From May through November Tamarindo is located at the southern end of the shallow, plankton rich Papagayo Gulf on the northwest Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The Gulf is a breeding ground for tuna, therefore blue, black and striped marlin are ever present as their main diet is tuna. Tamarindo's close proximity to the continental shelf makes for a very short run time to the fishing grounds. Fishing for a variety of bottom fish such as snapper, roosterfish, grouper and amberjack starts at 10 minutes. It's a 20 minute run time to offshore fishing for dolphinfish, tuna, sailfish, and marlin.
Fishing is excellent throughout the year.
From December through April the waters out of Tamarindo can get rough due to the northerly winds.