Sportfishing is excellent off Puerto Vallarta, and fisherfolk have landed monster marlin well over 500 pounds. Surf casting from shore nets snook, roosters, and jack crevalles. Hire a panga (skiff) to hunt for Spanish mackerel, sea bass, amberjack, snapper, bonito, and roosterfish on full- or half-day trips within the bay. Yachts are best for big-game fishing: yellowfin tuna; blue, striped, and black marlin; and dorado. Hire them for four to 10 hours, or overnight. Catch-and-release of billfish is encouraged. If you don't want to charter a boat, you can also join a "party" boat.

Most sportfishing yachts are based at Marina Vallarta; only a few call "home" the marina at Paradise Village, in Nuevo Vallarta. Pangas can be hired in the traditional fishing villages of Mismaloya and Boca de Tomatlán, just south of town; in the Costalegre towns of La Manzanilla and Barra de Navidad; and in the north, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, as well as at El Anclote and Nuevo Corral del Risco, Punta de Mita. The resort hotels of the Costalegre and Punta de Mita arrange fishing excursions for their guests. Bass fishing at Cajón de Peña, about 1½ hours south of Vallarta, nets 10-pounders on a good day.

Logistics

Most captains and crews are thoroughly bilingual, at least when it comes to boating and fishing.

Licenses

Licenses are necessary, but don't worry about procuring yours on your own. If the captain hasn't arranged it ahead of time, he will make sure that a SEMARNAP official is on hand to sell you one before the boat departs. Cost is about $13 per day; there are no weekly rates.

Prices

Prices generally range $300-$400 for four hours on a yacht to $600-$1,050 for a day-long cruise for four to eight anglers. A longer trip is recommended for chasing the big guys, as it takes you to prime fishing grounds like Los Bancos and Cobeteña.

Party boats range from $125 to $140 per person for an eight-hour day. Drinking water is generally included in the price; box lunches and beer or soda may be sold separately or included, or sometimes it's BYOB. Pangas and superpangas, the latter with shade and a head of some sort, charge $185 to $400 for four to eight hours and generally accommodate one to three or four anglers. For a boat and round-trip transportation to Cajón de Peña, an all-day affair, expect to pay $150 to $600 per person.

Outfitters

CharterDreams (Marina Las Palmas II, Locales 11 and 12, Marina Vallarta. 322/221-0690. www.charterdreams.com) has a variety of excursions, from trips with one to three people in pangas (skiffs) for bass fishing to cruises with up to eight people aboard luxury yachts. Although most fisherfolk choose to leave around the smack of dawn, you set your own itinerary. The same rates apply for whale-watching or private sightseeing or snorkeling tours: $400 for four hours, $450 to $650 for six hours, and $500 to $800 for eight hours, depending on the boat.

In Barra de Navidad, at the southern end of the Costalegre, contact Gerardo Kosonoy (315/355-5739; 315/354-2251 (mobile). hakunakosonoy@yahoo.com) for fishing excursions. Alternately, you can easily round up another fisherman with a panga from one of the two large fishing co-ops on the lagoon side of town. There's usually at least one representative hoping for clients at the water taxi dock. Gerardo and his compadres charge 400 pesos ($37) per hour or 2,500 pesos ($238) for seven hours, for one to four passengers. There's a four-hour minimum.

Do you remember the seductive-looking divers in Night of the Iguana? Well, their progeny might be among the local guys of Mismaloya Divers (Road to Mismaloya Beach, Mismaloya. 322/228-0020). Panga trips here are comparatively inexpensive, usually around $40 per person (minimum four people) within the bay or $100 per person to the Marietas (five lines, one to four passengers), including a light breakfast or lunch and water. Local fishermen at Punta de Mita have formed the Sociedad Cooperativa de Servicios Turísticos (Tourist Services Cooperative, Av. El Anclote 1, Manz. 17, Corral del Risco, Punta de Mita. 329/291-6298. www.prodigyweb.net.mx/cooperativapuntamita). The families who run this co-op were forcibly relocated from their original town of Corral del Risco due to the development of luxurious digs like the Four Seasons. The guides may not speak English as fluently as the more polished PV operators, but they know the local waters, and the fees go directly to them and their families. Sportfishing costs about $60 to $70 per hour, with a four-hour minimum, for up to four people. Two hours of whale-watching or snorkeling around the Marietas Islands, for up to eight people, costs $114 per person. Anyone older than six but younger than 60 also pays $2 for a wristband allowing entrance to the Marietas, a national aquatic park.

Captain Peter Vines of Vallarta Tour and Travel (Marina Los Palmas Local 4, in front of Dock B, Marina Vallarta. 322/294-6240; 866/682-1971 from the U.S. and Canada) can accommodate eight fisherfolk with top-of-the-line equipment, including the latest electronics, sonar, radar, and two radios. Rates are very reasonable (four hours $400, six hours $500, eight hours $600, 12 hours $800), especially since they include lunch, beer, soda, and fish-cleaning service at the end of the day. Transportation from your hotel is included in the full-day bass-fishing expedition to Cajón de Peña, which is essentially a charter service.

Annual Events

March

The entire month is dedicated to racing and boating activities, beginning with the Banderas Bay Regatta (322/297-2222. www.banderasbayregatta.com), which starts in San Diego, California, and ends here with a great awards banquet. Throughout the month there are cocktail parties, charity events, receptions, seminars, additional races, and boat parades. A 1,000-mile race between San Diego and Puerto Vallarta, co-hosted by the two cities' yacht clubs, begins around the third week of February and ends during March festivities. Check www.vallartayachtclub.com for details.

May

Begun in the early '90s, the five-day Annual Sports Classic (322/226-0404 Ext. 6038 contact Veronica Alarcon at the Sheraton Buganvilias:. www.puertovallarta.net/news/sports-classic-2008.php) invites amateurs, pros, and semipros to compete in basketball, soccer, bowling, tennis, beach volleyball, a 5k race, and an aerobics marathon. Most events take place at the Agustin Flores Contreras Stadium, Los Arcos Amphitheater, and the beach in front of the Holiday Inn.

November

The Puerto Vallarta International Half Marathon (www.maratonvallarta.com), held in early November, gets bigger each year. There's a 5K run, too, and a big pasta dinner on the beach the day before the race.

The International Puerto Vallarta Sailfish and Marlin Tournament (322/225-5467. www.fishvallarta.com) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2005. The entry fee is more than $1,300 per line, but the prizes and prestige of winning are great. Categories are dorado, tuna, marlin, and sailfish.