33' Stryke boat

Fish-On

Only one I caught completely out of water

Best shot one of the many sails

Sadie like this female Mahi Mahi's outfit as it matched her's

We caught lots of these but the size was like this one

We only caught one of these Rainbow Runners but they sure are pretty

Sadie with our most excellent tour guide
We saw loads of monkeys but this guy was most cooperative

If vultures can be beautiful is one is stunning

These were very common

I did not get a good pic of any of the sloths. They just looked like brown blobs up in the trees.

Folks,

An excellent client of mine inquired with me about a fishing trip to Costa Rica. Crocodile Bay had been on my radar for many years after I talked to a guy about sailfish on a fly with Crocodile Bay so I set up a trip for this client and his wife. They really enjoyed it and they liked it so much they went back the next year with friends and had a great trip that time also.

I figured if I'm going to sell this I better get down there and check it out so Sadie and I booked a trip for last March. I wanted to especially check out if the atmosphere had changed there since they built the condos. Folks had mentioned that they felt the corporate influence would take away from the fishing focus and atmosphere of the facility.

Our observation on the atmosphere was that it probably had changed but not necessarily in a bad way. The condos are for sale and some of the owners are choosing to rent their condos to tourists while they are not in residence. We toured the whole facility and everything is very nice, modern and way comfortable. Arrangement can be made for a group or family of 6-8 to all share the same condo.

Dining and bar facilities provided excellent food and drinks. We had a choice of entree each evening with a lot of local fresh vegetable, fruit plus meat and fish. I will give them an F on martinis though. Bad!

The grounds are tastefully done with lots of local plantings. Effort has obviously been made to make as small a footprint as possible in the jungle. Wildlife is abundant and Howler monkeys greet you upon arrival. Some of the jungle tours start right in the main lobby.

Fishing is the main focus of offered activities at Crocodile Bay but we also took a couple of very interesting tours. One was focused mainly on birds and monkeys of which there are many varieties, another focused on sloths and a third on how chocolate is made and making some ourselves. All this was more than interesting and felt very authentic. Our guide was excellent, personable, knowledgeable and explained everything in detail.

We fished four whole days on the 33' Stryke boat and had it all to ourselves. We had a blast with many fish landed and some lost. Offshore sails and Mahi Mahi predominated and Roosters inshore. We caught a bunch of other species whose names I have forgotten. I know the crews on these charter boats often take out very inexperienced fisher persons but I got a kick out of the captain coming down off the bridge to give Sadie a hug when she landed her first sailfish.

Here I should mention that Crocodile Bay does not allow any sails or marlin to be even brought on board. Conservation of these species is foremost in their philosophy. Taking trophy pix is a bit tricky though.

All the logistics from arrival in San Jose are dialed. Airport meet/greet, drive from and to airport to the Hilton La Sabana in San Jose and the commuter flight to Crocodile Bay could not have gone more smoothly. I was impressed.

I highly recommend Crocodile Bay particularly if you are thinking about bringing your family and they are not die hard fisherman as there are many other nice things to see and do. Of course if you want to fish your brains out that can be arranged also.

Give me a call and we'll get it organized for you.

Cheers,

Mark

Glad to hear that things are still going strong. I was afraid that the new condos would ruin things atmosphere wise. Sounds like the fishing is still good.

Mark -

Some feedback; My first trip to CB was in 12 or 13. Back then it was a sleepy little fishing resort. Had a very authentic feel to it. The streets of Puerto Jimenez were dirt, kids running about barefoot. It just felt “real”.

Fast fwd to my last trip in ~17 or 18?. Hilton hotels had made their deal, and all the resort cared about was taking care of the folks coming in to preview the condos. My fishing partner and I felt ignored.

The fishing was just ok, the captain’s claimed the Panamanian long-liners had negatively impacted the bill fishing and I believed it. We never has a follow or rise in three days offshore. We spent the remainder in the surf for Roosters and around the rock for other stuff.

To me, the Flip Pallet/Hemingway feel was just history. It still a nice place, but it’s not the same. I think a fair comparison would be hunting South Africa, vs a real old style East African safari in the Selous.

Glad you had good fishing.

I loved that the landing strip at Puerto Jimenez ran along side the local cemetery and the “terminal “ was next door to a local bar. I loved the place when the Williams family owned and ran it personally. Knew all the staff on a first name basis. Guess it’s grown and changed…..