If you are coming ashore off a cruise ship, the only thing that really matters is getting back aboard before it leaves. Everything on this page is about that. Cabo is a tender port with no cruise pier, which adds a step at each end of your day. Plan around the ship's clock, not around the fishing.
A cruise stop in Cabo is a fixed window with a hard edge at the end of it. Miss that edge and the ship sails. It will not wait for an independent excursion, and catching up with it at the next port is expensive, complicated and entirely your problem.
Everything else on this page follows from that. We would rather put you on a shorter trip you comfortably make than a longer one you might not.
There is no cruise ship pier in Cabo San Lucas. Ships anchor out in the bay and run tenders in to the marina. That sounds minor. It is not, and it is the single most underestimated factor in a Cabo shore day.
Tendering adds time at both ends, and the return is the one that bites. Late in the day everybody wants to go back at once. Tender queues build. If two or three ships are in port, they build a lot. The ride itself is short. The waiting is not, and it is unpredictable in a way that a taxi ride is not.
Build the return tender queue into your planning as a real block of time, not as a rounding error.
Your all aboard time is not the same as the ship's departure time. It is generally set some period before departure, and it is the time you must physically be back aboard. Find it, write it down, and treat it as the end of your day.
Then check the clock. Baja California Sur runs on Mountain time and Mexico no longer changes clocks for daylight saving, so the local time ashore may not match your ship's time. Ships frequently stay on a different time to the port. Getting this wrong by an hour is a classic way to miss a sailing, and it happens to people every season.
Confirm both numbers with the ship, in writing, before you book anything ashore.
Do not start from what time you want to fish. Start from the all aboard time and work back:
That number is usually smaller than people expect. It is better to know it in advance than to discover it while watching a queue.
Everything specific to our operation on cruise days is still being confirmed. That includes which trips we offer to cruise passengers, departure times, trip lengths, latest guaranteed return times, pricing, group sizes, what happens if the boat is delayed by weather, whether we monitor ship schedules, and what we do if a port closure or a mechanical problem affects your return.
Ask us for those specifics before you book. Ask any operator for them. If an operator will not commit to a return time in writing on a cruise day, that tells you what you need to know.
Excursions sold by the cruise line generally carry some form of protection if the excursion itself runs late, because the line is responsible for it. Independent bookings do not carry that automatically. That is not a reason to avoid booking independently. It is a reason to be deliberate about timing and to leave a bigger margin than you would anywhere else.
Our own policy on late returns is still being confirmed.
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.
