Overall, this was a solid trip with some tradeoffs depending on what you’re looking for.
We ended up landing a 120 lb striped marlin for my wife’s birthday, which was the goal going in, and the crew came through. We saw multiple marlin early, had one on by around 9:20, and probably saw another 8 throughout the day. After we landed ours, they stayed on it and kept working to get my son and I a shot as well, even though the bite slowed down. We also saw about half a dozen whales along the way, which was a great bonus. We likely would have stayed out longer, but the wind picked up and the water got pretty rough.
On the front end, communication was strong. The captain/owner was responsive through the app and easy to coordinate with. We were originally scheduled to leave at 8:00 out of San Jose, but I asked about going earlier and we were able to get underway at 6:30, which I appreciated. I would recommend going out as early as possible to give yourself the best opportunity.
When it came time to settle up before the trip, it wasn’t negative, just a little confusing since the captain wasn’t there. We were able to get it sorted out, but it felt a little less organized than expected.
One thing I did appreciate compared to past trips out of Cabo was the dock experience. It was straightforward and not full of people trying to tack on extra charges for everything. We paid $20 to have the fish cut up, and they coordinated someone right at the dock to take it for vacuum sealing and freezing so we could bring it home. That part was smooth and easy.
The boat itself is still in rough shape. It gets the job done, but it’s clearly in need of maintenance. The biggest issue was the head. The black tank was full, so the toilet was basically unusable, which is something that should be handled before a trip. That said, the rods and reels were in good shape and fully functional for the job, which matters most when you’re actually on fish.
Bottom line, if your priority is getting on fish and having a crew that knows what they’re doing, they deliver. If you’re expecting a clean, polished boat and everything dialed in from an operations standpoint, just go in with the right expectations.
My wife and I would absolutely go out with this charter again without hesitation. If you want fish you should too.
