One of the first things to consider when planning your Costa Rica sport fishing vacation is what species you want to target and what time of the year conditions are most favorable to yield the highest numbers of that species.

This Costa Rica fishing guide and calendar will provide an overview of the best “historical” months to pursue your target species.

January

Tuna, Marlin, and Dorado taper off and numbers of Sailfish numbers begin to increase.

February

Prime time for Sailfish. Occasional Marlin, Tuna or Dorado.

March

Primetime for Sailfish.

April

Sailfish numbers drop mid month and some Marlin begin to appear.

May

Slower for billfish. Typically we start seeing schools of Spinner Dolphin with Yellowfin tuna.

June

Slower for Billfish, Spinner Dolphins with Yellowfin tuna.

July

Marlin begin to appear. A chance for Black Marlin as well as Blues and Stripped Marlin.

A chance for Tuna.

August

Marlin and Tuna.

September

Slower for Billfish. A chance for Tuna and Dorado.

October

Dorado begin to appear in numbers with Marlin close behind.

November

A mixed bag of Dorado, Marlin, and some big Tuna.

December

Marlin, Dorado, Tuna and sailfish are all possibilities.

Notes: On any given day it is possible to catch a sailfish, they are here year round, but tend to concentrate in mid January, February and March. The inshore species such as Roosterfish, Snappers, Jacks and Grouper are also here year round. The new FADS may change the times for Marlin. They should become more readily available throughout the year. It will be exciting to see how this new fishery develops.