Samara Local Fishing
Samara Local Fishing
4.9
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Samara Local Fishing is a professional fishing charter in Samara Beach, offering inshore and offshore fishing trips, as wells as surf casting and mangrove fishing trips. Captain Frank and his deckhand Fernando are ready when you are, offering you a true Costa Rican fishing adventure.
Playa Samara, Costa Rica
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Samara Local Fishing
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.9
64 reviews
Excellent
59
Very good
2
Average
2
Poor
1
Terrible
0
Rebecca T
7 contributions
Sep 2024 • Couples
We went with Captain Frank twice during our 10 day and had a great time! His boat is very well maintained, both Frank and his crew are knowledgeable & helpful in every way. He brought an ice chest full of cold drinks and great snacks. Frank put us on fish both days filling our ice chest with filets of Yellow Fin Tuna, Mai Mai, Grouper, and a huge Conger!!
Written September 3, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
John P
Marietta, GA2 contributions
Feb 2025 • Family
We had an absolutely fantastic half day outing with Fernando & John Carlos. We’ve been out many times in the area and this was our best experience - the best equipment and boat (you don’t know how much you appreciate a nice new 4 stroke until you’ve had lesser along with modern electronics). We caught plenty of yellow fin - enough for our family for the week and equal amounts for the crew. The crew even directed us to Casa Esmeralda where they happily and perfectly cooked some of our catch for us.
Written February 22, 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Fishbaer
Seattle, WA4 contributions
Jun 2024 • Solo
Captain Frank and Deckhand Fernando are knowledgeable and dedicated anglers and fun to fish with. I had a great time hoisting yellowfin tuna from the briny depths with them—so much that I booked a second day for more fishing adventures! The big one got away this last time—¡Què làstima!—but we will team up and make another go at it! Good equipment and great crew.
Written June 12, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Karen D
The Pas, Canada5 contributions
Aug 2024 • Couples
This was our 2nd time fishing with Captain Frank and his crew. We went out twice-one day offshore, had lots of fun battling the yellowfin tuna and the second day was inshore. Caught that giant rooster we were looking for and more besides.
Great fun atmosphere on the boat-lots of music-good lunch and lots of laughs!
Let us use all our own gear which was a bonus for us.
Highly recommend these guys-we’ll be back next year!
Great fun atmosphere on the boat-lots of music-good lunch and lots of laughs!
Let us use all our own gear which was a bonus for us.
Highly recommend these guys-we’ll be back next year!
Written August 15, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
James M
Lakeland, FL1,053 contributions
Mar 2021 • Couples
Captain Frank and Federico, we're fantastic.
They were very accommodating and had beer, water, drinks, and snacks!!
We went for the sunset fishing 3:30-6 pm, and it was a lot of fun and work 😆.
They cast in deep water, and it seems like days to reel in fish for a rookie like myself bit me, and the wife had a great time!!
The view of the sunset on the way back was magical. I would recommend it to couples!!
**TIP, make sure you park next to Ruffino's house so he can keep an eye on the car, a lot of drifters in the area, it seems.
They were very accommodating and had beer, water, drinks, and snacks!!
We went for the sunset fishing 3:30-6 pm, and it was a lot of fun and work 😆.
They cast in deep water, and it seems like days to reel in fish for a rookie like myself bit me, and the wife had a great time!!
The view of the sunset on the way back was magical. I would recommend it to couples!!
**TIP, make sure you park next to Ruffino's house so he can keep an eye on the car, a lot of drifters in the area, it seems.
Written March 19, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
grey haired wanderers
24 contributions
Jan 2020 • Couples
What a wonderful day on the water. Morning inshore fishing started a little slow, but Captain Frank aims to please. He found us some spots to jig and we caught grouper, congrio and some rock fish. Learned about ocean fishing in Costa Rica and what can be caught. Happened upon a couple of dolphins as well. Captain Frank has a great setup, good sized clean boat and he and his assistant were more than helpful. We would highly recommend this tour.
Written January 30, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chuck M
3 contributions
Dec 2023 • Family
The best charter fishing experience I have ever had! Captain Frank and his crew were very helpful and educational. They were genuinely happy when we caught our Wahoo, Red Snapper, Trigger Fish and Mackerel. I would recommend to any and all visitors to Samara. We will use again when we come back! Thank you guys for an AMAZING time!!!!!
Written December 27, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CrosCrek
East Nassau, NY117 contributions
Mar 2022
Anyone who has gone out with Frank will understand the title on this review. My husband and I have gone out Frank for many years. It is always so much fun. This year we saw a few very large pods of dolphins and sea turtles. My husband caught a nice sized tune and an 8 foot marlin. Federico was helpful and filleted the fish. We will be back in Samara again next year and will book an other trip.
Written April 14, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is great - thank you so much for sharing this. Until next time, Christiane (co-owner)
Written June 16, 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Greg Beddor
Portland, OR3 contributions
Apr 2014 • Friends
Left Samara around 7am and got back around 4 in the afternoon. It was an all day deep sea fishing excursion that I'll never forget. Tons of dolphins, food and cervezas were provided by Frank. You could tell we were with experienced fishermen who knew how to fish these waters and provide a good time. All in all we caught two giant sail fish, which we released. The mahi mahi we caught wasn't as fortunate.... we ate that one for dinner. Yum!
Written June 4, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
EmenemNL
Apeldoorn, The Netherlands204 contributions
Jan 2018 • Friends
We booked two days with Frank, one day inshore and one day mangrove fishing. Both days we caught fish, not in large amounts but enough to be satisfied. Frank is a funny and friendly guy, easy to deal with and his English is good. We catched yellowfin tuna and sierra mackerel which were cut in filets for us. They were delicious on the bbq.
We have some remarks though. One is that Frank tends to pay more attention to his collegues/deckhand than to his customers. There was not a great deal of communication with us, especially not about specific techniques to be used in Samara's waters. In our opinion this should be a pro-active activity (Frank is the local expert you hire) and not reactive. We love too learn and we didn't. And we agree with a previous review saying that Frank needs to improve on communication specifics. In our case we had to chase him the night before we went fishing to get details like what time are we going and are you going to pick us up. At the end of day one he was going to Whatsapp us the details for the next day, and we had to chase him again.
Another thing (also in other reviews) is that the available material is not in top shape, too limited in numbers and in the case we went fishing in the mangroves, not completely suited (too heavy) as we used we same rods and reels as on the boat. And finally the local captain Frank hired for the mangrove fishing (1) left his net in the small boat, so we had ample room to fish and (2) fished on his own using our bait, resulting in us being out of good bait at about half time. We said this to Frank, and he didn't like this as well. He told the local captain, but nothing happened effectively. It looked like Frank didn't have this completely under his control.
All this resulted in us not being as satisfied as could be. Pity...
We have some remarks though. One is that Frank tends to pay more attention to his collegues/deckhand than to his customers. There was not a great deal of communication with us, especially not about specific techniques to be used in Samara's waters. In our opinion this should be a pro-active activity (Frank is the local expert you hire) and not reactive. We love too learn and we didn't. And we agree with a previous review saying that Frank needs to improve on communication specifics. In our case we had to chase him the night before we went fishing to get details like what time are we going and are you going to pick us up. At the end of day one he was going to Whatsapp us the details for the next day, and we had to chase him again.
Another thing (also in other reviews) is that the available material is not in top shape, too limited in numbers and in the case we went fishing in the mangroves, not completely suited (too heavy) as we used we same rods and reels as on the boat. And finally the local captain Frank hired for the mangrove fishing (1) left his net in the small boat, so we had ample room to fish and (2) fished on his own using our bait, resulting in us being out of good bait at about half time. We said this to Frank, and he didn't like this as well. He told the local captain, but nothing happened effectively. It looked like Frank didn't have this completely under his control.
All this resulted in us not being as satisfied as could be. Pity...
Written January 21, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bonjour à quelle heure commence la pêche le matin
Written December 22, 2019
My family and I are going to Punta Islita flying in on Tuesday 12/26 and returning home on Sunday 12/31. Looking at booking a charter on either Thursday 12/28 or Friday 12/29....either just my wife and I....or....bringing her twin 13 year olds. Looking for a 1/2 day trip. What are your rates and availability?
Written December 17, 2017
What is the cost for four people? How long is the tour/fishing trip? What kinds of fish are we apt to catch? Does this boat also take you snorkeling?
Written April 3, 2017
I did 5 hours for $350, its for the entire boat. You can go out for tuna, snapper, rooster fish and sailfish. Email Frank for more details frank.fines88@gmail. com
Written April 4, 2017
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