March is the last strong month of the winter striped marlin run, with cool water, warming afternoons and good yellowtail still around. It is also spring break, which changes the character of the town for a few weeks. The fishing is worth the trip. The crowds are a matter of taste.
March is a transition month that does not look like one at first. The water stays cool through most of it, roughly upper sixties to low seventies, and only starts to nudge up toward the end. The air warms noticeably. Afternoons in the low eighties are normal, and somewhere in the second half of the month the early mornings stop being cold.
Wind is the same story as February. March can blow hard on the Pacific side. The trade off is that the calm days in March are as good as any day of the year, with flat water and long visibility.
Water clarity is usually excellent right now. Cool water is clean water, and on the settled days you can see a long way down. That matters for sight fishing, and it matters more if anyone in the group wants to get in the water with a speargun.
Striped marlin are still the main event, and in most years this is the last really strong month of the winter run. The banks fish well. Yellowtail hold through March, and some of the better ones we see come in this window. Sierra are still inshore and still the best fish to eat.
Bait shapes the day more than the calendar does. When mackerel and sardina are around, the marlin fishing is live bait fishing and it is the best kind of day we have. When bait is short we troll lures to raise fish instead. Ask what the bait looks like in the days before your trip, because it changes what the day will be.
Toward the end of the month you start to see hints of the other season. A stray dorado. The occasional early roosterfish inshore as the water begins to lift. Do not plan a trip around either one yet. In March they are a bonus, not a target.
Blue marlin, black marlin and sailfish are still absent. Wahoo are not a March fish. Yellowfin tuna turn up now and then, but the good tuna fishing is months away.
Offshore for striped marlin is the obvious answer and it is the right one for most people. If the group has mixed interests, the inshore day is near its most productive right now, and it is a much shorter run when the wind is up.
If this would be your first billfish, March is a sensible month to go looking for one. The fish are here in numbers, the days are long enough, and the air on deck is warm even though the water is not.
Whales are still around through March and into April. Numbers drop off as the month goes and the calves get bigger, but sightings are still routine.
March is a good spearfishing month. The water is cool but improving, visibility is often excellent, and yellowtail are still in range.
March is the busiest month in Cabo outside the winter holidays. Spring break fills the hotel zone, the marina and the bars, and the town takes on a different character for a few weeks. Music runs late. The beach clubs are full. If that is what you came for, you will have a good time. If it is not, stay away from the strip and start your fishing day early.
Charter availability tightens badly. Boats book out well in advance for March dates. If your travel is already locked in, book the boat to confirm ahead rather than waiting to see how the forecast shapes up.
Strong fishing, warm air, and the most crowded and most expensive shoulder month on the calendar. That is the trade.
Book March if you want the striped marlin bite with better air temperatures than January and February, and a loud town does not bother you. Skip it if you want quiet, if you are bringing young kids into the middle of spring break, or if you are hunting warm water species. Late April and May give you better value, a calmer town and comparable fishing.
Every species with this month inside its peak window. Tap one for the full page.
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.
