Fishing from Tortuguero

Part of our complete guide: Fishing Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast: The Complete Guide

The short answer

Yes, you can fish from Tortuguero, but not everywhere, and not on your own. The village sits on a strip of sand between the Caribbean and a maze of jungle canals, with Tortuguero National Park to the south, where every kind of fishing is banned, and the Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge to the north, where fishing is allowed with a SINAC licence and set hours. Local guides fish for tarpon and snook around the river mouth by the village and in the sea just outside it, in the water the rules allow.

Most people who fish here came for the turtles and the canals and add a half or full day on the water, booked through their hotel. September and October usually bring the calmest seas and the best tarpon fishing. For the whole coast, from Barra del Colorado to the Panama border, see our complete guide to the Caribbean coast.

A village between a park and a refuge

Tortuguero is about 80 km north of Puerto Limón, and no road reaches it. Everyone arrives by boat or small plane, and the village has no cars. The river that gives it its name runs past the village to the sea, and where it meets the surf it builds one of the classic tarpon and snook spots on this coast.

What makes fishing here tricky is the map. Two different protected areas meet at the village, with different rules:

The boundaries aren't marked on the water. That's the main reason to fish here only with a licensed local guide who works these channels every week and can tell you exactly where you are.

What you'll catch, and when

Tarpon are the main event. They live in the canals and rivers all year, and on calm days they school outside the river mouth, rolling at the surface. Our tarpon season guide goes through the months in detail. The Tico Times called September and October two of the best months in May 2026, when the sea often flattens. The Manatus Hotel, which books fishing here, gives its own tarpon season as January to June.

Snook are the other prize. Big common snook hold along the banks, logs and mangrove edges, and the fat snook (calba) run along this coast at the end of the year. FECOP, the Costa Rican sport fishing federation, says the calba start running in December; older Tico Times reports describe the run showing first up the Tortuguero canal in November. Manatus points to September to December for snook. Our guide to the calba run explains how it works and why the big females should go back.

Jacks, barracuda and mackerel fill the gaps along the coast, and on very calm days boats can run farther offshore.

Here's how the months usually shake out, following our site's season chart:

The calendar matters less than the weather. The Caribbean has no real dry season, a big swell can keep boats inside the river mouth for days, and heavy rain turns the rivers to chocolate. Guides decide each morning.

How a fishing day works

Trips are usually arranged the day before, and they start early. You'll run down the canal to the river mouth in a small, open boat with a local guide. If the sea is calm, the guide will read the waves and cross the bar to look for tarpon rolling outside. If it's rough, you'll fish the river channels and lagoons where tarpon and snook also feed.

The local method for tarpon is to drift with heavy bucktail jigs, which guides here call chimbolos, bouncing them through the school. Lures, flies and natural bait are used too; if you fish with live or dead bait, the law requires circle hooks. Tarpon have hard, bony mouths and jump again and again, so many anglers count a jump as a win, and a big fish can take a long time to bring alongside.

Every tarpon goes back. Costa Rica's fishing law names tarpon a species of tourist and sport-fishing interest (article 76), and INCOPESCA's rules say they're released in the water without being lifted aboard. Expect your photo to be taken with the fish beside the boat. The Manatus Hotel describes all its fishing here as catch and release.

Half-day trips fit easily around a morning canal tour or an evening turtle walk, which is how most visitors combine the two.

Licences and the refuge rules

Our fishing rules guide has the national picture, and the no-take zones list shows the park and the refuge side by side. Rules here have changed over the years, so ask your guide which water you'll fish and which permits you need when you book.

Who to fish with

Tortuguero has no charter fleet and no marina. Fishing is booked through your hotel or a local guide.

For a dedicated tarpon trip of several days, the lodges at Barra del Colorado, farther north, specialize in it. Silver King Lodge is open all year, and our guide to Caribbean fishing lodges compares it with the others. The national fishing lodges guide covers the rest of the country.

Getting to Tortuguero

Most hotels sell packages with transport, meals and tours, and some add fishing. Our trip planning guide has more on timing and licences.

Where to stay

Places to stay range from village guesthouses to lodges on the canals with their own docks. The Manatus Hotel is one of the canal-side hotels, with its own dock and fishing trips. Staying in the village itself puts you closest to the beach and the river mouth, and a short walk from the small sodas (family restaurants), where it's worth asking whether they'll cook a snook or jack you've legally kept.

Turtles and other things to do

• Turtle watching. SINAC's brochure gives leatherback nesting as March to May, green turtles July to October, and hatchlings September to December. Night visits to the beach are by guided tour only, starting at 8 pm and 10 pm.
• Canal tours. The park's water trails open at set times from early morning, by boat or kayak, for monkeys, caimans, kingfishers and herons.
• Cerro Tortuguero. A short, steep climb north of the village to a lookout over the canals, the forest and the sea.
• The village. Small sodas, a few bars and the Sea Turtle Conservancy's visitor center.