, Rio Parrita to the north and Rio Savegre & Rio Naranjo to the south. Many of the bigger offshore boats can take you inshore fishing, but for the best experience we prefer to fish with one of our dedicated inshore guides since they’ll be on smaller boats and they know the various spots better than anyone. Hands down the best way to get bit while inshore fishing is using live bait. The bait in the area can be sardines, lookdowns, and the roosterfish favorite – blue runners. For anglers who don’t enjoy trolling all day you can also cast poppers and stick baits towards the various rocky islands or over reefs. Bottom fishing with chunk bait or jigging is also productive for edible fish like groupers, sea bass, amberjacks, and snapper.

Fly Fishing in Quepos

Quepos has long been known as one of the best spots for fly fishing in Costa Rica. More than all the other sport fishing destinations in Costa Rica, the fleet in Quepos has several boats that specialize in offshore fly fishing for sailfish and marlin. The offshore fly fishing in Quepos is so good that there was even an annual fly fishing tournament held here for many years in the early 2000s. Our experienced fly fishing captains are experts at teasing fish up behind the boat so that you can make a short cast and present your fly to an agitated billfish. Most of our dedicated fly fishing boats will provide all fly tackle, leaders, and flies that you need. While offshore you can also come across schools of yellowfin tuna and dorado that can be cast to.  Inshore flying fishing in Quepos is also an option, though much more difficult as it involves a lot of blind casting. The various islands, reefs, and river mouths hold a variety of species like jacks, mackerel, snook, snapper, and of course the prized roosterfish. Last but not least, freshwater fly fishing from Quepos is also an option as we offer float trips down our nearby jungle rivers. The main target on this trip is the feisty machaca, but roncador, tepemachin, and even snook & snapper can be caught in these costal waters.

In Costa Rica the use of circle hooks is mandatory when fishing for billfish.  All marlin and sailfish are catch and release by law and should not be taken out of the water for pictures. We encourage you to release all roosterfish and cubera snapper as well. Other edible species like tuna, dorado, wahoo, snook, corvina, grouper, and snapper can be kept and will be cleaned & filleted by your crew.

Quepos Fishing Charters

The charter fleet in Quepos is as diverse as any fishing destination in Costa Rica. The offshore fleet consists of anything from a 26′-28′ economical sport fishers to top of the line 50′-60′ luxury yachts and tournament boats while the dedicated inshore fleet are typically 26′-33′ center consoles and super pangas. We have three tiers of offshore fishing charters in Quepos: Small (26′-34′), Medium (36′-42′), and Large (45′-60′).  All of the offshore boats will have bathrooms, but the the Medium and Large boats typically have air conditioned salons. While many of the same offshore boats can take you inshore fishing, we often prefer to fish on a dedicated inshore boat with a captain who knows the tides, the best spots and typically drives a smaller, more agile boat to get you close to the islands and river mouths.Every captain has a different personality and every boat has different pros and cons, so trust our local knowledge to hand pick the perfect fishing charter for your group. All our Quepos fishing charters are private so the boat is 100% yours, we do not set up shared charters. All Quepos fishing charters include bait, tackle, gas, lunch, snacks, and drinks (beer/water/soda). A quality tip for your crew is generally 15%-20% of the cost of the charter.

When is the Best Time to Fish in Quepos?

Due to the combination of offshore, inshore, bottom fishing available, Quepos truly does offer great year round fishing. The peak billfish season runs from November through April, then the peak variety and meatfish season runs from May through November. The months of May through September are when we offer our overnight trips marlin fishing at the FADs. Inshore fishing is productive year round, but is certainly better when the baitfish are around. Below you can review our Quepos fishing calendar, but keep in mind these are general patterns, not an exact science as every year is different.

 

Available Species Fishing in Quepos

Offshore Fishing

Inshore & Bottom Fishing

 

 

Quepos / Manuel Antonio Accommodations

The Manuel Antonio area offers so much more than just sport fishing, it’s also home to beautiful beaches, wildlife, and Costa Rica’s most visited national park, Manuel Antonio. Both have been attracting visitors to the area since the 70’s and 80’s, so their is no shortage of options when it comes to accommodations in Quepos. For anglers on a budget, or who simply prefer to spend more on fishing than a luxury hotel, there are several 3-star options that have been around for decades. The nicer, more luxurious 4-star and 5-star hotels tend to be newer, offer more amenities, and boast incredible views of the surrounding rainforest and Pacific Ocean. For larger groups and families there are also several private villas and condo rentals available if you prefer something more exclusive. If the wildlife and ocean views don’t interest your fishing group, the Marina Pez Vela Villas are eight brand new fully furnished 2 and 3-bedroom condos that sit on the second floor of the marina village so you are right in the heart of the action and steps away from the dock. We will hand pick the best fit for you once we start customizing your Quepos fishing package.

Quepos Day Tours & Non-Fishing Activities

Our Quepos fishing packages don’t need to be all fishing, all the time. Whether it’s an off day from fishing or for the non-anglers in your group, there are tons of great eco and adventure tours available from the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area. The list includes:

• Canopy zip-line tour
• ATVs
• White Water Rafting
• Horseback Riding to a Waterfall
• Guided Tour of Manuel Antonio National Park
• Guided Tour of nearby Private Nature Reserves
• Catamaran Cruise + Snorkeling
• Surfing
• Jet skies
• Parasailing
• Spice Farm
• Mangrove Tour (by boat or kayak)
• River float fishing trip

 

 

 

All Quepos Fishing Packages booked with Central America Fishing include the following:

• Free Vacation Planning (no fees + direct rates)
• VIP Airport Meet & Greet upon arrival into SJO
• Private, air-conditioned transfers with English speaking driver.
• Luxury, private accommodations at hotels, fully furnished condos, or private villas. We will hand pick the best fit for you
• Private fishing charters
• Round trip transportation to the Marina Pez Vela each day you fish
• Any day tours & activities you’d like to add on
• All Costa Rican taxes
• Free quotes on travel insurance
• Pre-arrival assistance with dinner reservations, tee times, pre-stocking your condo or villa, hiring a private chef, and special requests.
• 24/7 support once you are here in country