We booked a full-day fishing trip. The communication was great. Captain contacted us a day before with all the details about when and where we meet.
There was a slight delay in the morning because the primary captain’s ship didn’t start! Luckily, he has two boats and he was able to switch to the second boat.
We asked the captain to focus on sailfish and he and his crew was more than happy to do so. We trolled for about 3 hours with no luck. We saw some sailfish but didn’t catch any. Other boats reported the same. We switched to bottom-fishing to get some fish for the dinner. We gor a few groupers and a couple tilefish. Captain and his crew did the fishing, set the hook, and we just reeled in the fish. I wish this was more hands-on for us.
We were running out of time but captain decided to try trolling for the sailfish on our way back. We were lucky and the fish finally decided to bite. We had two bites but the fish didn’t stay on. Third time’s a charm and we managed to get a beautiful sailfish on board! After taking a few photos, we headed back to the port. The captain gave us a little extra time on the sea.
The deck hand cleaned the fish for us and we gor home with a great fishing experience and some fish for the dinner.
The captain has some sodas, beers, fresh pineapple, and a sandwich for us on board.
Overall, it was a fun expedice and both the captain and the deck hand tried hard to get us on our dream fish. I only wish the bottom fishing was more hands on.

Myself and some friends who had very limited fishing experience going into this trip and we had an absolute blast! For the first part of the trip, luck was not on our side in terms of the fish biting but we were still very pleased and having a good time as the crew provided snacks and drinks as well as pointing out lots of wildlife such as dolphins, sea turtles, and sailfish. As our trip was ending and we were packing up getting ready to head to shore, a monster sailfish decided to bite and the crew allowed us to fight the fish for an hour past the time we had the trip booked. Bringing in that sailfish was the highlight of the trip and we could not have done it without the very good help and guidance of the crew.

The captain was also super helpful leading up to the trip and communicated very well and was flexible with the times for us.

Just got back from a half day of fishing out Capt Juan and first mate Aaron, solid guys! We started the morning with them picking us up from the new Waldorf Astoria property that just opened. We arranged for him to come pick myself (the only angler) up from the beach at 06:30. He was prompt and was communicating the whole time with me from the point of booking to the pickup time.

Once on the water, I wanted to target Rooster fish. Capt Juan was running two lines off the back while I was working a surface bait which had two good hits but couldn’t keep the fish on. We decided to head out into deeper water and looked for mahi and sailfish.

It only took about 30 mins before we ran into a school of yellow tail tuna, and it was on. Had multiple hookups, ended up with 4 yellowtail in the boat. Capt Juan was running 4 lines when the bite was hit and we had two diffrent, double hookups. First mate Aaron stepped in and helped pull one in while I was handling the other

There were dolphins running alongside the boat, which for me is lovely sight. We connected with a 1-1.5 meter sailfish but it shook the hook, which is fishing of course! I’m already booked for another charter and wouldn’t hesitate recommending him to others. He fillet our catch which I brought to hotel that made ceviche and grilled yellowtail for lunch. 1.5 hours from the catch to a plate, how can you get fresher than that?!

Pura Vida!

Captain Juan was an amazing guide - easy to communicate with, very personable and cracked jokes with us, while also giving us our space. He told s about the types of fish we were fishing for and went out of his way to point out the local wildlife, like a whale and turtles. He and his son did a great job prepping our catch to take home and even whipped up one heck of a ceviche to eat on the boat for us too. 5 out of 5!

It is obvious why Captain Mendez and his son are the most sought after guides in Playa Hermosa. We wasted no time getting on the water. The boat was clean, extremely safe and well maintained. Capt. Mendez had lines in the water right away. When he heard on the radio that a humpback whale and baby were breaching in the bay, he asked us if we wanted to see it, and quietly navigated to within feet of the next breach. It was perfect. He then put us on fish again. My 7 year old will not forget this day and continues to talk about “the captain”.