Our hosted big game fishing trips to Palma De Cortez in Mexico have proven incredibly popular for many years, offering solo travellers and pairs of friends the opportunity to fish the world-famous Sea Of Cortez. This body of water is home to some of the best big-game fishing in the world. Nestled between Baja California and the Mexican mainland, this truly remarkable sea is distinguished by its diverse array of marine life and fantastic angling opportunities. It provides travelling anglers with the opportunity to fish for a whole host of hard-fighting bluewater species, including specimen-sized Roosterfish, Amberjack and Wahoo, plus the ‘classic’ big game fishing species, like Marlin, Tuna, Sailfish and Dorado.
Situated on Bajas East Cape, in a prime location, Palma De Cortez offers travelling anglers the perfect base for a premier big-game fishing experience. Blessed with an ideal location, it provides a stable year-round climate, calm cobalt-blue waters, and a wide variety of fish species. As a resort and fishing destination, it ticks all the right boxes and is perfect for those looking for their first or fiftieth big game fishing experience.
If you’d like to book a trip with your family or non-angling companions, it’s also possible to book a non-hosted trip to Palma De Cortez and you can visit our standard tour page here.
This exclusive Sportquest Holidays trip is hosted by one of our experienced hosts and is ideal for solo anglers, pairs of friends and even small groups. Our team of hosts are hugely experienced as both hosts and fishing guides and are well travelled, taking trips of customers around the world and fishing in a wide array of different environments. From the arctic fjords of Norway, Cod and Halibut fishing, to the demanding waters of Rodrigues Island speed jig fishing, to the stunning shores of the Skeleton coast in Namibia, they have done it all. All have been fishing for their entire lives, and most have been hosting trips for us for over ten years, guiding hundreds of customers over this time, helping many land new PBs and tick items off their bucket lists. As well as being on hand to help with the fishing and fishing tackle, they will be with you throughout the trip, helping you navigate the airports and transfers.
As well as our host, on this trip, you’ll be looked after by an experienced captain and his crew of local deckhands, making this trip perfect for those looking to experience big game fishing for the first time and those well-travelled and already passionate about that angling discipline.
The fishing in Mexico is based on six anglers and our host, staying at the beautiful Palma De Cortez resort, fishing from two boats, with the host alternating between the boats on each fishing day.
One of the most popular things about Palmas De Cortez, and perhaps the biggest draw for anglers, is the vast number of species on offer and the different techniques you can use to catch them. One day, you can be trolling for Marlin, Sailfish and Dorado; the next, you can be casting surface poppers to hordes of feeding Roosterfish and Jacks as they smash their way through bait balls in the upper layers.
When fishing offshore, the resort consistently produces significant numbers of Blue Marlin, with fish averaging between 200 and 300lb. There is also the chance to catch Striped Marlin, Sailfish, and Tuna. Sailfish fishing is notably good, with fish averaging around 80lb, whilst Tuna fishing, depending on the time of year, can also be excellent, and specimens to over 100lb commonplace. Most fishing offshore is traditional big-game trolling, but it is possible to chuck big poppers or even vertical jigfish.
If you choose to fish inshore, it’s possible to catch an entirely different array of species, including Roosterfish, Barracuda, Cubera Snappers and many Jacks. The Roosterfish average around 20lb, but much larger fish get landed every season, including trophy-sized specimens exceeding 50lb. The Jacks, Barracuda and Snapper provide some fantastic sport and average between 10lb and 20lb, but once again, much larger fish are common. All these species will happily take bait or lures; how you fish for them is entirely up to you.
To learn more about the big game fishing inshore and offshore at Palmas de Cortez in Mexico, visit our YouTube channel.
The Palma De Cortez resort offers many different fishing boats, with everything from luxury large 28′ or 32′ offshore traditional cruisers to smaller in-shore 23′ or 25′ Pangas. With over fifty vessels, the resort offers the largest sportfishing fleet in Mexico, all conveniently moored at the private dock at the front of the resort, ensuring quick, convenient boarding and maximising the time of your fishing day.
All the boats come supplied with VHF radios, live bait wells, ice chests, sunshades and all the tackle needed for trolling and bait fishing. If you wish to throw some poppers around or jig fish for Tuna, you must bring your own.
On our hosted trip, the itinerary is based on five fishing days, split between three days offshore and two days inshore. Our host will alternate between the boats each day, but even when he’s not on your boat, you will still be incredibly well looked after by a captain and team of deckhands, all of which have been hand-picked by the resort and are some of the best in the country. They have been fishing the Sea of Cortez for many years, and at any particular time of the day or tide, they will know where to head to find your chosen targets. They will be on hand all day to help you as much or as little as you need.
Palma de Cortez hotel is a piece of paradise located on Baja’s East Cape with stunning beachfront accommodation. With miles of beautiful white sandy beaches on your doorstep, this resort offers full amenities for anglers and families alike. The magnificent infinity pool bar overlooks the stunning crystal clear waters of the Sea of Cortez.
The hotel we use on Palma de Cortez fishing packages is situated just an hour and a half drive from Cabo airport. The transfer is a luxurious, spacious minibus that is also air-conditioned and then driven to the hotel. The rooms on offer are all air-conditioned, and you have a choice when booking the oceanfront rooms, oceanfront/poolside rooms, palapa-roofed cabañas, garden rooms with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Most of the rooms on offer at this resort can sleep between one to four people and come equipped with telephones, mini-fridge, and satellite TV. The new Luxury Tower offers one-bedroom luxury suites and two-bedroom luxury suites, and a three-bedroom penthouse on the third floor with a large rooftop deck used for large events gatherings.
When you have finished your days fishing, you can head down to the poolside bar and relax with a nice cool drink. You can take a dip in the pool if you wish to cool down or even jump into the jacuzzi and let the aches and pains of a hard days fishing ease away. You will find a shop within the hotel where you can purchase various presents, ice creams or snacks to take back to your room.
Even though this resort is room only, a lovely restaurant called Tico’s is on-site that you can choose to eat from at additional cost. The breakfast offered daily is served at Tico’s restaurant. This breakfast is of an all you can eat buffet style with many different items on offer, from fresh fruit and yoghurts to American style waffles and pancakes.
Lunch can be pre-ordered at the fishing office the night before your trip, and you will typically have options to choose from, with burritos and southern fried chicken all being on the menu.
Even though meals not included, you can choose to dine in the on-site restaurant called Bay View restaurant and pay at the end of your holiday. The Bay View restaurant has a stunning view of the Sea of Cortez. This restaurant has an extensive menu with everything from Mexican classics to burgers and chips. A good tip is to make sure you try the Guacamole and Tortilla chips; it is fantastic. They also have many wines and beers on the menu for you to try. It is the perfect place to reflect on your days fishing, swap stories with other anglers, and, more importantly, relax.
At least once in your holiday, you have to bring back either a couple of tuna or A Dorado and take them straight to the Bay View once you dock when out fishing. Hand them to one of the waiters, and they will ask you how you want them cooked and what time you will be in, how many of you are there, etc. The fish, when served, is cooked first-class and tastes fantastic; all this will cost you is around 8 USD per person.
As well as the restaurants in the hotel, you also have the steak houses in the local town; it is perfectly safe to head out at night into the local area and venture into these restaurants. The value on offer is superb, and with these establishments serving some of the biggest and juiciest steaks, you have ever seen.
Although the fishing days are fixed, the below itinerary is still flexible should you require additional free days to explore at the beginning or end of your holiday; we can tailor this itinerary to suit you personally. Feel free to talk to our travel consultants who can explain all options available.
Depart Any international Airport (See Details)
Arrive Dallas
Once you have arrived and cleared customs, make your way to the baggage collection area. When the group is ready, make your way to the arrivals hall where you will find an information desk that will point you in the right direction for either booking a taxi or the hotel shuttle bus stop (Taxi or shuttle bus is not included)
Overnight accommodation: Airport hotel (Twin Room) R/O
Depart Dallas
Arrive San Jose del Cabo
Once the entire group have collected their bags, you and the group will be escorted out of the building clearing customs where there will be a representative from the hotel waiting to transfer the group. Transfer to the hotel – approx time 60 mins. After you have checked in to the hotel and been shown your rooms you are then free to relax around the resort or why not take a walk to the local village. There are a few shops, a little tackle shop and bars and restaurants all within 10 minutes walk from the hotel.
Overnight accommodation: Poolside room (Twin room) R/O
Two Panga Fishing Boat Days
As this is a Hosted trip, people will be assigned a boat for the day and the Host will split his time between each boat every day. Each day there will only be 2 anglers per boat. The fishing starts early in Mexico so ensure you are dockside by no later than 06:40 as they like to live straight away so they can gather bait for your days fishing. You will then meet your boat captain for 8 hours of panga fishing for the species of your choice.
Overnight accommodation: Poolside room (Twin room) R/O
Three SuperSport Fishing Boat Days
These next few days you will be fishing from purpose-built big game boats fully equipped with only the best outriggers to keep your lures in the best pattern. Our captains and crew will be happy for you to do as much or as little of the rigging, running lines and hooking of fish as you require. Just make it clear at the beginning of each day what you want to do and fish for.
Overnight accommodation: Poolside room (Twin room) R/O
At a prearranged time you and the rest of the group will be transferred back to San Jose del Cabo’s Airport in plenty of time to catch your first flight.
Depart San Jose del Cabo
Arrive Dallas Depart Dallas
Arrive Home
The season runs from All Year.
Season: All Year
Peak: May to November
Weight: 200lb to 600lb
Average Weight: 250lb
Season: All Year
Peak: May to November
Weight: 50lb to 250Llb
Average Weight: 120lb
Season: All Year
Peak: June to October
Weight: 70lb to 200lb
Average Weight: 90lb
Season: All Year
Peak: June to October
Weight: 20lb to 100lb
Average Weight: 45lb
Season: All Year
Peak: May to November
Weight: 10lb to 300lb
Average Weight: 25lb
Season: All Year
Peak: July to September
Weight: 10lb to 70lb
Average Weight: 25lb
Season: All Year
Peak: May to November
Weight: 5lb to 80lb
Average Weight: 30lb
As this is a Sportquest Hosted holiday there are no single angler supplements
Remember that Sportquest Holidays' services are completely FREE! When you book a trip with Sportquest Holidays, you never pay more than when you book directly with the lodge and flights independently.
| From | To | Duration | Price | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23/06/2024 | 01/07/2024 | 9 | £4,289 | Enquire Now |
Prices are based on six adults sharing transfers, fishing (2 people per boat) and twin rooms for accommodation (unless otherwise stated) and are correct at the time of going to press. Subject to time of year or date and currency fluctuations, these prices may fluctuate slightly due to flight price increases or fuel surcharge.
What a great trip and having your host on the trip made everything go very smoothly. He gave us lots of laughs when out fishing and then again around the diner table.
All in all a great trip and a must for any single anglers out there
Hi Barrie
What very kind words i shall pass them on to our Host. I saw some pictures with you and that huge Rooster, very impressed i bet that went well
Hopefully will speak to you soon
Regards
Peter
Wow, awesome trip. i saw so many fish being caught and a lot of them were on my rod. The weather was spot on every day. Great host and i will be booking another guided trip
Thanks for some great memories
Glad you had such a good trip
Regards
Paul
Very good weeks fishing! 2 days in shore boat tackle a little battle worn. Caught 45 lb Rooster. Bluewater tackle great. Caught 2 Sailfish and 300 lb Blue Marlin.
Objectives achieved!
Hi Brian, so good to catch up with you today and great that you liked Palma De Cortez so much. You managed some lovely fish on your trip and would to see any pictures you may have?
Hopefully once you have spoken to Chris we can get something sorted for you guys next year.
All the best
Paul
Great Holiday, recommend to any one who is travelling alone
Thanks Ian
Regards
Paul
Hi Peter, thanks for suggesting this trip. This is my third trip with you guys and you certainly didn't let me down. Being a fly angler i wanted to try something different and when you mentioned this trip i was a bit unsure but once i had spoke to the host it felt right
Great work Sportquest
Thanks Steve
Hi Steve, i thought you may like this one. Plenty of fish for you and did you try the fly fishing from the beach in the evenings?
When i went there the beach fishing was awesome loads of barracuda. Whats next for you?
Speak soon
Peter
A good variety of fish were caught. One large Marlin was seen
The tackle provided on the Pangas was not the best quality
the tackle on the larger boats was of good quality
all the boat captains and crews were excellent and found many fish
There was no need to take any tackle
However on the few occasions fishing over the drop offs it would be worth taking some heavy pirks or lures as these were not available on the boats and suitable weights were not available. These could have been purchased locally.
The ones who did this caught large Amberjacks
Most of the fishing involved getting livebaits small and large. this was not a problem but there was a rush to get these due to the competition from the number of boats seeking these at the dock and at the other locations where they were available.
The group were all good people and the assistance from Mr Stevens was excellent.
Hello John, glad you had a good time and enjoyed my company as i enjoyed yours. Lots of stories for your travels and hopefully will get to fish with you again
I have emailed the resort about the Panga fishing gear and they have promised me that they will speak with all the pangas and get them to purchase new tackle. I understand that they are not that well off and have to buy their own tackle but if they want to stay busy then they have to up their game and hopefully i will see a change next year.
I know what you mean about the rush for the baits in the morning which i find highly amusing. The reason why there was such a rush this year was the fact that there where not that many bait fish around and to get what every body wanted the skippers had to get to the small bait boats first
Hopefully i will get to guide you some where else in the world one day
All the best
Paul
Great Fishing, Adequate accommodation and good food.
Paul was A1, looking forward to Costa Rica and maybe Norway???
Hello Tony, many thanks for taking the time to fill out your feed back form.
Glad you guys had a great trip and enjoyed my company. I am already looking forward to showing you Costa Rica, you will love it
All the best and speak soon
Paul
Fishing was pretty good and altough no monster fish were caught I still managed to get some firsts all in the same week:-
First Sailfish
First Amberjack
First Rooster Fish
First Yellow Fin Tuna
Weather was hot and sunny, food and accomodation good, and the host/guide very knowledgeable, helpful and approachable. I am already planning my next trip with Sportsquest for next year.
Hello Robert
Thank you for filling out the feed back form. It was great to meet you and spend a day fishing with you. The big fish avoided us that week but i think every one still managed some great fishing and those Amber Jacks pull hard and well done on your Rooster fish
Thank you for your kind words and look forward to showing you Costa Rica next year
The Meet, Greet and flight arrangements & transfers went perfectly.
The accommodation came as a bit of a shock having to share with a total stranger, this needs to be clearly advertised where applicable on all your trips!
The Fishing was patchy at best, and skippers tended to try and do what the majority of boats were doing unless you were really firm with them.
The best bit for me was catching a quality Rooster fish, (photos are on Paul's Dropbox)
Some of the tackle, especially in the Panga boats needed some TLC!!!!
Thanks to Paul for being a very good (and patient) host.
Thank you for taking the time to fill out your feed back form as these help others who are thinking of travelling over to this resort.
I have noted what you said about sharing rooms and this will be clearly advertised on all trips when we update our website.
The fishing was a little tough at times which shocked me as the fishing around Mexico is normally brilliant. we hopefully made the most of the fishing with most people getting their target fish and well done on your big Rooster you caught and thanks for the pictures.
I have emailed the resort about the panga fishing equipment and they have assured me they will do the best to resolve the problems.
Hopefully i will get to guide you again one day as it was a pleasure to meet you and fish with you
All the best
Paul
1st Day, panga fishing: 5 Rooster and some Dorado
2nd Day, Panga: 5 small Tuna and a small Dorado (The Tuna there the day before not located, Good guide Carlos)
3rd Day, Magic Marlin: 2 Sailfish 90 - 110LBS
4th Day, Magic Marlin: 2 Sailfish 90 - 110LBS
5th Day, Magic Marlin: 2 Marlin 1 x 300LB 1 x 130LB
Great trip thanks Sportquest
Wow John, thats a good result I bet you were pleased with them. Hope the rest of the trip was as good and Costa Rica soon
All the best
Paul
The best part of my holiday was the Blue Marlin!
Hi William, congratulations I was praying you would catch one as I know how much you wanted one. Hope the rest of the holiday and Mathew was good and what you expected. I notice you want a Black marlin next, we will have to see what we can do for you.
All the best
Paul
Great holiday with excellent fishing + Tequila!
The rooms were adequate and air conditioning worked. Thank goodness.
The fishing captains and mates were very good and worked hard to find the fish we wanted. There was an abundance of fish.
I wanted a Marlin and got two! The company was fun with or without Tequila! It was nice to have female company. The host was excellent. It was the best holiday i have had with Sportquest!
American customs caused delays and a bit of stress on transfers.
Hello Malcolm, thank you so much for taking the time to fill out your feed back form. Sounds like you all had such a great time with or with out the Tequila!
Well done on your Marlin I bet you were so pleased. I was speaking to Mathew each day to make sure everything was going well and from what he was saying it sounded like an excellent trip.
Thank you for your kind words and look forward to catching up with you again soon
All the best
Paul
GREAT!
Hi Chris, well what else can we say! I heard that you guys had a great trip and well done on your Marlin. I have now made Mathews report live on our website and if you guys have got any more pictures please feel free to email them to me paul@sportquestholidays.com
All the best
Paul
American Airlines flights seats very cramped.
Ate out of hotel most nights found 2 grill bars within 5 mins of hotel. The pirate served the best grilled prawns I had ever had.
Hotel breakfasts were good quality.
Hotel cooked my dorado on the last night in 3 differant styles and it was superb served with guacamole chips veg and salad.
day 1 and 2 on the updated cruiser were great. Crew and tackle were first class. The boat el loco was spotless.
day 3 on the Fintastic was not so good. poor tackle and a crew that where not interested.
day 4 and 5 changed to the Pez Vela boat great crew.
Fishing overall was slow running 40 miles off shore to find tuna.
Matt our guide was great although he had not been to mexico or through the u.s. before. So dont know who was guiding who? Matt took some cracking photos would love to have copies.
If i was travelling solo telephone numbers of the accomodation and transfer bus would have been usefull.
Also the fact that you had to visit the fishing directors office every evening at 6 pm.to arrange the following days boat lunches would have been helpfull.
Originally booked a pool view room but what we got was a cabana. Rooom was large with great A/C but a little dated.
Weather was great and there was no problems with the mossies. which was great as being from northern scotland im always fighting off the dreaded Midge!!!
All in all an enjoyable holiday. fishing is fishing not catching.
tight lines
Dave Roberts
Hi David
Thank you for your feedback, it was great to see you get your Striped Marlin and as for that Mahi -Mahi. Wow wasn't it delicious!
Hopefully I will get to chat to you soon and get you out after those other species you wish to catch.
Tight lines
Matt
First of all if you are going to go all the way over to Mexico consider extending your fishing time as we did by adding on extra days. We went for a full eight days fishing and the extra cost wasn't that bad.
As a party of three we wanted to fish for species as well as the Big Game so split out time between 4 days on Pangas and 4 days on Super Cruisers - We finished up catching 26 species (six of which we are still trying to identify!).
The resort at Palmas de Cortez is superb and we had poolside first floor rooms that we found were very good - Important tips to beat the queues- go to breakfast at 05.15 which means you are one of the early ones down on the Jetty at 06.10 so your boat gets called in ahead of the rush for departure.
This really paid off when we were with Damian and Rigo on super Cruiser Mahi Mahi. We had 8 Yellow fin Tuna by 08.30 finished it off with another four by 09.30 before heading of for the Marlin, we had a Striped and Blue Marlin by 13.00hrs. That said two of our two days on other Super Cruisers we blanked. The heavyweight rods and reels on the Super Cruisers were generally of a very high standard .
The panga fishing was very good and I wish I had taken my own lightweight rods and reels with me in my case as my two colleagues had done. We found the rods and reels in the main very tired being mainly very old TLD 20's and 25's. When we asked for weights on our first day we were given spark plugs! but there is a tackle shop not 200 yds. from the complex so we decided to invest in our own. Everything was based on live bait fishing through the higher waters whereas we bought various rigs with us to fish off the bottom much to the consternation of the skippers. The language problem is a real barrier here trying to get your message across when you want to do something different but you just have to persevere. They are only trying to help.
A couple of other things to consider - do when fishing go for some live sardines - the only problem is that you have to travel over an hour up the coast to get them from the local fisherman. We were also sold from the jetty, blocks of squid that were very rarely used and various other live fish when on Super Cruisers, these went on board but were never used, after the second day we declined further purchases as we couldn't work out the reason for the purchase.
Now for the difficult bit the Restaurant! They have a policy that for a payment of 8 dollars per person they will cook your food. We bought 8 size able Tuna Fillets back on our third night. We told them that they could have five for themselves but wanted them to cook the other three for us. We were all disappointed when we were served three half fillets. So the next night we tried again and they did the same to us yet again. When I complained they gave us free wine to compensate us. So keep the fish in the fridge and use it when you want to or, do as we did, and give it away to the far more deserving members of the hotel staff. In talking to other fishing guests we were not the only ones to find reductions in fish presented for cooking. A couple of points on etiquette - It is restaurant practice to serve the starter with the main course and be prepared that once you have finished your plate of food it will disappear whilst others are still eating the same course!
That said that was the only negative about the whole holiday and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Yes we would go back but probably in 3-5 years time as we want to visit other venues probably next year with shorter flight times. #
Final tips, take your own lighter gear if you can. also do your own research as to which are the more successful and popular boats to go on. We wanted to continue with Mahi Mahi but it was fully booked for the next six days fishing,
Hi Mike
Thank you for the great feedback, I am glad you had a good trip and caught some very nice fish.
Hopefully we will get to speak soon about other holiday ideas you have.
Matt
Temperatures were high 35 degrees plus however room temperatures were comfortable. Dressing for these temperatures is essential particularly out at sea. The Hotel and room accommodation was good and the views from the room balcony was outstanding. Waiting for your boat at 6am on the pier each morning appeared well organised. The boat captains were all very helpful and knowledgeable of the fishing opportunities. Trolling for large game fish is a waiting game, one day I caught one fish but most days I caught two or three fish including marlin, dorado and rooster fish. The hook ups and fights were spectacular. Local restaurants were able to prepare a fish that I had caught for our evening meals, most enjoyable. Tipping is part of the culture and certainly the boat captains can feel an expensive addition at about 75 dollars from each angler. All our flights were as arranged. I had pre-booked my seats to ensure that I had the seats best suited to me. Our host, Ross was exceptional and he looked after us very well. An excellent holiday experience overall.
Hello Brian, thank you so much for your detailed feedback it is so important to us that we get these, not just for us but for future travellers.
Totally agree about trolling, yes its a waiting game but well worth the wait when one of those rods goes off!!! Some great tips in your feedback that hopefully people will find very helpful.
Tight lines, Paul
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