Sportfishing charter

Zihuatanejo has been a sailfish town for decades, and the charter boats tie up at the municipal pier, the same one the commercial pangas unload at each morning. Boats range from covered pangas, plain but well rigged, to full sportfishers with a cabin.

Most boats head about five miles offshore for billfish. Sailfish bite year-round, and blue and black marlin are around much of the year, best in February and March; tuna and dorado come up too. Many captains release the sailfish and marlin. Closer in, between the points along the coast, the targets are roosterfish, jacks, snook and grouper, and the sea can be choppier there than it is offshore.