We are based on the Pacific side, but the Sea of Cortez is over the hill and it fishes nothing like home. Warmer water, less swell, and species that never show up off Punta Lobos. When the Pacific is blown out, this is often where the fishable day is. It costs you a drive across the cape to get there.
The two coasts are an hour or so apart by road and they behave like different oceans. The Pacific side is colder, greener and far more exposed. The Cortez is warmer, generally flatter, and holds tropical species through a long season. If you have three days with us and the Pacific is closed out by swell, the Cortez is usually still workable. That is the practical reason most people end up here, and it is a good one.
The other reason is the fishing itself. Warm blue water pushing up into the gulf through summer and autumn brings dorado, billfish and tuna within reach, and the inshore rock and beach fishing along that coast is a different game again. It is not better than the Pacific. It is a separate fishery with its own season and its own bad days.
The Cortez is a long, narrow, mostly enclosed sea, so it warms far more than the open Pacific and it lacks the constant cold upwelling that makes our home water what it is. In practice you get shorter, closer swell instead of long Pacific groundswell, and mornings that are often glass. That is what people mean when they call it calmer.
It is not always calm. Winter north winds funnel straight down the gulf and can blow for days, and they build a short steep chop that is genuinely unpleasant to fish in. Summer brings heat that is hard to describe until you have sat in it, and storm season runs roughly June through November. Flat is common here. Flat is not guaranteed.
Seasons drive all of this far more than effort does. The warm water species arrive with the warm water and leave with it. Tell us what you want and we will tell you honestly whether the month you are travelling in gives you a real chance at it, or whether you would be better off fishing for what is actually there.
This is the part people underestimate. We are on the Pacific side, so a Cortez day means a road transfer across the cape before you get on a boat, and it means an earlier start than a home water day. Which departure point and which boat we use depends on the day and on how many of you there are, and that is still being confirmed. Whether transport is included is still being confirmed. If you are already staying on the Cortez side, say so and the whole day gets simpler.
Out early, because the wind almost always builds through the day and the morning is the calm part. Time spent getting live bait if we are chasing something that wants it. Then either a run offshore looking for temperature breaks, weed and birds, or working inshore structure and beaches if that is the plan. Trolling is a lot of watching, not much action, and then thirty seconds of everything happening at once. If watching a lure spread bores you, tell us and we will fish it differently.
Trip lengths and departure times are still being confirmed. We rarely run split charters, so a booking with us is effectively a private boat regardless.
People who badly want the drama of the Pacific side. This coast is often easier water and that is exactly the point, so if you came for weather you will find this tame. Anyone unwilling to add a road transfer to the front of the day, since that is not optional from where we are. People who get seasick and think calmer means immune, because a short gulf chop upsets more stomachs than a long Pacific swell does. And anyone booking a specific month expecting a specific fish without asking us first whether that fish is even there.
Tell us your dates before anything else, because the month decides most of what is possible. Tell us what you have caught before and what you have never caught. Tell us who is coming and how long they can realistically stay out. A 50% deposit is normally required to hold a date. Cancellation, refund and rescheduling terms are still being confirmed. Licences are on you and we will point you at the right place to buy them.
Peak months in lagoon. Billfish are released; most of the rest goes in the box.
The short version of how a trip with Indigo Adventures works. Licences, deposits, boats and what happens to your catch. The full FAQ has the rest.
Read the full FAQ→Indigo Adventures is based in El Pescadero, on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, a few minutes south of Todos Santos. Boats launch from three points: Punta Lobos beach in Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo, and the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Which boat runs your trip decides where you meet us.
Custom fishing and spearfishing charters, freediving excursions, whale watching from mid December to April, and kayaking. Every trip is built around your group, your dates and the conditions rather than a fixed timetable, and almost every one goes out private.
Book online on the Book Now page, where availability is live and a 50 percent deposit holds the date. If you would rather we picked the trip, send an enquiry with who is coming, when you are here and what you want out of the day, and we will say which trip fits and which one does not.
No. Everyone fishing in Mexican waters needs a Mexican sportfishing licence, and each angler buys their own. We help you arrange it before the day so nobody is sorting paperwork on the dock. The same licence covers rod and spear.
Rarely. Almost every trip goes out as a private boat for you and your group. If a split makes sense for a small party we will say so when you enquire.
Three on the 24 foot Punta Lobos panga, up to four on La Ruca and La Morita, and up to six on Don Pancho and El Wahoo King. Whale watching numbers run a little higher because nobody is swinging a rod.
Yes. The catch goes home with you. Filleting at the dock, vacuum sealing and freezing are available, and most guests fly home with a cooler. Marlin are mostly released, with judgement on the day.
Yes, on fishing days. The crew rigs and handles the gear and hands you the rod when something eats. Guided spearfishing needs breath-hold experience and runs on a strict buddy system, which is the only legal way to spearfish in Mexico. Water, ice and snacks are normally aboard.
