Costa Rica Fishing Vacations: Sustainable, Fun Fishing

Remember last winter when it was too cold and nasty to go out? And last spring when it was too wet and nasty to go out? And summer when it's way too hot and nasty to go out? Maybe it's time for a great getaway and one of those famous Costa Rica fishing vacations.

Blue water fishing is a big part of Costa Rica tourism. New research shows that North Americans traveling there in 2008 to fish generated nearly six hundred million dollars or about 2 percent of Costa Rica's gross domestic product.

Without a doubt, sportsmen and sportswomen play an important role in wildlife conservation. From preservation of American wetlands to growing awareness in Africa that animals are worth more alive than dead---and around the globe---the planet is slowly, painfully learning that sustainability is better than exploitation.

In many ways, Costa Rica has long been at the forefront of conservation.

In stark contrast to other countries like Malaysia and Brazil which are embarking on forest destruction, Costa Rica encourages reforestation and has 25% more forests today than just 30 years ago.

It created the world's largest Atlantic green sea turtle preserve at magnificent Tortuguero National Park where more than 130,000tourists now contribute to the national economy. Indeed, Costa Rica ecotourism is now the fastest growing segment of the country's tourism business, at the same time preserving species endangered around the globe and lifting communities out of poverty. The village of Tortuguero, for example, describes its savior the "turtle that lays the golden egg."

For decades Costa Rica has rejected efforts of oil company giants to explore its offshore waters and announced that by 2021 it will be the first country on the globe to be carbon neutral. No BP disaster here. Not in the past; not in the future.

Which leads us back to Costa Rica fishing vacations.

The research described above was conducted by The Billfish Foundation, Southwick Associates, and the University of Costa Rica. It revealed than in 2008 nearly 284,000 fishermen visited Costa Rica. Indeed, it estimated that more than one in five Costa Rica tourists visited the country expressly to fish.

Their economic impact overshadowed commercial fishing. Some 73,000 jobs resulted from sport fishermen compared to 67,000 jobs from commercial fishing pursuing the same species as sportsmen. Since Costa Rica is a catch and release billfish country, sport fishing, like Costa Rica ecotourism, is sustainable development.

How important is sport fishing to the Costa Rica economy? Consider the effect if people couldn't fish for marlin, sails, and other species. 40 percent of folks who fished in Costa Rica reported that they would not have visited the country if they could not fish. Those anglers, some 116,000 visitors per year, contribute about $135 million to Costa Rica's economy.

For those considering Costa Rica vacations that include fishing, there are two oceans from which to choose and year-round angling opportunities.

By far the most popular coast for fishing is the Pacific. Tropical weather, azure waters, steeped in history.

Along the southern coast, not far from the Panama border, lies the tiny wilderness of the Osa Peninsula, described by National Geographic as "the most biologically diverse" place on the planet. Bounded to its north is beautiful Drake Bay, named after Sir Frances Drake, who landed in it about a decade before he saved England and sank the mighty Spanish Armada.

There's a brand new highway between Drake Bay and Manuel Antonio National Park, one of Costa Rica's Seven Natural Wonders, and Quepos, with perhaps the best blue water fishing in this fish-rich country, reportedly discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1519. Remember him? He's the fellow famous for searching for the Fountain of Youth.

Marlin and sailfish are the main attraction here but the waters have lots of other fish from which to choose: mahi mahi (dolphin), giant yellowfin tuna, wahoo, cubera, roosterfish, snapper, grouper, blue and rainbow runners, snook, jacks, and mackerel.

On the other side of Costa Rica lies its Caribbean coast, far less traveled and fished. There, close to where Christopher Columbus came ashore in 1503 and settled on the name "Costa Rica" you'll find extraordinary snook and Costa Rica tarpon fishing in its rivers and estuaries as well as deep water fishing.

Now, certainly, you may not give a whit for Columbus, de Leon, or Drake. In that case, think of yourself as "Kilroy" when you drop your line in the deep blue waters: "Kilroy was here!" And so you will be, too, but only if you take that long awaited Costa Rica fishing vacation. Pura Vida!