Marlin fishing has been a bucket list item for us for a very long time. 2 of us went for the afternoon with Captain Santiago and our first mate Jerry.

They greeted us at the dock and had everything ready to roll. When booking the trip, we noted we wanted to target marlin. We left the marina at 12:30 and by 12:53, with multiple lines in the water, our crew sight fished a striped marlin and we had one on the line. We fought and reeled for an hour and finally brought him in before releasing. We spent the remainder of the afternoon trolling for mahi mahi, and also had multiple whale, stingray, and turtle sightings before taking sunset photos in front of the arches and feeding the sea lions on our way back in.

Jerry and Santiago were clear pros at what they do and had some amazing stories to tell. Can’t recommend Cabo & El Pargo enough.

Santiago and Freddy were amazing. We had a group of six and were very comfortable. We were put on fish almost immediately after we started. Their fishing gear was in great condition.

First we caught Bonita. We had a couple doubles.

Then we caught Mahi Mahi. We caught three at the same time. Freddy was amazing keeping lines from getting wrapped around each other.

Then Santiago took us farther out after marlin. At one point he pointed out a marlin “sitting” on the surface. We ended up catching three. At one point we had a double but lost one. The last marlin was the largest at 95” long.

There was a little confusion at the dock as we had planned to donate the big marlin to some locals but the owner took it for himself.

I would highly recommend the El Pargo with Santiago and Freddy. The two of them were constantly changing gear up if there was a lull in the action. They made the trip one of the most memorable days in Cabo.

If you are on the fence on whether to go on a Deep Sea Fishing experience: DO IT!! I did not want to go initially, but my husband said it was our Christmas vacation and we should spend it as a family. So, hesitantly, I went. It was my husband, our three boys, and myself for a total of 5.

Juan Alfredo was in constant contact via the Fishing Booker app. I was to let him know when I arrived in Cabo, in case of any issues, and where we would be staying.

He confirmed on December 22, 2023, that we were still interested and he and the crew were looking forward to our experience. On the morning of December 27, 2023, a vehicle picked us up at our lobby at Hacienda Encantanda at 5:30 a.m. We scheduled an 8-hour experience, although Juan Alfredo said we could stay out longer (no rush). It was a bit chilly so dress warm and in layers so that you are comfortable.

We were on the boat by 6:00 a.m. and headed out. Unfortunately, the little tienda was closed, which was ok for us, we had eaten breakfast. We stopped to get two huge ice blocks for the cooler and out we headed.

The sun began to come up and we went by the Land’s End Arch, very picturesque with the sun coming up. We trolled around until about 6:50 a.m. and all hell broke loose! Whales were breaching on the left side of us in the bay, so much activity. Then one, two, three, and four lines hit! Freddie, the 1st Mate, began getting everyone in their seats to reel in. My oldest son reeled in a tuna right at about 7:00 a.m., next my husband reeled in around 7:03 a.m. another tuna, then my second son reeled in a third tuna around 7:05 a.m. We lost the 4th line.

I could hear the radio going nuts with people announcing what they were seeing and where. We had heard someone got a marlin so we headed out, then a line hit, my youngest son jumped in the seat, and at 7:18 a.m. he brought in the first El Dorado. It was a decent size!

We trolled around looking for marlins. About 9:00 a.m. we saw a neighboring boat get an El Dorado. We trolled some more and around 9:25 a.m. one of the lines hit. I jumped in the seat but ended up losing it due to messing with my sunglasses. A second line hit and my second son jumped in the seat. This was a very unexpected surprise. He caught a 57” and approximately 50-pound El Dorado!! Freddie and Juan Alfredo seemed very pleased and said that was a nice fish; it couldn’t even fit in the cooler!

We ate lunch provided by the crew, Subway sandwiches, which were very good, and water, beer, and pop were also provided. There was a bathroom on board as well.

We kept trolling, but just couldn’t get anything else. Around 1:00 p.m. we decided to call it a day. While heading in, we asked if it was possible to have my son’s fish mounted, and the captain radioed it in.

When we got back to the dock, a gentleman from Atlantic Taxidermy met us at the dock. Took measurements of the fish and told us, that had this been a tournament, my son’s El Dorado (aka Mahi Mahi) could’ve possibly won with a purse of $100K.

All in all it was a fantastic day and we could not be happier with our experience! If we come back to Cabo, the fishing may be the only excursion we do and I would definitely reach out to Juan Alfredo and Freddie next time. This was certainly one for the memory books!

Captain Juan and Jerry were fantastic. They were obviously very experienced and knew where the fish were. The boat was clean, comfortable with lots of places to sit (both in the sun and in the shade) with a private bathroom. The boat was a bit loud, as it had a large turbo diesel engine. You quickly get used to it, but if you’re sensitive to noise you may want to bring some ear plugs. They provided a wonderful boxed lunch with chicken burritos, chips, nuts, granola bars & a stocked cooler of bottled water, pop & beer. We weren’t out long before we had our first fish on the line, a 3 ft wahoo.  We were able to land it (which is very rare) and got a great picture with it before it went in the cooler. Not long after we hooked a striped Marlin. It came straight out of the water when the hook was set and jumped multiple times during the fight. What an amazing sight to see it flying out of the water. It was big and put up a great fight. We were able to land it in about 20 minutes… what a thrill it was! It was the entire width of the boat, about 7 feet long and at least 150 lbs. The captain and skipper were patient as we posed for pictures with 3 of us holding it. What an amazing moment, fulfilling a fisherman’s lifelong dream! Jerry helped us get it back into the water quickly & had us release it since we did not want a trophy. They did offer us the opportunity to have it trophied, so if you are wanting one, they have connections to a taxidermist who will mount it for you. A while later we landed a Skipjack Tuna, and then 2 dorados at the same time. It was exhilarating getting to have 2 people fight a fish at once! We landed both of them and got some great photos. The colors were beautiful and they were about 3 feet long each. We continued to troll for fish for the rest of the day but the bites ended around noon for us. While we trolled, we got some great views of whales surfacing and breaching, saw a turtle, and watched others fight marlins. As we came back to the marina, we had multiple pelicans and sea lions come up to the boat. We pulled the boat up to the dock and handed our fish to the fillet guys, it cost $15 USD to have all of our fish filleted for us. They were very quick and handed us all of our fish sorted in different bags. Altogether it was a very wonderful experience. We couldn’t have had a better day! Some tips we learned, take anti-nausea pills before, wear long sleeve fishing shirts and a hat or lots of sunscreen, bring sunglasses, you can only pay in cash (US or MX), be sure to tip at least 15% of the trip cost, and bring your fish fillets to the Crazy Lobster restaurant in Cabo, they will prepare the fish any way you’d like for FREE and they have amazing sides and drinks at a great price. Book this boat!! You will have an amazing trip.

went out Wednesday on the El Pargo with Santiago and Frede .  Wow. did they make it amazing !  Stopped in the am asked if we needed anything at the marina store on the way out ,  Frede took some snaphots of my wife and I against the Arch . turned the the corner headed up the pacific side and BAM !
Dorado on line !  Did a great job working the waters hard and finished with limits of Dorado, Bonita ,  and 2 marlin !  Frede was so patient as my wife had never fishes like that before and landed a great dorado ! Thank you so much for the great day and memories!  Will definitely see them again !  Book with them you will absolutely not be disappointed!