Melissa5

There are many well-travelled fodorites on the Costa Rica board. That's why I'm posting this question here.

If you have been to both Costa Rica and southern Baja, can you help me please?

My niece has asked me to help plan her honeymoon to baja. This is her first time on the fodors board. She has a question posted in the section for Mexico: "help me plan my HONEYMOON in southern baja!" If you can help her out that would be great!

Her fiance loves to fish. She chose baja in hopes of combining fishing with a romantic honeymoon in an affordable country.

How do vacation prices compare between Mexico and Costa Rica, I was wondering? Is there any great fishing in Costa Rica?

Thanks for any help you can give my niece!

Suzie2

Melissa,

there is some awesome deep sea fishing off of costa rica.

quepos is a great place to go out of. we have had the best luck from there. with the great hotels just up the road towards Manuel antonio it makes for a perfect honeymoon location. we looked into baja a few years ago and what we found was that it was quite a bit more expensive. I suspect there are some affordable places in baja but I was comparing certain types of hotels with each other at the time.

If they are looking forward to some night life also, baja would probably be better.

Melissa5

Suzie2, thanks so much for the reply! This gives my niece another option. I will show her your reply and see if she has any questions.

Which season did you enjoy deep sea fishing from Quepos? The honeymoon will be in November. Is that a good month for deep sea fishing from Quepos? Can you keep your fish and have it cooked? Or do you have to throw it back in, like in some places?

I noticed that at Hotel Si Como No in Manuel Antonio, there is a notice in the restaurant that they will cook the fish for you to eat if you've caught it! (I'm pretty sure that's where I saw the sign. I could be mistaken. We were in a lot of restaurants.)

Have you ever been to Baja? I haven't. What about anybody else? Have any of you all been to Baja as well as Costa Rica?

suze

I have visited the Baja peninsula (but only once) and never Costa Rica. I do not care for Baja because it is more expensive than mainland Mexico destinations. Also is is a desert BIG time. Miles of arrid land and huge cactus was my impression of the southern tip. I was based in La Paz.

I have been to Mexico a dozen+ times but always choose Puerto Vallarta for the lush surroundings, gorgeous setting on a large bay, jungles, mountains, friendly local people, etc.

If she goes the Cabo route it is not a very <affordable country>.

Ally

Have not been to Baja, but have been to Costa Rica several times. Once took a small boat out of Garza (Near Nosara) and caught a huge Mahi-Mahi and yellow tuna. Took back and had a restaurant cook them up. Absolutely fabulous, and the restaurant liked it too as they could offer some to other diners. Way too much for just my husband and I to eat by ourselves. Not sure about what time of year is best....should be easy to find out by a little searching.

Suzie2

we have fished off of mexico and costa rica. the mexicans keep all of the fish including the sail. In costa rica they are released after a quick picture on the boat. Tuna, Mahi Mahi are both good eating and can be brought back to your hotel to be prepared that night or the next for you.

We generally fish in Jan-feb. I will check my resources to see how they generally do in November.

Suzie2

http://www.costaricamap.com/ing/avjfish.html

be patient, the actual season info is further down the page.

Melissa5

Thanks for helping out my niece with her honeymoon! She is excited and still in the planning stage. They are such a nice couple.

toucantango

I've visited and fished both Mexico and Costa Rica dozens of times.
Difficult to compare Cabo to Costa Rica, I like both but they are very different in terms of experience.

I've fished out of Los Suenos, Quepos, and Flamingo in Costa Rica but I'd have to say that the fishing seems a bit better out of Cabo. The billfish season is definately longer in Cabo, and boat prices are a bit cheaper too than Costa Rica. BTW, we NEVER kill the fish and most places in Mexico have started releasing fish as normal practice.

I like both places alot but I tend to enjoy the whole Costa Rica experience (pura vida) a bit more, but it is a bit further. Expect to pay about the same for the overall trip in comparison -hotels and meals in Baja cost more but the flights are cheaper and the fishing is cheaper.

In terms of best beaches, Cabo has some beautiful wild vacant beaches about 20 minutes north of town but it is sure tough to beat Manual Antonio's beach for scenery and wave frolicing.

So...you can't go wrong with either... IMHO

Suzie2

toucantango,

thanks for letting us know about the catch and release in Mexico. the last time we fished off of mexico was about 4 years ago in acapulco. we kept asking them to release the sail but they wouldn't. It was for that reason that we stopped fishing there. When we first started going to Mexico in the 70's we didn't know better and didn't think anything of the captain keeping all of the fish. been fishing off of costa rica since the early 90's now and I feel much more comfortable about their release program. first time we went was off of quepos and hooked over 20 sailfish in one day as well as other fish. All the sail were released. Never had a year like that again.

toucantango

Wow. 20 sails in one day. That makes a good case to fish in Costa Rica. I've never even heard of that many sails saught in one day by one boat. I can hear it now, "what's on the line? darn, it looks like another sail, you want to get this one, I'm too tired?"

If you wish to book Costa Rica fishing this year I would recommend going out of Los Suenos. They seem to have all the nice boats now and run a first class marina. It's a bit of a run to prime fishing waters from there but if you are serious about fishing in Costa Rica nowdays, Los Suenos is best. I would recommend VIP fishing or try to find Capt Mike Canino's boat (Galveston registry, can't remember the name).

I'm told that Flamingo is receiving some long needed improvements so watch for it to come back next year, and with several new flights now coming into Liberia, Flamingo will be convenient for a spring billfish run.

jennifer3841

Was just in Manuel Antonio in Feb. We loved it. Friends in our party went out fishing in Quepos and caught three sail fish and a big Mahi Mahi...we all had it for dinner...it was great. We had drinks at Si Como No...the place was very pretty and had a great pool. I also heard they will cook your fish. There is also a place right in Quepos...all the boats know the name...I will try and think of it. We rented a villa and hired a cook so it was very easy for us. If she needs places to stay just let me know. I can not say enough good things about the people and the food in Manuel.

JoniC

I just got back from Los Cabos and was down in Costa Rica a few years ago. Costa Rica is much cheaper. Los Cabos is the most expensive place in Mexico. Actually the prices rival those of the US! Outrageous! Do not go here if you are concerned about prices. The scenery is very different too. Los Cabos is all desert, few swimmable beaches, etc. Costa Rica on the other hand, is very lush.

Sorry I can't really comment about the fishing in Costa Rica. A friend of mine just came back from fishing in Cabo though and said it was great but extremely expensive and very rough waters. Everyone but him got sick on the boat, despite taking precautions.

Hope this helps,
Joni

Suzie2

toucan
It was an incredible day. we only landed 11 of them. and yes, we did tell the captain to head back early because we were exhausted. It was the most we have ever caught in one day. since that time the most we have caught is 3, of course, my husband monopolized the pole for 2 1/2 hrs pulling in a tuna that day so we didn't have much time for anything else.

Haven't had much luck with sail out of Puerto Jimenez but had a lot of fun pulling in a wahoo. Still waiting for that Marlin to hit.

Txtrav1

I can't comment on Baja, but can tell you the fishing in Sept a few yrs back was great at Tamarindo. We hauled in 11 sails + had 2 other and a Marlin jump the hook. We used Randy Wilson who owns Tamarindo Sports Fishing. He is an American captain who has lived in Costa Rica for 27+ yrs. Excellent experience with him. 2nd day we decided for a different challenge and went for Roosterfish. Now those were a challenge. Found to be much harder than sailfish. Most any bar/rest will cook the fish you caught. CR is catch & release for the big stuff, as it should be. Plenty of Tuna, Dorado, etc to catch to eat. Other suggestion would be to look into Belize. Good fishing, resonably priced for nice places. Base out of Ambergris Caye or Placencia. Some of the best diving/snorkeling in the world also. I'd easily take Costa Rica or Belize over Mexico(which I've done plenty of except Cabo/Baja area)

michaelburke

We are planning a 10 day trip in July of this year and have come across a website called costaricamap.com . Has anyone used them? They have packages of car rentals, hotels, resorts, b&bs, etc. that you can pick and choose from. It sounds great and the prices look good. Are they too good to be true?

rmeyer

I've been to both Cabo and Costa Rica, and I definitely prefer Costa Rica as a honeymoon spot, especially a place like Manuel Antonio (check out Tulemar Bungalows...very romantic!).

If they are looking for nightlife, Cabo is better. Fishing in Cabo is also better. World class. If they want relaxation, better restaurants and a larger variety of activities to choose from, Costa Rica.

They really can't go wrong with either, it's just personal preference.