Guide

Fishing lodges of the Osa Peninsula and Golfo Dulce

The far south has 3 true fishing lodges, Crocodile Bay at Botánika in Puerto Jiménez, The Zancudo Lodge at Playa Zancudo and Aguila de Osa in Drake Bay, plus 2 small marina lodges in Golfito where you sleep beside the charter boats. All were taking guests in late 2026, though The Zancudo Lodge has been listed for sale since August 2025, so confirm your dates when you book.

By Annie Watts, updated by Sportfishing Costa Rica EditorsChecked 15 November 202611-minute read

At a glance

True fishing lodges: Crocodile Bay at Botánika, The Zancudo Lodge, Aguila de Osa
Marina lodges: Fish Hook Marina and Lodge, Banana Bay Marina (both Golfito)
Zancudo Lodge: For sale since August 2025, still selling 2026-27 packages
Best billfish months: Sailfish December to April; marlin May to September and November to December
Inshore: Roosterfish and cubera snapper in the Golfo Dulce all year, best January to April
Getting there: Domestic flights to Puerto Jiménez, Golfito and Drake Bay
No fishing: Caño Island reserve and Corcovado National Park waters

Part of our complete guide: Fishing Lodges in Costa Rica: Every Lodge and Fishermen-Run Resort, by Zone

The short answer

If you want to sleep, eat and fish in one place, with the boats waiting at the lodge's own dock, Costa Rica's far south is the place to do it. Around the Osa Peninsula and the Golfo Dulce we found 3 true fishing lodges taking guests in late 2026: Crocodile Bay at Botánika in Puerto Jiménez, The Zancudo Lodge at Playa Zancudo and Aguila de Osa in Drake Bay. Golfito adds 2 small marina lodges where you sleep a few steps from the charter boats.

This article looks at each one in more detail than our complete guide to Costa Rica's fishing lodges, which covers every zone. Here we go deeper on the far south: where each lodge sits, how far its boats run, when to go, how you get there and what to ask before you book. The one big piece of news is that The Zancudo Lodge has been listed for sale since August 2025. It's still selling trips, and we explain what that means below.

How we checked these lodges

We opened every lodge's own website in November 2026 and looked for dated 2025 or 2026 signs that it's open and fishing: package dates, fishing reports, guest reviews or news coverage. We also checked where the boats leave from and what the fleet is. Nobody pays to be listed, and we don't show prices, because packages change every season and depend on how many people share a boat.

The lodges at a glance

Lodge	Base	Type	Boats leave from	Best for	Status, November 2026
Crocodile Bay at Botánika	Puerto Jiménez	Fishing lodge in a resort	Its own marina by the airstrip	Mixed groups, resort comfort	Open, fishing reports through August 2026
The Zancudo Lodge	Playa Zancudo	All-inclusive fishing lodge	Its own dock on the Sábalo River	Serious anglers, short runs offshore	Open, listed for sale since August 2025
Aguila de Osa	Drake Bay	Nature lodge with its own boats	The Agujitas river, Drake Bay	Fishing plus Corcovado and Caño Island	Open, fishing package valid to December 19, 2026
Fish Hook Marina and Lodge	Golfito	Marina with rooms	Its own slips	Independent anglers, boat owners	Open
Banana Bay Marina	Golfito	Marina with rooms and charters	Its own docks	Independent anglers	Open

Where the lodges are, and why it matters

The Golfo Dulce is a deep, sheltered gulf tucked behind the Osa Peninsula. That shelter is the reason the far south works so well for lodges: when the open Pacific is rough, crews can still fish the gulf's rocky points and river mouths in flat water. The offshore grounds for sailfish, marlin and tuna lie beyond the gulf's mouth, so where your lodge sits decides how long you spend running and how long you spend fishing. Our article on Golfo Dulce fishing covers the inshore grounds in detail.

A forested shore and a curving beach on the Golfo Dulce near Golfito, with calm grey-blue water stretching out to the horizon — Photo: Golfo Dulce near Golfito by sussexbirder, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A small unmarked white centre-console fishing boat on calm teal gulf water at dawn, with forested hills behind — Photo: Golfo Dulce near Golfito by sussexbirder, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Puerto Jiménez

The Osa's main town sits on the gulf's western shore, near its mouth, with an airstrip right beside the water. Puerto Jiménez is the closest base to Cabo Matapalo, the gulf's best-known inshore ground. Crocodile Bay's own page puts the inshore run to the gulf's mouth at about 45 minutes, and one guest review in 2026 mentioned rides of 90 minutes to 2 hours to some of the offshore grounds, so ask what a typical day looks like in your month.

Golfito

Golfito is the working harbour on the mainland side, with 3 marinas and its own airstrip. It's the place for anglers who want to pick from several independent boats rather than one lodge's fleet.

Playa Zancudo

Zancudo is a long sandspit at the gulf's southern mouth. The Zancudo Lodge says its dock is about 5 minutes from the river mouth and about 45 minutes from the offshore grounds. That's the shortest offshore run of any lodge here.

Drake Bay

Drake Bay faces the open Pacific on the Osa's north side, with no marina and few roads. Boats anchor off the beach at Agujitas, and many guests wade out to board. The fishing is a mix of rocky inshore water and offshore grounds, and the Caño Island reserve sits about 16 km off the coast, where fishing is banned.

The fishing lodges

Crocodile Bay at BotánikaPuerto Jiménez

The biggest fishing operation in the south, and on its own website it marks 26 years of fishing. Since the resort was rebuilt, guests sleep at Botánika Osa Peninsula, part of Hilton's Curio Collection, while the fishing carries on under the Crocodile Bay name. The fleet runs 24 and 25-foot Boston Whaler Outrages for the gulf and 33 and 35-foot Strike tower boats for offshore. The resort lists licences, live bait, tackle, lunch and drinks as included, and offers fly, kayak and surf fishing as well. It fishes all year. Aardvark McLeod, a UK fishing travel company that sells it, posted monthly reports through 2026, with double-digit sailfish days in February, a strong sailfish run in April, trophy roosterfish in June and big cubera and yellowfin in July and August. Good for: groups where not everyone fishes, and anglers who want a pool and a spa at the end of the day.

The Zancudo LodgePlaya Zancudo

A beachfront lodge with its own dock on a mangrove river behind the beach and a fleet of 32-foot Contender centre consoles, rigged with radar and fast enough to reach the offshore grounds in about 45 minutes. It releases all billfish. Packages bundle the flight to Golfito, the transfer by taxi and boat, meals and fishing, and agencies list departures through 2026 and 2027.

The news: the property and business have been listed for sale together since August 5, 2025, on Land Broker MLS. Nothing we found says the lodge has stopped trading. Its website promotes a new video for 2026, guests left reviews in February 2026, and the lodge announced its 21st season in August 2026. If you book, ask the lodge directly whether a sale is pending and what happens to your deposit and dates if the owner changes.

A fishing tackle table on a wooden lodge dock at sunrise, with spinning reels, a big popper and rigged rods leaning on the rail

Aguila de OsaDrake Bay

A hillside rainforest lodge beside the Agujitas river, where its boats tie up. It has 3 boats, including a restored 31-foot sportfisher, and sells a fishing package with 4 nights and 3 days of fishing, valid from May 1 to December 19, 2026, sold only direct. Its photos show roosterfish, grouper, mackerel and sailfish, and it says it fishes both inshore and offshore. Transfers run from the Drake Bay or Palmar Sur airstrips by taxi and boat. Good for: anglers who also want Corcovado hikes, Caño Island snorkelling and whale watching on the same trip. Its FishingBooker listing wasn't taking bookings when we checked, so book through the lodge.

Marina lodges in Golfito

Golfito's 2 small marina lodges suit anglers who'd rather pick a boat than buy a package, and boat owners who want to stay beside their own boat.

Fish Hook Marina and LodgeGolfito

About 20 slips for boats up to 180 feet, an open-air bar and restaurant over the water, and King and Queen suites with air conditioning and breakfast. It doesn't run its own fleet, but local charters berth there: Colio Sportfishing, for one, runs a 28-foot catamaran from Fish Hook and posted 2026 fishing reports. Hotel booking sites showed it taking guests in 2026.

Banana Bay MarinaGolfito

A marina with a diesel dock, a waterfront bar, a few rooms and sportfishing on its own docks, from single consoles of 25 and 28 feet and Contenders of 32 to 35 feet up to sportfishing yachts of 38 to 53 feet. Its website was back online in November 2026, though it carries no recent dates, so confirm room bookings by phone or through a charter that berths there.

Golfito's largest marina, Marina Bahía Golfito, hosted the Battle of the Bay tournament in May 2026 and sells inshore and offshore packages, but it doesn't list rooms, so you'd stay in town.

Staying somewhere that doesn't fish

Plenty of beautiful lodges in the south don't run boats. Playa Cativo, a boat-access lodge on the gulf, lists kayaking, snorkelling, paddleboarding and hikes but not fishing. Lapa Ríos, near Cabo Matapalo, sends guests to outside partners through its concierge. Stay at one of these and you can still fish: the lodge books a local captain, or you book one yourself.

A bowl of fresh fish ceviche with diced red onion, coriander and lime wedges on a wooden table, with blue water and palms softly behind

A few that we confirmed were fishing in 2026:

Osa Tourism (Puerto Jiménez), a local booking office that matches anglers with Puerto Jiménez captains and posts a weekly fishing report; its report for November 9 to 15, 2026 named roosterfish, cubera and jacks as the top inshore targets (osatourism.com).
Good Catch Costa Rica (Drake Bay), a 28-foot centre console boarding from the beach at Agujitas, with trips reviewed from January to July 2026 (booking page).
Colio Sportfishing (Golfito), inshore trips built around the Matapalo reefs (coliosportfishing.com).

Our Southern Pacific guide lists every captain we found in the zone.

When to go: the lodge year

The south fishes all year, and Crocodile Bay doesn't close. This table follows our national season chart.

Months	Offshore	Inshore (Golfo Dulce)	Weather
December to April	Sailfish at their best; marlin good in December	Roosterfish at their best; big cubera from March	Dry season, calmest seas, busiest at the lodges
May to August	Blue marlin, yellowfin tuna and wahoo at their best; dorado from July	Big roosterfish and cubera still around	Green season; afternoon rain, quieter lodges
September and October	Marlin still good in September; dorado	River mouths fish well after rain	Wettest months; some lodges and packages pause
November	Marlin and dorado good; sailfish building	Good roosterfish and cubera	Rains easing

Two things to know when you pick dates. Aguila de Osa's fishing package ends on December 19, 2026, so ask about the dry season if you want to go in January. And the September to November rains are heavy enough that some southern lodges close for part of that window, so check before you book a trip then.

A school of yellowfin tuna with bright yellow finlets slashing through a swirl of silver sardines just under the surface of deep blue water

Getting there

By air

SANSA flies small planes from San José to Puerto Jiménez, Golfito and Drake Bay. Crocodile Bay sits beside the Puerto Jiménez airstrip. The Zancudo Lodge's packages fly you to Golfito, then take you on by taxi and boat. Aguila de Osa collects guests from the Drake Bay or Palmar Sur airstrips.

By road

Golfito is about 6 to 7 hours' drive from San José, and Puerto Jiménez is longer. Drake Bay is usually reached by boat from Sierpe, at the end of the road.

Luggage

Domestic planes have tight weight limits, so check your lodge's rules before packing rod tubes. Most lodges supply tackle.

The rules on the water

Every lodge here works inside the national rules, explained in our fishing rules guide, plus a few local ones:

Licence

Everyone fishing from a boat needs an INCOPESCA sport-fishing licence. Crocodile Bay includes it; ask the others.

Release

Sailfish, marlin and roosterfish go back, and billfish stay in the water. All 3 fishing lodges here say they release billfish.

The Golfo Dulce

Since 2010 the gulf has been a Marine Area of Responsible Fishing, which keeps big commercial boats out, and hammerhead sharks are protected there.

No-fishing zones

Fishing is banned in the Caño Island reserve and in Corcovado National Park's waters, so Drake Bay and Puerto Jiménez boats fish outside them.

What you keep

A boat can keep up to 5 fish per trip to eat, and sport catches can't be sold. Most lodges will cook a snapper you keep.

Before you book, ask how the crew handles roosterfish and big cubera, the gulf's breeding fish. Our conservation guide explains what good release looks like.

Places we left out

Las Islas Lodge, Puerto Jiménez: still takes hotel bookings, but its newest fishing review is from 2019.
Golfito Sailfish Rancho: the only listing we found hasn't been updated since about 2007.
Fish Drake Bay (Reel Escape and Reel Time): its website is live, but nothing on it is dated after 2019.

If you know one of these is fishing again, we'd like to hear about it. For lodges elsewhere in the country, go back to our complete guide to Costa Rica's fishing lodges.

Frequently asked questions

Is The Zancudo Lodge still open?

Yes, as of November 2026. The property and business have been listed for sale since August 2025, but the lodge opened its 21st season in 2026 and agencies sell packages into 2027. Ask the lodge about the sale when you book.

Which Osa lodge is best for non-anglers?

Crocodile Bay at Botánika, with its resort facilities, or Aguila de Osa, which sits between Corcovado and Caño Island. The Zancudo Lodge is quieter and built mainly around fishing.

Which lodge has the shortest run offshore?

The Zancudo Lodge says it reaches the offshore grounds in about 45 minutes from its dock. From Puerto Jiménez, some offshore days involve longer runs, so ask.

When is the best time to book a fishing lodge in the far south?

December to April for sailfish and roosterfish in calm, dry weather; May to August for marlin, tuna and big inshore fish with fewer people. September and October are the wettest months.

Do the lodges include the fishing licence?

Crocodile Bay lists it as included. Ask the others; if it isn't, you can buy the INCOPESCA licence online before you go.

Can I fish from a lodge that doesn't have its own boats?

Yes. Most lodges in Drake Bay, Puerto Jiménez and on the gulf will book a local captain, or you can book one directly through a local office or a booking site.