# Tarpon Season on Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast > Tarpon live in Costa Rica's Caribbean rivers all year, but September and October are usually the best months, with calm seas that let boats reach the schools rolling outside the river mouths. About February to April is the second good window, while July, August and December are the slowest. Every tarpon is released in the water. Source: https://sportfishing-costarica.com/caribbean-tarpon-season/ Last checked: 2026-11-15 Peak months: September and October Second window: About February to April Slowest months: July, August and December Where: Barra del Colorado, Tortuguero and Parismina river mouths, rivers and nearshore sea Typical size: About 75 to 150 pounds at Barra del Colorado, with fish over 200 pounds Rule: Tarpon are released in the water without being lifted aboard Hooks: Circle hooks required with natural bait Barra del Colorado refuge: No fishing on Tuesdays; 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. only ## The short answer Tarpon swim in Costa Rica's Caribbean rivers in every month, so there's no true closed or empty season. What changes through the year is the sea. In September and October the swell usually drops, the river-mouth bars open up, and boats can run outside to the big schools rolling just off the coast. That's the peak. About February to April is the second good stretch, and July, August and December are the slowest months, when rain and rough water keep most fishing inside the rivers. This guide goes deeper on timing than our [complete guide to fishing the Caribbean coast](/caribbean-fishing-guide/), which covers the towns, lodges, rules and travel in full. Here you'll find what each part of the year is like for tarpon, where the fish are in each window, how a day in season goes, and how to book around the weather. ## The tarpon year at a glance This table follows our site's [season chart](/costa-rica-fishing-seasons/) for Caribbean tarpon, with average monthly rainfall at Puerto Limón from the national weather service (IMN). Rain matters because it muddies the rivers, but the swell on the bar matters even more, and that you can only judge on the day. | Month | Tarpon | Rain at Limón | What's usually happening | |---|---|---|---| | January | Good | About 320 mm | Wet, with fish in the rivers and lagoons; outside when the sea allows | | February | Best | About 240 mm | The second window opens as the weather settles | | March | Best | About 210 mm | One of the drier months; schools outside on calm days | | April | Best | About 265 mm | Still prime at the northern lodges | | May | Good | About 335 mm | Rains start around mid-May and the rivers begin to colour up | | June | Good | About 290 mm | Fishing tails off later in the month | | July | Slow | About 425 mm | One of the wettest months; mostly river fishing | | August | Slow | About 305 mm | Picks up from mid-month at Barra del Colorado | | September | Best | About 140 mm | Calmest, driest month; the main peak | | October | Best | About 205 mm | Peak continues; tournament month | | November | Good | About 400 mm | Good fishing into the month, then the heavy rains return | | December | Slow | About 445 mm | The wettest month; rough seas often close the bars | Sources don't agree perfectly, and that's worth knowing before you pick dates. [Silver King Lodge](/silver-king-lodge/) gives its prime time as February to well into June and again from about mid-August to late November. Alberto Font, writing in The Tico Times, named September and October and March and April. The [Manatus Hotel](/the-manatus-hotel/) in Tortuguero gives its tarpon season as January to June. All of them agree that fish are around the rest of the year when conditions cooperate. ![A school of big silver tarpon swimming together through green-tinted water just off a river mouth](/static/img/ctar-ai-tarpon-school-800.webp) ## Why September and October are the peak Three things line up in early autumn on this coast. ### The sea goes calm The Caribbean side has no real dry season, but September is the calmest, driest month on average at Limón, at about 140 millimeters over 11 rainy days, and October is close behind. The Tico Times wrote in May 2026 that heavy swells make crossing the river-mouth sandbars difficult and sometimes dangerous for much of the year, and that the calmer water of these 2 months is what lets boats reach the grounds outside. On the Pacific, this is the wettest time of the year, so it's a good moment to switch coasts. ### The schools gather outside the river mouths When the bar is passable, you're no longer limited to the river. FECOP, the Costa Rican sport fishing federation, describes tarpon schooling outside the river mouths in pods that can cover several acres, and Font placed the best fishing in 60 to 80 feet of water just outside the mouths, when fish are stacked up there. The river carries nutrients, baitfish and shrimp out to sea, and the tarpon follow the food. ### A food run at the river mouths A 2-year fish survey of the Parismina and Reventazón rivers, run by the national power company (ICE) for SINAC, recorded the biggest run of tiny goby fry (called tití or chupapiedras) at the Jalova mouth in September, with tarpon gathered there feeding on them. The same survey found tarpon most common there from December to February and in September. Jalova is inside Tortuguero National Park, where sport fishing is banned, but the pattern shows why autumn draws tarpon to the river mouths along this stretch of coast. ### Tournament season The Club Amateur de Pesca holds both legs of its yearly tarpon tournament in September and October, according to The Tico Times. The paper also warned that lodge calendars fill quickly in these months, especially at the established lodges, so this is the window to book furthest ahead. Our [tournaments guide](/costa-rica-fishing-tournaments/) has the national calendar. ## The February to April window The second good stretch comes as the year's first heavy rains ease. March averages about 210 millimeters at Limón, compared with about 445 in December, and the rivers clear. This is the window many visiting anglers use because it lines up with northern winter holidays. Fishing in this window tends to mix the river and the open sea. On calm mornings, guides go outside to look for rolling fish; when a cold front pushes swell onto the coast, they work the river channels and lagoons instead. Silver King's prime time runs from February well into June, so at Barra del Colorado this window is longer than the season chart suggests. ![A wide brown jungle river meeting gentle Caribbean surf at a sandbar at dawn, with palms and dense rainforest on the banks](/static/img/ctar-ai-river-bar-dawn-800.webp) ## The slow months, and how to fish them July, August and December are the months our chart marks as slow. They aren't empty. Tarpon live in the Río Colorado, the Tortuguero canals and the Parismina river all year, but these are wet months (July averages about 425 millimeters at Limón and December about 445), and the ICT, Costa Rica's tourism board, notes that the sediment the rivers carry after heavy rain slows the fishing for a while. If you can only travel in a slow month: - **Expect to fish inside.** Guides keep the boats in the river channels and lagoons on rough days. The Tico Times notes that river fishing can still be productive. - **Plan more days.** A 3 or 4-day trip gives you a better chance of catching one calm morning to go outside. - **Target the rest of the river.** When tarpon are quiet, Silver King lists snook, tripletail, cubera snapper, jacks, rainbow bass (guapote), machaca and alligator gar as river and lagoon catches. - **Go late in August.** Silver King says its fishing picks up again from about mid-August. ## Where the tarpon are through the season All of the Caribbean's tarpon fishing is in the north of Limón Province, in three places reached by small plane or boat. Our pillar guide has the travel detail for each. ### Barra del Colorado The coast's tarpon capital, near the Nicaraguan border, where the Río Colorado reaches the sea. The Tico Times put typical fish here at 75 to 150 pounds, with fish over 200 pounds taken. Guides fish the river mouth for big tarpon and the backwaters for lighter tackle. The whole area is inside the Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge, so its rules apply (more below), and it's the one place on the coast with lodges that sell all-inclusive tarpon trips. ### Tortuguero Better known for turtles, Tortuguero has a river mouth by the village that guides fish for tarpon and snook, plus the canals. Most visitors come for wildlife and add a day or two of fishing. Much of the area is national park, where sport fishing is banned, so you fish with a licensed local guide who knows where it's allowed. Our [Tortuguero guide](/tortuguero/) covers the village. ### Parismina A small village south of Tortuguero. The ICT names the Parismina river mouth as a place to fish for tarpon from a boat or from shore. There's no lodge here that publishes fishing trips online, so arrange it in the village or through where you stay. ## How a day goes in tarpon season A peak-season day starts early in a small, fast, open boat with a local guide and 1 or 2 anglers. The guide checks the bar first. If it's passable, you run outside and look for fish rolling at the surface; if not, you fish the river. ![Two big tarpon fishing flies with long white and chartreuse feathers beside a heavy saltwater fly reel on a weathered wooden boat seat](/static/img/ctar-ai-tarpon-fly-reel-800.webp) The methods you'll see: - **Drifting with jigs.** The local way is to drift through a school (al garete in Spanish) bouncing heavy bucktail jigs, which guides here call chimbolos. Delfino.cr reported in September 2026 that fishermen from the Pacific came to learn exactly this on FECOP's Tarpon Trail exchanges. - **Sardines on circle hooks.** FECOP says ocean fishing uses lures or sardines on circle hooks, and Font described captains switching to circle hooks with live or dead sardines because more fish stay hooked and the fish are better off for it. - **Lures inside the rivers.** Inside the river mouths, FECOP says artificial lures are almost always used. - **Fly fishing.** FECOP credits the late Bill Barnes with making fly fishing for tarpon popular here, and The Tico Times traces many deep-water fly techniques to Barra del Colorado in the 1970s. Bring your own fly gear unless your lodge stocks it. Tarpon have hard, bony mouths that are tough to hook, and they jump again and again. Many anglers count a jump as a win. FishBase lists the species' maximum at 250 centimeters and 161 kilograms, so even an average fish here is the biggest many people will ever hook. ## The release rules Every tarpon goes back. INCOPESCA's sport-fishing rules (acuerdo AJDIP/086-2014) name tarpon (sábalo) a species of tourist and sport-fishing interest and set out how it's done: - **Released in the water.** Tarpon mustn't be lifted aboard. Expect your photo with the fish beside the boat. - **Quick and careful.** The fish is released as fast and with as little harm as possible: remove the lure, or the hook with natural bait, and if that isn't possible, cut the line as close to the mouth as you can. - **Circle hooks.** They're required when you fish for tarpon with natural bait. - **The record exception.** The only case in which a tarpon may be kept is to document a possible world record, and that needs a conservation fee paid to INCOPESCA before the claim is filed. On top of that, you'll need an INCOPESCA sport-fishing licence to fish from a boat. At Barra del Colorado, SINAC's January 2026 anglers' guide for the refuge adds its own rules: fishing only from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., none at all on Tuesdays (the river's rest day), no nets, and a separate SINAC licence, valid for a year. Ask your lodge to help with both. Our [fishing rules guide](/costa-rica-fishing-rules/) covers the national picture, and our [conservation guide](/costa-rica-fishing-conservation/) explains why careful releases matter for a slow-growing fish whose numbers have dropped. ## Booking for the season On this coast, the operator matters more than in most places, because they handle the flight or boat, the permits and the bar crossing. These are the ones we confirmed taking bookings in November 2026. Nobody pays to be listed. **[Silver King Lodge](/silver-king-lodge/) (Barra del Colorado).** The best-known tarpon lodge on the coast, open all year, with local guides it says average more than 30 years on the river and tackle supplied, including fly rods and reels. Packages include the 25-minute flight from San José. The Tico Times profiled it in October 2026: it changed hands in 2025, takes up to 24 guests and has the only IGFA-certified scale in Barra. **Tarpon Sport Fishing (Barra del Colorado Sur).** Capt. Daniel Solís, with 14 years on the river, runs a 24-foot boat for 2 anglers. Its [FishingBooker page](https://fishingbooker.com/charters/view/32301) offers 2-day tarpon trips from September 1 to November 1 and 3-day trips to November 15, with reviews from January and October 2026. It notes you may need to bring your own fly gear. **[Manatus Hotel](/the-manatus-hotel/) (Tortuguero).** A canal-side hotel, not a fishing lodge, that books half and full-day river or sea trips with Eddie Brown's local company, which has its own boats and permits. The easiest way to fit a tarpon day into a Tortuguero wildlife trip. Also on the river, Río Colorado Lodge, which dates its tarpon fishing to 1972, says on [its website](https://riocoloradolodge.com/) that it's taking bookings for 2027. We couldn't find 2026 guest reviews, so ask about its dates when you enquire. ![The river dock at La Pavona, with long covered passenger boats lined up on the bank and fruit stacked in the foreground](/static/img/ctar-la-pavona-dock-800.webp "Photo: [La Pavona river dock](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atracadero_pluvial_La_Pavona_Limon_Costa_Rica.jpg) by ADumbl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons") ### Timing tips - **Book early for September and October.** The Tico Times says established lodges fill first in these months. - **Leave slack.** A north swell can close the bars for days in any month. Don't plan your only fishing day the day before a flight home. - **Watch the luggage limit.** Silver King allows 30 pounds plus one small extra item on its small plane and stores the rest. Check before packing rod tubes. - **Combine with snook.** From September on, the snook fishing also gets good, and the fall [calba run](/caribbean-snook-run-calba/) follows late in the year, though parts of it are closed at Barra del Colorado. For flights, drive times and what else to plan, see our [trip planning guide](/planning-a-costa-rica-fishing-trip/), and for fishing lodges across the country, our [lodges guide](/costa-rica-fishing-lodges-guide/). Everything else about this coast is in our [complete Caribbean fishing guide](/caribbean-fishing-guide/). ::: gallery "Tarpon water on the northern Caribbean" ![A big silver tarpon leaping clear of brown-green water at a jungle river mouth, spray flying, palms blurred behind](/static/img/ctar-ai-tarpon-jump-river-800.webp) ![A grey wide view across the Tortuguero river near its mouth, with a long line of rainforest on the far bank](/static/img/ctar-tortuguero-river-mouth-800.webp "Photo: [Tortuguero river mouth](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boca_R%C3%ADo_Tortuguero.jpg) by The Casual Tellurian, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons") ![A small plain white open fishing boat far off on a flat calm turquoise sea under a golden morning sky](/static/img/ctar-ai-calm-sea-boat-800.webp) ::: ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the best month for tarpon on the Caribbean side? September, closely followed by October. Seas are usually at their calmest, boats can reach the schools outside the river mouths, and the Club Amateur de Pesca holds its tarpon tournament then. ### Can you catch tarpon in Costa Rica all year? Yes. Tarpon live in the Caribbean rivers in every month. In the slow months (July, August and December) rough seas and muddy water mean you'll mostly fish inside the rivers and lagoons. ### How big are the tarpon? The Tico Times puts common catches at Barra del Colorado at about 75 to 150 pounds, with fish over 200 pounds taken. Alberto Font put most fish at 80 to 180 pounds. ### Can I keep a tarpon? No. INCOPESCA's rules require tarpon to be released in the water without being lifted aboard. The only exception is a possible world record, which needs a fee paid to INCOPESCA first. ### Is February or September better for a first trip? Both are good. September usually has calmer seas and is the classic peak, but it books up first. February to April suits northern winter holidays and is prime time at Silver King Lodge. ### Can I fish tarpon on a Tuesday at Barra del Colorado? Not inside the Barra del Colorado refuge. SINAC's 2026 guide makes Tuesday the river's rest day, with no fishing at all.