Costa Rica Fishing Vacation
If salt water fishing is your choice, then you probably know Costa Rica is known for numerous world-record fish. If you want a chance to score your own world record, then be sure to plan carefully your Costa Rica fishing vacation. The rule is “go where the fish are” and that is dictated by the season. I can't compete with the hundreds of web pages on Costa Rica fishing, but I can recommend that you first choose your target fish, then search the web, and find out where and when are the peak times to land those fish. Do the same for a guide or charter boat. Communicate and ask for references. With a little due diligence you will score the fishing trip of a lifetime. (For Lake Arenal fishing, please go to click on “About Lake Arenal” on our website.)
My story is that a friend of mine in Alaska (where Rene and I lived for over 22 years) was raving about tarpon fishing in Costa Rica. He said that it was almost like salmon fishing...only better. He said that tarpon fought harder, jumped higher and more frequently, and were bigger than King Salmon. Of course, that's comparing apples to oranges because Kings top out at a little over 100 pounds, whereas tarpon are well over 200. But, the fact is, he was hooked, so to speak, on tarpon. So we planned a Costa Rica fishing vacation for October, 1990. We didn't book a guide because he said they were plentiful, and we could catch a puddle jumper from San Jose to Barra de Colorado. Tarpon are available almost all year, but the peak times are in March and October. Unfortunately, he had to cancel out at the last minute so I connected with a friend who was coming at the same time for windsurfing at Lake Arenal. I still can't believe what happened. Before the trip I didn't even know where Costa Rica was, but three days after arriving at the Lake, I bought a piece of property. I was so overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of Lake Arenal and the sincere friendliness and warmth of the locals that Ihadto make a deposit on 6 acres overlooking the lake. Then I called Rene in Alaska to “explain” our good fortune. Yes I know...should have called her first, but I said that if she didn't like it we could sell. Well, she loved it and after moving here in 1995 we are still living the good life. Now, I honestly don't think that Rene could ever be convinced to leave.
Now we have the only RE/MAX franchise with two offices at Lake Arenal. For the last 17+ years, we have sold properties to people from all over the world and just about all of them are our good friends. This move was the best thing we have ever done.
