We think Costa Rica tarpon are one of the best fighting fish available to anglers, and we think that the best way to make it available to everyone is to share some of the inside information about booking your tarpon fishing trip in Costa Rica. If this helps you, please share it with your friends!

About Costa Rica Tarpon:

If you haven’t seen one of these silver monsters mid-air you might not think that this huge fish could be so acrobatic. A great fighting fish, Tarpon in Costa Rica can weigh up to 300+ lbs, and in the open water, you can often find your self fighting a 150-200 lb fish that will take more than just brute strength to bring it into the boat. With scales that are capable of cutting your line to fast and hard runs, tarpon are here to play. Costa Rica tarpon are found on the Caribbean side of the country, in areas like Tortugureo, Manzanillo, Barra del Colorado, Parismina, and a lot of small out of the way locations, and can be fished in the open water, river heads, and in the rivers as these fish freely move between salt and fresh water.

Save Money When Booking your Costa Rica Tarpon Fishing Trip:

With almost every fishing trip, there is a commission that will be going to someone, so why not keep some of that for yourself or trade it for value added services? The standard commission rate for Costa Rica fishing is 20% which is built into the price of your trip. Now, we’re not bashing this fact, everyone needs a sales team, and that always comes at a cost to the customer. To get the best value for your money, and to get more extras, regardless of your price point you need to know who is who, so here is the breakdown.

Charter Operator - You will not always have a direct line to the charter operator as they typically get most of their business from booking agents. Though, with tarpon it is a bit more common to work directly with an operator; however, you will also hit the wall of booking agents ready to help you too. The best way to connect with a Costa Rica tarpon charter operator is to do a bit of research. Most of the lodges you will find online have their own boat, but beware, the person on the phone, even if they work for the lodge will often sell your lead for the commission, so remember to always negotiate with anyone you make contact with.

Booking agent - Booking agents are the primary liaison between customer and operator. Many agents bundle other services and can really make the experience a better and more fun, but again, buyer beware, this industry has as many bad seeds as with any tourism trade. Anyone can sell you a Costa Rica fishing trip, but on what boat and with what captain. Also you will likely have to put up a pretty big deposit, so who do you trust with your money? Thinking about just coming down and booking on the street? We don’t recommend it. The boats you want to be on are likely already going to be booked. Our advice on this is the same as with anything, do your research and may the best salesperson win! Again don’t forget to calculate 20% of any number they give you and assume this is the margin they have to work with. Booking agents will also offer and custom build packages which can include everything except international airfare typically. They will offer everything from vacation rentals to transportation to adult dating and every other service that is offered, such as tours, hotels, and other concierge services. If you go with a package, you can typically assume that each item vendor is paying a 10-40% commission to that agent for landing you.

Travel Agent - If you book with a travel agent, you are simply adding one more person into the commission split. We typically don’t recommend that you buy your trips from them unless they are really putting together a nice package and you are saving big on something else. When booking your tarpon fishing trip in Costa Rica through this type of agent, they will turn around and book it through the booking agent and split the commission. When there is a commission split, the overall price usually goes up as neither is satisfied with their side and will inflate their pricing to the customer to compensate. Not much more to say here, but if you go this way you will typically pay the most for your fishing trip.

Get More Value For Your Money:

So now you have found a few agents or operators that have or are going to send you pricing. Ok, great, so now you can start your negotiation. Is transportation included? What about fishing licenses? Could we get a couple of extra cases of beer on the boat? You get the picture. Remember, the point of the game here is to nickel and dime them, because if you don’t, odds are they will do it to you. To paint a picture, imagine this process similar to buying a new or used vehicle. These guys are hungry for the sale and it is a cut-throat marketplace. You have the power in this negotiating because there are far more agents that boats, so regardless of what you are told, everyone is booking the same few vessels. You might even hear from a few of them that they are the only one who knows and books only the good captains. Well the simple fact is this: everyone knows who the good captains are, and everyone is going to book you with a bad one if the they are the only ones available for your dates, regardless of what they just got done telling you about integrity). Many agents claim to be captains, but most are not captains in Costa Rica. If I’ve got a lake boat, does that make me a sport fishing captain? By their standards the answer is yes. While we should note that there are exceptions to this rule, especially when dealing with a smaller outfit local to where you will be fishing.

So what is typically included in a Costa Rica tarpon fishing trip? Well that is something that varies widely, but you would be safe to assume that the boat will obviously have a captain and depending on the size of vessel or price point, there will be a mate as well. Fresh fruit, water, and some type of beverage is provided (typically a case or two of domestic beer). Most of the time, transportation to and from the boat is included, but this is one of many points to be sure of prior to booking. Don’t forget the details like: what type of vehicle is used for transportation (you might be surprised here), what is the size and name of boat, are licenses included, etc.?

To Sum It All Up:

Booking a Costa Rica fishing trip is like going to a swap meet or flea market to buy something expensive. The first price should never be the price you pay and you really need to look the item over very close for flaws and scams before you make the purchase. The other analogy of the used car lot is very applicable as well. Most sales guys are going to tell you what you need to hear to make the sale. But just like at the car lot, they often want the sale from you more than you need to buy the item from them.

Have a great time on your Costa Rica tarpon fishing trip!

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