The bill, the eye, then the sail, raised and lit up electric blue as it comes to the boat. A sailfish is the fish on every Costa Rican sportfishing brochure and the thing most first-time visitors want to see.
Where you’ll see it
Offshore in blue water, hunting bait near the surface. Boats from Coco and the Papagayo marinas raise them year round, with the dry season the best.
What to know
Sailfish use the huge dorsal fin to herd and corral baitfish, and they can hit speeds that make them the fastest fish measured. They light up in colour when excited. Almost every one caught on this coast is released at the side of the boat, bill in hand, and revived before it swims off. Book with a captain who does it that way.
