Greetings from the most intense fishery and biologically diverse areas in the world – the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Home to the amazing angling at Crocodile Bay and the unmatched beauty of the rainforest where we are located. The month of November was an amazing month for fishing for our guests. There aren’t many places in the world where you can catch dorado, sailfish, tuna, and blue marlin all in one day, but that was the case for a few fortunate guests who experienced Crocodile Bay’s magic this past month.

Imagine you’re on a boat in the Pacific Ocean off the Southern coast of Costa Rica. You are amazed by the beauty of the tropical views. You are enjoying the pristine and relaxing waters. Suddenly one of the reels starts screaming. “Fish on!” yells the mate. He hands the rod to you and your heart starts pounding as you try to guess what fish you might have on the end of line. Is it a giant black marlin, a blue marlin, a sailfish, or a large yellowfin tuna?

There are only a few places in the world where you can target roosterfish and blue marlin consistently, and the Osa Peninsula is on the top of that list! During our peak of the green season the bite gets better and better, and the inshore and offshore fishing during this time of the year is amazingly good. There aren’t a lot of places you can catch 15 to 25 roosterfish in one day or raise 2 to 7 marlin in one day, and we can say with pride that Crocodile Bay has held up to those expectations during the last 22 years.

August is the peak of the tuna season and this past month delivered for our guests, as our anglers landed coolers full of tuna- even a few at 100+lbs. Right now is the best time for hooking gigantic yellowfin tuna, which are drawn to live bait, poppers and top water lures. These big boys are made of pure muscle, so have your own muscles ready for a tug of war. The tuna fishing is only going to get better in Costa Rica with the recent news the government finally passed legislation moving the commercial tuna boats out to 80 miles offshore. Coastal fishing will substantially improve even more in the future as tuna boats were taking many sport fishing species as by-catch.

This July, our fishing guests at Crocodile Bay were greeted with pleasant weather featuring mostly sunny and calm days and experienced adventures both on and off the water. July was another fantastic month for tuna fishing here at Croc. Bay with a few 100+ lbs yellow tails brought to the boat and the dinner table. The month closed out with a big bang featuring a few more huge tunas and a collection 50+lbs dorados caught in the blue waters offshore. The billfish bite has been a little slow, but the tuna and dorado action made up for the elusive billfish keeping our anglers busy reeling in some of the hardest fighting (and tasty) fish out there.

Walking down the pier at Crocodile Bay just after dawn to meet your captain and mate for the 1st time is a thrill you’ll never forget. Our guests travel to Crocodile Bay from all over the world because we provide them a fishing experience like no one else can. Our experienced staff have been fishing these Costa Rican waters for most of their lives. We take our guests on a fishing adventure they can’t get at their local fishing spot and guide them to the species they have always wanted to catch.

May was an exciting month at Crocodile Bay, both on and off the water. The big news in May is that Botánika Osa Peninsula, Curio Collection by Hilton has opened it’s doors on our property. Botánika is the new accommodation offering for Crocodile Bay’s fishing guests.

In North America, the spring season is an exciting time ushering in transition and growth. Here in Costa Rica, it’s been a month of big changes, expansions, and transformations for Crocodile Bay too! Starting with our name: Crocodile Bay Resort has evolved into Crocodile Bay Marina. In other huge news: our fishing guests are now enjoying the luxury accommodations and amenities provided by our newly-opened hotel, Botanika Osa Peninsula, Curio Collection by Hilton. The names may have changed, but the fishing remains the heart and soul of our operation at Crocodile Bay.

The month of March was full of pleasant surprises for our anglers in the water: from great weather, calm seas and exceptional fishing! For the last 3 fishing reports I mentioned how impressive the marlin bite has been this season and it continues to surprise us. The waters around the Osa Peninsula are usually good for blue marlin but the numbers of marlin we have been seeing recently is incredible. It has definitely been the highlight of the month! We have had many anglers scratch marlin off their bucket list. This month alone our fleet raised over 110 blue marlin, giving our anglers more than one shot to hook up the fish-of-a-lifetime.

I’m happy to report on the fantastic fishing we had at Crocodile Bay in February. The Golfo Dulce continues to pleasantly surprise me with calm seas and a super-hot offshore bite. This February our guests were landing plenty of dorado, wahoo, tuna, sailfish and higher than usual numbers of marlin. We are at the tail end of the dorado season and the big bulls are continuing to smash guests’ baits and lures. It is impressive how the 50+ lbs. bulls will smash lures as violently as a marlin.

Sportfishing Calendar

January

Tuna, marlin and dorado taper off. Number of sailfish begins to increase.

February

Prime time for sailfish. Occassional marlin, tuna or dorado.

March

Prime time for sailfish.

April

Sailfish numbers drop mid-April and some marlin begin to appear.

May

Slower for billfish. Typically we start seeing schools of spinner dolphins 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 striped 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.