Twenty-two nautical miles west of the Marina Vallarta breakwater the seafloor does something that explains the whole town. It falls. The continental shelf that runs gently out from the beaches drops over an edge into water a hundred fathoms deep and then keeps going, and where it drops the Pacific current piles bait against the wall like leaves against a fence. Two seamounts, El Bajo and Corbeteña, rise out of that deep water to within casting distance of the surface. Marlin, sailfish, tuna and dorado ride the current onto them all year. This is the geography behind fishing charters in Puerto Vallarta, the oldest charter business on the bay and still, for a certain kind of visitor, the only one that matters.

The Wall and the Two Mountains

Corbeteña is a rock. From the deck it is a white-streaked pinnacle with a light on it and pelicans around it, thirty miles offshore; below the surface it is the summit of a mountain that climbs out of very deep water, and everything that swims past it stops to eat. El Bajo, the "shoal", is a submerged bank closer in. Between and around them runs the 100-fathom curve, the contour line at 600 feet that the captains treat as a road. Troll along it and you are fishing the edge where the shallow bay water meets the open ocean, which is where the bait is, which is where everything else is.

The fish come in seasons. Striped marlin and sailfish are present year-round and peak from November to March. Blue and black marlin arrive with the warm water from July to November. Yellowfin tuna, sometimes very large, and dorado run from May to November. And inside all of that, on the rocks at Los Arcos, off the Punta Mita points and around the Marietas, roosterfish and jack crevalle wait all year for anyone who would rather stay inshore and be home for lunch.

Where the Boats Leave From

Most sportfishing charters launch from Marina Vallarta, Marina Nuevo Vallarta or Marina La Cruz, with a couple working out of the small Los Peines dock beside the cruise terminal. For the offshore grounds it makes almost no difference — Corbeteña is west of everything — and for inshore it makes all the difference. Marina Vallarta and Los Peines are on top of Los Arcos and the south-shore reefs; La Cruz yacht charters and Punta Mita yacht charters sit on the best roosterfish water in the bay. Owner-direct listings state the home marina, so you can pick the boat by where you are sleeping.

The Fleet, From Panga to Tournament Boat

The owner-direct sportfishing fleet on BYRBO runs the full range:

  • 25 ft Luhrs, Marina Vallarta — four anglers, one cabin, from about USD 930 a day. The inshore workhorse.
  • 28 ft Uniflite, Marina Vallarta — four anglers, from about USD 1,320.
  • 35 ft Cabo "Feel the Strike", Nuevo Vallarta — ten guests, two cabins, from about USD 1,349. Fast to the grounds.
  • 38 ft Luhrs (2007), Marina Vallarta — six guests, from about USD 1,665.
  • 38 ft Bertram "Nicolle", Marina Los Peines — eight guests, by the hour from about USD 200; fishing and bay tours.
  • 54 ft Hatteras, Nuevo Vallarta — fifteen guests, from about USD 1,545.
  • 52 ft Davis (2010), Marina Vallarta — six anglers, three staterooms, from about USD 6,500. The tournament boat.
  • 64 ft Mikelson, Marina Vallarta — ten guests, from about USD 2,500 per four hours.
  • 60 ft Mikelson, Marina Vallarta — the bay's fish-and-cruise boat, from about USD 1,765 a day.

Rates include captain, crew, tackle, bait, ice, water and fuel for the standard grounds; licences, lunch, long-range fuel and the 10–15 percent tip are on top. High season, December to April, adds 20–35 percent. The same owners' cruising boats — the Puerto Vallarta yacht charters and the catamaran charters in Puerto Vallarta — are listed alongside, which matters for the many groups that are three anglers and seven sunbathers.

A fisherman lifting two dorado aboard a Puerto Vallarta sportfishing charter
Photo: BYRBO.

A Long-Range Boat in a Day-Trip Town

The 60 ft Mikelson sportfishing yacht in Marina Vallarta deserves its own paragraph because it is an unusual boat for the bay. Mikelsons are built in the long-range tradition of San Diego, designed to run to the Baja seamounts for a week and fish hard when they get there, and this one — listed by its owner as a 64-footer, which is what it measures overall — is set up to do that and to host a beach party on the same day. Three staterooms, three full heads and a half, two outdoor dining areas, a galley and an outdoor grill, zoned air conditioning, top-grade tackle and a dedicated fishing guide, plus kayaks, paddleboards, snorkel gear for eight and a 14 ft dinghy with a 50 hp motor to land the non-anglers at Las Ánimas. The owner sells it as a four-hour sunset run, a six- or eight-hour watersports day, or the full offshore fishing adventure, from about USD 1,765 a day, with a bilingual captain and crew. It is what the bay's dual character — fishing port and beach resort — looks like as a single hull.

How a Day on the Edge Unfolds

Off the dock at 6:30, in the dark, with the crew already aboard and bait in the tank. Past the Malecón as the sun clears the Sierra Madre. The captain may drag a spread inside the bay for the first hour, because sailfish are often closer than anyone expects, before opening the throttles for the ninety-minute run to the edge. Then the day slows to the rhythm of the outriggers: lines out along the hundred-fathom line, the mate watching the teasers, long stretches of blue and nothing, and then two minutes of chaos when a sailfish lights up behind the boat and someone is in the chair with the rod bent double. Billfish are released on every serious boat on the bay; tuna and dorado go in the box. Lunch is whatever you brought, eaten between bites. Back at the dock by three or four with the fish being cleaned on the transom and a restaurant in the marina willing to cook it.

In winter the run out is often interrupted by humpbacks; the whale window runs from December 8 to March 23 and overlaps the billfish peak, so a January charter routinely gets both.

The 60 ft Mikelson sportfishing yacht leaving Marina Vallarta with the city behind
Photo: BYRBO.

What the Fish Are Doing Down There

It helps to understand why the edge works, because it changes how you fish it. Cold, nutrient-rich water wells up along the drop-off, plankton blooms in it, sardines and flying fish feed on the plankton, and everything with teeth feeds on them. The seamounts add a second effect: current hitting a mountain is forced upward, carrying the bait with it, so Corbeteña and El Bajo are effectively fountains of food in the open sea. Sailfish and marlin patrol the upwelling with their fins up; tuna crash through the bait balls from below, which is why a boil of white water and diving birds is the sight every captain is scanning for. Dorado hang under anything floating — a log, a patch of weed, a turtle. A good crew reads all of this from the bridge, and the difference between a slow day and a great one is often the captain's willingness to run another ten miles to where the birds are working. Owner-operators, who are fishing their own fuel, tend to know exactly when that run is worth it; it is one of the quieter arguments for booking a sportfishing charter in Puerto Vallarta direct.

The Inshore Alternative

Not everyone wants twenty miles of Pacific swell. The inshore half-day — 7:30 start, lines in within twenty minutes, back for a late lunch — works the rocks and reefs for roosterfish, jacks, snapper and bonito on lighter tackle with more frequent action, and it is the trip for children, first-timers and anyone unsure of their stomach. The 25 and 28 ft boats are the right tools for it, and the private boat rentals in Puerto Vallarta listings let you sort by hours as well as by size.

Why the Owner-Direct Model Suits Fishing

A fishing captain's reputation is the whole business, and the owner-direct listings on BYRBO's Puerto Vallarta pages put his boat, his rate and his specs under his own name. The price you see is his; the capacity is the certified one; the photos are of his cockpit; and the person who answers "are the dorado in yet?" is the person who was out there yesterday. Spanish-speaking anglers find the same fleet under renta de yates en Puerto Vallarta. For the rest of the bay's boating, see our boat tours field guide; for the hourly-priced boats out of Nuevo Vallarta, our earlier fishing in Puerto Vallarta piece.

Before You Book an Offshore Day

Three questions settle most of it. Are you chasing a species or a day? If a species, the calendar above decides the month and the boat; if a day, book the boat that fits the group and let the captain fish what is there. Is anyone aboard unsure of their stomach? The edge is open Pacific and a 25-footer out there is a long morning; a 50 ft-plus hull rides it and has a cabin to lie down in. And is the fuel to Corbeteña in the price? Most owner-direct listings include fuel for the standard grounds and quote the long run separately; it is the one line item that surprises people. Beyond that: licences are cheap and the boat handles them, tackle is aboard and better than anything you would bring, lunch and drinks are yours unless the listing says otherwise, and the fish you keep will be cleaned at the dock and cooked at the marina that night if you ask.

Sources for this article. The prices, hours and details quoted above come directly from these BYRBO pages:

FAQ

What is the 100-fathom curve?

The 600-foot depth contour where the continental shelf drops into deep water, 20–35 miles off Puerto Vallarta. Bait concentrates along it and the big pelagic fish follow.

What is the best month for fishing charters in Puerto Vallarta?

November–March for sailfish and striped marlin; May–November for tuna and dorado; July–November for blue and black marlin. Inshore fishing is year-round.

How much does a charter cost?

Owner-direct Puerto Vallarta fishing charters run from about USD 930 a day for a 25 ft inshore boat to USD 1,500–2,600 for 50–60 ft sportfishers and USD 6,500 for the tournament-grade Davis 52; plus 20–35 percent in high season.

Is the Mikelson 60 really 64 feet?

The owner lists the Mikelson in Marina Vallarta as a 64-foot yacht overall; the listing name uses 60. Either way it is the bay's best dual-purpose fishing and cruising yacht, from about USD 1,765 a day.

Are billfish kept?

No — released on virtually every boat. Tuna, dorado and inshore fish are kept.

Do I need a licence?

Yes, one per angler; the boat arranges it for a small fee.

Can non-anglers come?

Yes, and on the Mikelson — or on one of the Puerto Vallarta yacht rentals that carry hand lines — they can snorkel, paddleboard or take the dinghy to a beach while others fish.

Which marina is best for inshore fishing?

La Cruz and Punta Mita for the north-shore roosterfish points; Marina Vallarta for Los Arcos and the south reefs.

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