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Miguel Antonion (Quepos) Costa Rica - charters

4K views 24 replies 16 participants last post by  SailFishCostaRica 
#1 ·
we are heading to Miguel Antonio the first of July, for a week or so. Pretty sure our trip is going to include a day fishing for sails and dorado (or whatever), and I'd like to do a half day rooster fishing.

It'll be me, my wife, and 8 year old son who is gung ho to catch something bigger than a redfish.


What charters are good, comfortable, and reliable in the area.


Anythign to specifially make sure we do, see, eat, take in? I'm not sure where we are staying....I have no say or controls...
 
#2 ·
we are heading to Miguel Antonio the first of July, for a week or so. Pretty sure our trip is going to include a day fishing for sails and dorado (or whatever), and I'd like to do a half day rooster fishing.

It'll be me, my wife, and 8 year old son who is gung ho to catch something bigger than a redfish.

What charters are good, comfortable, and reliable in the area.

Anythign to specifially make sure we do, see, eat, take in? I'm not sure where we are staying....I have no say or controls...
You'll really like it out here, I came out 11 years back and never went home! Other than the fishing, I think the most popular thing to see here would be the Manuel Antonio national park. It's closed on Monday, so make sure you use that as a fishing day. There are a bunch of hiking trails in the park, and there are a few beaches and a ton of animals like monkeys, bird and sloths. Pretty much all the animals you'll want to see in Costa Rica are in the park. There is a great guide in the area I use alot named Freddy and his email address is freddytours@gmail.com

On the places the eat, the marina has some good restaurants, there is a casual place on the second floor called RunAway grill that I eat at alot, and then on the third floor there is a semi fancy but no dress code place called Gabriellas that has some of the best food. You really want to go to El Avion as well, it's an airplane from the contra wars with Nicaragua that a guy named Ron bought, and he stuffed it up on the side of a cliff and made a restaurant out of it. One of the coolest views in the world I think, I go up there and find myself staring at the near shore islands and the ocean for hours. Really pretty up there. And then there are a few places around there, like agua azul and Emilio's Cafe, that are kind of the local hang outs.

I know you have no say over where to stay, but one thing to stay away from right now are rental houses that are not actually in Manuel Antonio. There are a ton of really really nice houses up in the woods around here, and especially in Dominical where local kids are watching tourists. And when you guys leave to go eat, or fish or whatever, they are coming in the windows and taking everything. It's happened to three of my customers in the last two months. The kids got caught once, and nobody was over 13 years old, but they were taking passports, suitcases, and even opening the safes. If you stay at a hotel, or condo (the Shana Condos are really nice) or a house in a gated community (like Tulemar) there is 0 issue. And there has been no assaults, just kids coming in through the windows and stealing luggage and passports.

Love to help with anything at all, let me know I can do anything for you! Here are some pictures to get you hyped up about your trip!

Here's right outside the marina we leave out of and the mountains in the background:


Here's the beach that is 8 minutes from the dock:


View from the Hotel Mariposa:



Here's some fish pictures:








 
#10 ·
you really want to go to el avion as well, it's an airplane from the contra wars with nicaragua that a guy named ron bought, and he stuffed it up on the side of a cliff and made a restaurant out of it. One of the coolest views in the world i think, i go up there and find myself staring at the near shore islands and the ocean for hours. Really pretty up there.
x2. Went out hookin' sails with John's crew a few yrs ago. Thumbs up trip! Also, loved the open air of El Avion, has a great burger too! The howler monkeys CALLING way down in the lower bottoms were an unexpected surprise. If ya make the ride up to el avion, make sure your taxi driver stops near the cliffs on the way so y'all can watch the scarlett macaws up high in the trees. Too cool2watch.
 
#9 ·
Fished with Captain John W on the Stress Reeliever 2 in November 2018. They worked hard to put us on the fish and we went 3/5 on Dorado, 0/1 on Sailfish and 1/1 on Blue Marlin, which was my first ever billfish!

Highly recommend John Schuchert (SailfishCostaRica) and his outfit Quepos Fish Adventure so don't hesitate to contact him for your visit to CR. He can also put you in contact with transport to and from San Jose and tour guides for Manuel Antonio. Enjoy your trip!
 

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#13 ·
Another thumbs up for John’s charters! Went last May and had a blast.Dont overlook the roosters.I have never battled a fish like that and after the 4th one I told Johnny No Mas!
We did enjoy the Marina and Runaway Grill.They will cook up your catch.We went to the park and ate at a few of the places along the park road as well..Agua Azul? was great
The only dissapointment was the actual town of Quepos.Ran into a few more “druggies” than i cared to.We rented a small little house right in town and was very getto.We moved early down to La Mariposa and could not have been happier!!
 
#19 ·
I’m in Manuel Antonio now. Been here fishing for 2 weeks in the Pez Vela Open and Offshore World Championship. It’s a beautiful country and I highly recommend it. I can second Gabriela’s it is top notch and El Avion is neat as well. The Parador Resort has a beautiful view for a meal as well.
 
#20 ·
RiversideFun

Costa Rica has lots of fish but has become very Americanized Touristy, you don't even need to speak Spanish . I was there in the early 90's and found hotels for as cheap as 5 bucks . Everything is very expensive now . I went 2 years ago and fished with a different captain John if you want a smaller cheaper boat USA phone 281 617 2950 fishcrjohn@gmail.com , Not fancy . I have lived in Latin America and traveled all over the place and found Hotels will lie to you so I always go in and CHECK EVERYTHING , make sure Hot Water works , doors lock, ask what is included like breakfast, towels, etc.
So with that in mind , I went to EVERY hotel from Quepos to Migeul Antonio , and looked , some of them suck , some use false advertising pics, some big ones at the bottom of Miguel Antonio were very nice , too nice for me. I ended up staying at El Mango about the half way point . Very nice , nice view Jungle , away from crowds, breakfast included, bar , dog friendly, paid about 100 bucks . January is dry season and best time to go EVERYONE Lies about that too because they want your business all year long . Find a Taxi when you arrive and get his Cell phone , tell him you want him to be your privet chauffeur , call from any where and he will come get you. That's how I checked every hotel .
Have fun.
 
#23 ·
It seems most people fishing in Costa Rica target sails and I caught the biggest sailfish I have ever seen in person last February fishing on one of John's boats, the Stress Reeliever II. I'll be back in Quepos in the July/August timeframe and was wondering if anyone has ever targeted snook, it's something I haven't caught or tasted.
 
#25 ·
Snook are usually here about half of the time from January to April. They are the hardest one to predict. You have to have schools of sardines around, and then the waves have to be small so you can get close to the river mouths, and then the snook have to be biting. It's not like roosterfish which are usually out around the rocks where we can always have a good shot at them. Odd enough, there is usually a one week window in June or July when the snook come out again, but there is no way at all to predict that and I don't really advertise it. So if you are really really lucky...
 
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