CheapBillfishing and Sailfishing Trip to Guatemala

CheapBillfishing and Sailfishing Trip to Guatemala

Guatemala has become famous over the last decade for its prolific sailfish numbers and increasingly good numbers of Blue Marlin.

The main fishing season in Guatemala is from October until May - which is when the rainy season of Central America has finally passed and the warm weather has returned.

The country has made some tremendous investments in recent years to accommodate tourism which are all to the benefit of visiting anglers looking to catch sailfish by fly-fishing or on conventional tackle. Most notable of the capital investments has been the building of a new terminal building at "La Aurorora" (GUA) - which in turn has attracted several new airlines and operators to the destination. Iberia have started regular flights this season from Madrid.

This increased flight frequency has served to put pressure on prices for flying to Guatemala that has resulted in some great bargains - and made Guatemala a very affordable destination for fly-fishing for billfish. Spiritair have published fares this year as low as $9 each way - and so have made it affordable for many anglers to consider even a quick two or three day fishing trip.

Big game fishing in places like Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama have typically been quite expensive trips, as in most cases in order to be safe and comfortable in the fishing grounds, it is often necessary to fish up to 50 miles from the dock.

Large sportfishing boats needed to make these trips consume large amounts of fuel - which all combines to make a fishing trip to Guatemala and similar destinations an expensive exercise.

An alternative however is to share a trip with other likeminded anglers. Some operators offer the opportunity to register your interest in sharing a fishing trip to destinations such as Guatemala, and they will attempt to match your schedule with others and potentially dramatically diminish the cost of the fishing trip.

Whereas a typical trip based on four anglers fishing or fly-fishing for sailfish for three days could be expected to cost in the region of ten thousand dollars, going the route of sharing a fishing trip to Guatemala or Costa Rica could cut this bill to around a quarter of the cost by sharing a trip successfully.

Obviously one significant risk in sharing a fishing trip is that you are unlikely to know who you will be sharing a boat with until you arrive at your fishing destination.

Most operators report that while this is clearly a concern, they have had little difficulty as anglers willing to make the trip and invest substantial amounts in making the billfishing trip tend to be serious anglers with a lot of experience of fishing with others and being accommodated in shared accommodations such as fishing lodges.

So if you have had difficulty in the past raising a group to go fishing with you to Guatemala, and the cost and logistics of trying to make the sailfishing trip by yourself has been prohibitive, consider a shared trip as a more economical way to go - and think positively about the new friends and experiences you may make...........at a much lower cost than a full price sailfishing trip.