Our experience was less than spectacular. For context, we booked a “private charter” on a panga boat on jasmine charters. I communicated direct with captain Charly in English the entire time before our trip. Captain sent over a fish list so we were expecting a variety of game fish in the waters however he did not say the entire trip with trolling.

As an experienced fisherman of over 16 years, I thought this would be an authentic experience and I touched the pole once to reel in a small barracuda under the legal limit in CA.

The charter was supposed to be 4 hours, we arrived 10 minutes late and were stressed out about that only to find that the boat was not ready to launch and they were waiting for gas. We did not leave until about 3 pm and they brought us in at 6 pm as if we spent the full time on the water.

There was no snorkeling anywhere viable based on the areas they took us. They did not have snorkel gear that we could see on board even though it was advertised.

The two people working the boat were a teenager and a young man who spoke Spanish. They did not give us a run down of the trip as we started. There was no life jackets or any safety precautions in the event of anything going wrong. They did not tell us they had the beverages on board until the end of the trip when we landed back.

They managed the poles and the bait fish (we used one style of dead bait only) and let us know if a fish hit. There were two bites through the whole trip.

They did not stop the boat to fish in one spot we were continually moving because the boat was too small for the ocean and the conditions. We went out about a mile the furthest.

When we finished the trip, they did not know we booked through the fishing booker app and only owed captain 308$ USD after paying the initial deposit. They told us 465$ but we said we did not and had to call the captain and send him messages and confirm all the information. We ended up paying him 308$ USD in cash and left a small tip for the men working. They kept the beverages which were for us because we didn’t need them at the end of the trip and we let them keep the barracuda we caught because we don’t eat barracuda.

All around it was a scammy feeling because I am very familiar with fishing and the water and we did not go far, we did not have sufficient bait to truly fish and they trolled the water with 4 poles for the entire 3 hours.

I would not recommend if you really fish and enjoy the sport.

The crew almost didnt talk to us at all. I asked in advance if there was season for any fish, got yes for answer. At the trip we didnt got any fish, and the captain said it was a bad season(thats why i asked before the trip). I also wrote before and tols them i was diabetic, and didnt want any sugar, beers or booze. STILL there was almost enough water. But alot of beers and booze. After the trip they still wanted full payment.

Booked private fishing tour. Meeting was at 8am at the beach.

Owner turns up 8:30am with 3 additional guest. This is a no go.

I remind the owner that I booked a private fishing tour and that I am interested in intense fishing. Not snorkeling or sightseeing.

After I complain, the owner asks me to agree to take the other 3 and assures me its gonna be a fishing tour.

On that basis I agree. He gives in return a discount from MEX 8800 down to MEX 5700.

The boat starts 9am. The boat is in truely rough shape and does not have any navigation or communication equipment (see pic).

After a brief “Hello” the captain and the first mate start drinking beers without any talking to the guest. No security instructions whatsoever.

We do some useless 1h “fishing” by dragging the trolling lures thru seagrass. Then we reach a snorkeling spot where the boat remains anchors until a lunch break at from 2pm - 4pm.

Plan for after lunch is to go to a turtle snorkeling spot and do trolling on the way.

This is snorkeling tour with the crew enjoying a couple of beers alongside snorkeling and some half - hearted fishing.

That is what I told the captain and asked to be dropped off at the starting beach as I had no interest to prolonging this wasted day any longer. Which they did.

I contacted the owner to talk about the situation. His standpoints was “you had a full day” so tough luck.

I ended up paying MEX **hidden content** deposit to Fishingbooker + 5,700 to the owner) for a totally wasted day of my vacation.

This is give a shit tourist rip off.
Thank you, but NO thank you.

A half day trip with a couple of young crew. They seemed to try, but perhaps their inexperience, led to no fish. They gave us extra time and even anchored to spearfish for a half hr. Still zero fish. We think they tried, but this experience was below expectations.