Northern Pacific Coast

Flamingo Beach, with its modern full-service marina, is the major sportfishing center in the northern coastal area, offering about 40 charter boats, ranging from 23-foot center console outboards, largely for inshore fishing, to luxurious 47 and 58-footers.

In addition, three charter services at Tamarindo provide another half dozen 21 to 38-footers; Bahia Pez Vela Fishing Resort and Ocotal Hotel, both near Playa de Coco, have six or eight boats in the same size range and a few others are available at Playa de Coco and nearby Brasilito, with more coming in every year.

Further south, along the outside of the Nicoya Peninsula, there are another eight or 10 boats operating year around out of Nosara, Garza, Samara and Playa Carrillo, while others from the Flamingo area will often base at

Playa Carrillo from about December through March when it gets windy further north. The Playa Carrillo and Samara area boats based south of Punta Guiones are protected by the point and configuration of the Nicoya Peninsula from the northerly winds that blow from about December through March, so enjoy a steady year around season for sailfish, marlin, tuna, mackerel, jacks, bonito and more, seldom running more than three to 12 miles offshore, and with plenty of rocky structure along the coastline providing the habitat preferred by wahoo, roosterfish, amberjack, snapper, etc. At least one operator in at Playa Carrillo moves north to Flamingo and south to Quepos when fishing is better in those areas.

Boats out of the more northerly region of the Guanacaste province have an average running time of less than an hour to the blue water outside of Cabo Vela, 40 minutes to the Catalina Islands and 90 minutes to the Murcielagos Islands.

The Catalinas are often that "last stop" for boats on the way home, with a couple of passes for wahoo or perhaps drifting a blue runner or bonito for roosters or Pacific cubera snapper. The islands often produce mackerel, tuna or bonito as well.

Off the tip of the Santa Elena Peninsula, at the northern end of Papagayo Bay, the Murcielagos have it all. Waters around the chain of rocky islets is home to big amberjack, Pacific cubera snapper, grouper, roosterfish and some of the best wahoo angling on the coast. With a steep inshore drop-off nearby, it is also a frequent hot spot for all three species of marlin and sailfish. Big tuna -- over 200 pounds -- peak in that area from September through December, sailfish generally rates fair to good from December through March, and marlin can be exceptional during those months when many skippers run south of Cabo Vela toward Punta Guiones -- about 30 miles -- where the configuration of the peninsula provides protection from the wind and the sea flattens out. Some often productive areas with a dramatic inshore drop-off and sheltered by the mountains are even closer to home base.

There are fewer fisherman in the northern area during the windy months from December through March, so a few of the boats base further south during the rough weather, mooring off Playa Carrillo or going all the way down to Quepos,.

While the sea may be a bit rocky for the tastes of some that time of year, mornings are usually flat and there are still plenty of perfect days when you can get out in comfort, and a number of boats -- especially the smaller vessels -- take advantage of the inshore fishing.

Roosters, cubera, amberjack, snapper and other resident species that are around throughout the year can be found close inshore, off the rocky points and at the nearby Catalina Islands.

Seasons: As previously emphasized, fishing will vary with prevailing conditions, but here's how it generally runs for the more popular species:

MARLIN -- They are caught every month of the year, with mid-November to early March little short of exceptional, then slowing a bit from April into early June when it picks up again, peaking in August and September.

SAILFISH -- Caught throughout the year, with May through August the top season. They may begin to thin out in September and the slowest months are from late August through November.

TUNA -- Peak months are probably August through October, but when all else fails, there are always tuna, anytime of the year you want to look for them, and more often than not when you'd just as soon avoid them to concentrate on billfish. The yellowfin and some bigeye tuna are often found well inside the Catalina Islands, 30 minutes or less running time from the beach, while schools of 12 to 20 pounders often spread for acres under the working porpoise on the outside. You will also frequently find concentrations of 40 to 60 pounders, and there are a few in the 200 to 350 pound class caught every year.

DORADO -- More properly known as dolphin, these colorful gamesters are most abundant from late May through October when the seasonal rains flood the rivers that carry out debris that forms trash lines close inshore that they like to lie under. Troll past a floating log and you'll likely hook a dorado.

WAHOO -- The first showing begins about the time the rains start in May, peaking in July and August. Most are caught around the rocky points and islands, but you will pick one up occasionally fishing offshore as well.

ROOSTERFISH -- Available all year, but there are more caught in the Papagayo Bay area from November through March. That may be because more boats in the northernmost area of this region are fishing inshore during those windy months, and the roosters like the structure of the shoreline and islands where they're found in 50 to 60 feet of water.