Skip to content

Top 10 Tarpon Fishing Holiday Destinations

The Tarpon, also known as the Silver King, is famed for its astonishing size, beautiful armoured scales and impressive fighting style. Found in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, inhabiting coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers, it’s held in extremely high regard amongst the angling community. Each year thousands of rods travel from around the globe to fish for this incredible fish, and although they can be challenging to locate, spooky and hard to hook, once you do, it’s all worthwhile.

If they’re a species that has always been on your bucket list and one you’ve always dreamt of catching, we have put together a hand-picked list of our top 10 Tarpon fishing holidays from around the globe to help you decide where to travel.

  1. Los Roques, Veneuzela
  2. Canarreos, Cuba
  3. Zapata, Cuba
  4. Jungle Tarpon Lodge, Costa Rica
  5. Silver King Lodge, Costa Rica
  6. Isla De La Juventud, Cuba
  7. El Pescador, Belize
  8. Turneffe Flats, Belize
  9. Jardines de la Reina, Cuba
  10. Cayo Romano, Cuba 

Los Roques, Venezuela

Los Roques, located 120 kilometres north of Caracas in Venezuela, is the perfect Caribbean fly fishing retreat. A National Park consisting of a collection of some 350 islands and cays, it’s often referred to as an archipelago but is technically an unspoiled atoll that spans 36 kilometres east to west and 24.6 kilometres north to south, making it the largest marine park in the Caribbean Sea. 

Traditionally, the destination has been considered one of the best Bonefish fisheries globally, but its Tarpon fishery has grown spectacularly over the past decade or so. Significant numbers of juvenile fish are found in the lagoons and mangroves, with specimens to 80lb frequently landed.

Season: All Year
Peak: October to January
Weight: 5lb to 80lb
Average Weight: 30lb
Price: From £6,083 per person

Los Roques offers excellent mixed flats fishing, with the chance to catch specimen-sized fish of all species. 

Read more about our fishing holidays to Los Roques, Venezuela.

Canarreos, Cuba

Canarreos is an archipelago located south of the main island of Cuba in the Caribbean Sea. Vast in size, comprising over 350 islets and an area almost as long as the Florida keys, it offers travelling saltwater fly fishing anglers the opportunity to fish the famous Isla de Juventud and Cayo Largo fisheries from a single live aboard yacht.

Fishing for Tarpon in Canarreos gets divided into three categories: Baby Tarpon (fish that weigh up to 30lbs), medium Tarpon (fish that weigh between 30lb and 80lb) and monster Tarpon (fish that weigh more than 80lb and sometimes can surpass the incredible mark of 150lbs). The last category is the holy grail, but behemoths of this size are much less common.

Season: All Year
Peak: March to June
Weight: 5lb to 150lb
Average Weight: 20lb
Price: From £5,196 per person

Canarreos is ideal for those anglers looking for a liveaboard Tarpon fishing experience. 

Read more about our fishing holidays to Canarreos, Cuba.

Zapata, Cuba

Zapata is a World Heritage Site and one of the most protected and best-preserved wetlands systems in the Caribbean. From a saltwater fly fishing perspective, the destination is in its infancy and is remarkable and a real jewel in Cuba’s ecological crown. With only eight anglers allowed to fish the thousands of kilometres of waters in and around the destination each week, many areas have never seen an angler. 

Its scores of narrow mangrove channels and lagoons provide the ideal hunting ground for juvenile Tarpon, and fish between 10lb and 40lb are common. However, fishing on the edges of the expansive turtle grass and white sand flats will see you in with a chance of a much larger specimen, with fish to over 80lb landed each season. 

Season: All year
Peak: April to May
Weight: 10lb to 130lb
Average Weight: 45lb
Price: From £5,012 per person

Zapata, like Canarreos, is also ideal for those anglers looking for a liveaboard Tarpon fishing experience. 

Read more about our fishing holidays to Zapata, Cuba.

Jungle Tarpon Lodge, Costa Rica

Situated in the Costa Rican jungle, the fishery at Jungle Tarpon Lodge is based around the vast array of freshwater rivers, creeks and flooded lagoons. During the seasonal rains, these murky waterways are a haven for baitfish and the Tarpon travel some 300+ miles inland to visit these hunting grounds, allowing anglers to get much closer to their quarry than in other fisheries. 

Visting rods can expect shots at fish ranging from 50lbs to well over 100lbs daily, and specimens pushing 200lb get landed every season. 

Season: July 30 to December 12
Peak: August
Weight: 60lb to 200lb
Average Weight: 90lb
Price: From £5,463 per person

Jungle Tarpon Lodge is ideal for the hardcore Tarpon angler who wants good numbers of fish and lots of action. 

Read more about our fishing holidays to Jungle Tarpon Lodge, Costa Rica.

SILVER KING Lodge, Costa Rica

Silver King Lodge is located on the banks of the Rio Colorado River on the northeast coastline of Costa Rica. With its cloudy brown appearance packed with sediment, the Colorado runs from Lake Nicaragua to the sea, emptying thousands of gallons of fresh water daily. The bait fish gather in numbers when the murky water collides with the blue of the ocean, and the hungry Silver Kings are never far behind.  

The Tarpon fishing at the Lodge can be explosive, and it’s not unusual to battle with 20+ fish a day. As a result, there is every chance of hooking a specimen of over 100lb, and each season fish topping 200lb get landed. 

Season: Jan to June & Sept to Nov
Peak: Sept to Nov
Weight: 50lb to 210lb
Average Weight: 90lb
Price: From £5,356 per person

Silver King Lodge, like Jungle Tarpon Lodge, is an out-and-out Tarpon fishing destination, ideal for the angler who wants good numbers of fish and lots of action. 

Read more about our fishing holidays to Silver King Lodge, Costa Rica.

Isla De La Juventud, Cuba

Isla De La Juventud, or the Isle of Youth, as it’s also known, is located 100 kilometres off the coast of mainland Cuba, approximately at the same longitude as Havana. Comparable in size to the Florida Keys, it’s the largest of the 350 islets in the Archipelago de Los Canarreos and a myriad of mangrove islets, sandy flats and turtle grass expanses and was said to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. 

This destination is ideal for saltwater fly fishing anglers obsessed with monster Tarpon, as both resident and migratory specimens are abundant across the whole marine ecosystem. Fish to over 100lb regularly get landed, and the destination consistently exceeds expectations. Undoubtedly, sport for these specimen silver bars is some of the finest you’ll find anywhere in the Caribbean and possibly even the world. 

Season: All year
Peak: April to May
Weight: 10lb to 130lb
Average Weight: 45lb
Price: From £10,065 per person

The Isla De La Juventud allows anglers to experience some of the best flats Tarpon fishing in the world, all based on the stylish liveaboard, Jardines Avalon FI.

Read more about our fishing holidays to Isla De La Juventud, Cuba.

El Pescador Lodge, Belize

El Pescador is found just outside the town of San Pedro on the famous Ambergris Caye on the Caribbean Sea. This family-run, beach-fronted resort is the ideal holiday destination for anglers, non-angling companions and families, offering first-class fishing and an array of extra activities. It’s a great destination for anglers new to fly fishing as the guides provide fishing workshops designed to help in all aspects of saltwater flats fishing; there’s also a good collection of rods and reels available for hire. 

Famed primarily for its Bonefish and Permit fishing, it also offers anglers the chance to catch Tarpon, with resident fish over 100lb. 

Season: All Year
Peak: May to June
Weight: 5lb to 150lb
Average Weight: 15lb
Price: From £5,647 per person

El Pescador in Belize is ideal for anglers looking to incorporate a family holiday with some first-class flats fishing. 

Read more about our fishing holidays to El Pescador, Belize.

Turneffe Flats, Belize

For over 30 years, Turneffe Flats has been recognised as one of the world’s finest saltwater fly fishing destinations with an array of awards and accolades. The largest Atoll of only four coral atolls in the Western Hemisphere, this premier fishery is best known for its wide array of saltwater fly fishing opportunities, and it’s one of the few places globally where a Grand Slam is always possible. 

Turneffe Flats has an excellent pedigree in producing some first-class Tarpon fishing and produces fish all year round. Although there is always some resident Tarpon, the migratory season is generally when the larger fish turn up, with specimens between 90lb to 150lb.

Season: All Year
Peak: May to October
Weight: 5lb to 150lb
Average Weight: 90lb
Price: From £5,851 per person

Turneffe Flats is a premier saltwater fly fishery, ideal for anglers wanting to catch Tarpon and a mixture of other species. 

Read more about our fishing holidays to Turneffe Flats, Belize.

Jardines de la Reina, Cuba

Jardines de la Reina, or JDR as it’s known, is a pristine chain of islands that run more than one hundred and sixty kilometres to the northwest from Cuba’s southeastern coast. Named the Queen’s Gardens by Christopher Columbus, this vast area is a marine paradise, more significant than the Florida Keys and a designated Cuban National Park.

There’s no doubt that Jardines de la Reina has some of the best-sighted flats Tarpon fishing in the world. The destination is renowned for its juvenile fishery, fish in the 15lb to 40lb class, and can be spectacular, and it’s not unusual for anglers to catch between ten and fifteen of these in a single day. Bigger specimens up to 85lb and even some topping the magical 100lb mark are not uncommon. 

Season: All Year
Peak: April to May
Weight: 10lb to 130lb
Average Weight: 45lb
Price: From £5,463 per person

Jardines de la Reina offers some of the best Tarpon fishing in the world for both numbers and fish and healthy average size and utilises the Jardines Avalon IV liveaboard. 

Read more about our fishing holidays to Jardines De La Reina, Cuba.

Cayo Romano, Cuba

Located on the north shore of the main island of Cuba, in the province of Camaguey, Cayo Romano or Cayo Cruz, as it’s formerly known, is an area that presents some stunning saltwater fly fishing opportunities. An enormous system of flats, lagoons and pristine estuaries spanning an area of over 366 square kilometres, it’s virtually untouched and represents one of Cuba’s cleanest and most biologically diverse ecosystems.

Famed for its fantastic Bonefish and Permit fishing, it also offers some excellent Tarpon fishing, with fish ranging from 30lb to 90lb. Two particular locations within the destination provide excellent fishing. However, the guides tend to save these areas for when an angler is on the cusp of a grand slam, having already landed a Permit and Bonefish.

Season: All Year 
Peak: April to May
Weight: 10lb to 130lb
Average Weight: 45lb
Price: From £5,097 per person

Cayo Romano is an excellent destination for those anglers looking to try and complete a grand slam. 

Read more about our fishing holidays to Cayo Romano, Cuba.

Contact Us

If you’d like to learn more about the fish, fishing or accommodation at any of the destinations above, or enquire about a trip, contact Peter Collingsworth on 01603 407596 or via email at peter@sportquestholidays.com.

Post a comment

Contact Us