First time to Costa Rica and went deep sea fishing . Mikael and his crew was amazing !! My family of four went and within the first 30 minutes of fishing we hooked a sail fish -was a wonderful experience for my son -loved every minute of it .Tons of dolphins everywhere and water so blue . In total we ended up getting 4 yellow fin tuna along with the sailfish so what an incredible day of fishing . It was spot on and the fresh pineapple served on the boat was a nice touch . Would highly recommend anyone looking for a great fishing experience!
First time to Costa Rica and went deep sea fishing . Mikael and his crew was amazing !! My family of four went and within the first 30 minutes of fishing we hooked a sail fish -was a wonderful experience for my son -loved every minute of it .Tons of dolphins everywhere and water so blue . In total we ended up getting 4 yellow fin tuna along with the sailfish so what an incredible day of fishing . It was spot on and the fresh pineapple served on the boat was a nice touch . Would highly... More
Had a great time! Hooked 5 large mahi, landed 2 big ones! Raised a 250 lb blue marlin but it wouldnโt bite. Was very cool to see. Captain and crew were excellent. They explained everything and we learned a lot. They even made us a super nice hot lunch. Highly recommend. Not sure if trolling is my kind of fishing, but itโs exciting when it happens.
Thanks for the excellent review Chad. It sounds like you had an excellent day! Itโs also nice to hear some great words about the captain and crew as well! I will be sure to pass on your kind words! We hope you get to return to Tamarindo again soon!
We have been on other deep sea fishing excursions and this crew was all business and no fun. They didnโt really interact with us except to offer something to drink or eat and then to tell us what to do if we had a fish on. We explained to them that my daughter was new and never experienced this before but, it didnโt really seem to matter. They hung out with the captain on the upper deck and only came down to change out bait. We saw the captain twice. Once when we boarded and once when we left for the day. We paid for a full day outing deep sea fishing for sail fish, marlin or anything really but, those were what we were hoping for. We did spot dolphins and a whale - no help from the crew on that either. Those were the highlights of the day. Half way through the day my husband ask them to take us back to the reef so we could at least catch something. It seemed like they really didnโt want to do that and it took us another 2 hours of slow trolling to get there instead of pulling up gear and heading out. We did have one bite from a sail fish and we put my daughter in the fight chair. The crew turned their backs and started working on other things and because she wasnโt given any instruction, within a few moments, it was gone. Once we got to the reef, we did catch a few tuna, some we were able to keep and others not. The crew seemed irritated that they had to actually work for a little bit since we started catching fish. We paid a lot of money and feel as if we didnโt get the full experience. Nice boat. Kept very clean. Does have a toiletโฆ..but, you have to climb down below to get to it and there isnโt a ladder to do it. Thankfully, we are limber and it wasnโt an issue. Lunch was provided and it was very good. They have a fight chair but, it is hard to use since they โstoreโ their lures/bait/hooks on the foot rest. Thankfully the seats/benches were comfortable and covered because that provided us a way to relax since nothing was really happening and the crew wasnโt really with us. This was more of a really expensive all day boat ride than anything else. If you are going to be in the business of providing entertainment and experiences based on your expertise, please interact with the customer. Be a little more personable. We asked around with other locals and nobody really seemed to recognize this particular boat or captain. We were given other names and next time we will be searching out one of them instead.
We have been on other deep sea fishing excursions and this crew was all business and no fun. They didnโt really interact with us except to offer something to drink or eat and then to tell us what to do if we had a fish on. We explained to them that my daughter was new and never experienced this before but, it didnโt really seem to matter. They hung out with the captain on the upper deck and only came down to change out bait. We saw the captain twice. Once when we boarded and once... More
Thank you for taking the time to discuss your experience with us and we are sorry to hear you did not enjoy your charter. With regards to your trip, there are several things that we would like to point out as to provide you with better context and understanding. Firstly, please keep in mind that you booked the trip for Christmas day when our usual crew were with their families for the holidays. We usually donโt fish this day but we hadnโt had a chance to block this date off our calendars before you booked this trip in October. Our captain, Victor, agreed to do the trip and the crew that were with your group were not our usual crew which is why perhaps they were a little less communicative than usual. As for not seeing the captain as often as you like, it was unfortunately a rough day so he was busy navigating through the challenging conditions. As for the other crew, they were busy speaking to other boats in the area to see where the fish were biting, which is also why they didnโt have much time to converse with your group. It was a slow day of fishing as you mentioned, but this was the case for many other boats in the area as well. As for your comments about fishing on the reef, the problem was that the boat was trawling in our usual fishing spot based further south to escape the windline and therefore was miles away from where the reef was. Had we packed up and raced to the reef it would have made the ride extremely uncomfortable on such a choppy day, which is why we continued to trawl on our way up so as to see if we might catch something along the way. We did manage to hook a sailfish which ended up getting away, but this is just the nature of fishing. As mentioned the crew did help when it came to reeling in fish, and the statement that they didnโt assist with the sailfish is incorrect as our crew work very hard to help our clients when it comes to fishing. In this particular case, the fish managed to escape before our crew had time to effectively respond. Our crew did certainly help with the fish caught on the reef, but please note that we only kept what was edible which was why the other fish was thrown back. With regards to the steps which lead to our toilets, this was broken the day prior and unfortunately, being it was Christmas, there was no way to have this repaired by the time of your trip. With regards to where we keep the hooks, baits, and lures, they are actually stored in the rocket launcher located at the back of the fighting chair and we can assure you the chair is completely functional. Finally, we want to respond to your comment regarding the fact that no one in Tamarindo had heard about us. We are not too sure who you spoke to, but most of the locals in Tamarindo know us very well, being over 20 years in business, and we have an excellent reputation with both residents and our clients, which you can see by our many 5 star reviews. Despite your trip, we hope you had an excellent time in Tamarindo and we hope you get to return again soon!
Thank you for taking the time to discuss your experience with us and we are sorry to hear you did not enjoy your charter. With regards to your trip, there are several things that we would like to point out as to provide you with better context and understanding. Firstly, please keep in mind that you booked the trip for Christmas day when our usual crew were with their families for the holidays. We usually donโt fish this day but we hadnโt had a chance to block this date off our calendars before... More
Awesome day on Rhino Charger! Capt. & crew were super knowledgeable and focused on helping us achieve our goal of landing a billfish. Unfortunately the billfish didnโt want to cooperate, as we raised 2 sails and had a 250+ lb Blue Marlin check out our baits but not commit. However it was still an incredible day! We caught 7 Mahi to 30lbs and 4 Yellowfin Tuna to 15lbs. Saw thousands of Spinner Dolphin, lots of flying fish, and a sea turtle. Lunch was amazing, and Rhino Charger has all the gear and the perfect setup for trolling. Definitely recommend, and we would absolutely go out with them again if we make it back to Tamarindo!
Awesome day on Rhino Charger! Capt. & crew were super knowledgeable and focused on helping us achieve our goal of landing a billfish. Unfortunately the billfish didnโt want to cooperate, as we raised 2 sails and had a 250+ lb Blue Marlin check out our baits but not commit. However it was still an incredible day! We caught 7 Mahi to 30lbs and 4 Yellowfin Tuna to 15lbs. Saw thousands of Spinner Dolphin, lots of flying fish, and a sea turtle. Lunch was amazing, and Rhino Charger has all the gear... More
thanks for the review Rhinocharger crew
We had 5 adults in our party for a full day of fishing. The first 3/4 of the day we didnโt have a bite - looking for billfish and mahi. We finally dropped lines deeper and hit a school of tuna. Had fish on 4 lines at once. The crew was great - had control of what could have been chaos. We ended the day with 4 yellowfin tuna and a sailfish. We all caught fish, which was great. Only regret is that we didnโt have more time once the fish were biting. Ample food and drinks provided throughout. Homemade hot lunch was delicious. If you want to fish in Tamarindo, you will be in good hands with Captain Mike and his crew.
We had 5 adults in our party for a full day of fishing. The first 3/4 of the day we didnโt have a bite - looking for billfish and mahi. We finally dropped lines deeper and hit a school of tuna. Had fish on 4 lines at once. The crew was great - had control of what could have been chaos. We ended the day with 4 yellowfin tuna and a sailfish. We all caught fish, which was great. Only regret is that we didnโt have more time once the fish were biting. Ample food and drinks provided throughout.... More
Hi Mary Ann thanks for the review the crew works hard to find the fish and please everyone. glad you found the fish Captain Rick