I am excited to share my first trip to Costa Rica with you, there are so many reasons to visit Costa Rica, it is hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with getting to know a bit about Costa Rica, we have all heard of it, maybe visited, but how much do we really know? Costa Rica is the most biodiverse country in the world, with a whopping 500,000 species of wildlife, many of these species are classified as rare or endangered. Costa Rican culture embraces the environment and has saved 25% of its land and classified it as conservation. Costa Rica has 12 ecological zones and over 100 national parks, reserves, refuges of protected lands.
Costa Rica is also part of the Pacific Ring Fire Circle and has over 200 volcanic formations traced back over 65 million years. Of these formations, there are around 100 of them that actually show any signs of activity and only five are classified as active. Costa Rica has been named one of the top “Happiest Places to Live” and boasts an average life expectancy of over 80 years. I do think the laidback and relaxing lifestyle that Costa Rica has is a great recipe for a long happy life. As far as weather goes there is no real bad time to visit Costa Rica, the most popular times are December through April as tourist are ready to escape the cold winters. I went to Costa Rica in August, during that time of year you get the afternoon rains, and everything is in full bloom and lush.
For my first journey to Costa Rica was decided to visit the Southern portion of the region and I set my sights on the coastal town of Puerto Jimenez. Puerto Jimenez is a small town of about 3,200 residents and it is located on the eastern side of the Osa Peninsula. Puerto Jimenez is bordered on one side by the world-famous Corcovade National Park and the other side by the Golfo Dulce (Sweet Gulf). The Golfo Dulce is a very unique place and during certain times of the year it is home to Humpback whales that come to breed, give birth and nurse their young. The Osa Peninsula is teaming with all types of wildlife from tropical Birds, Sloths, Monkeys, Jaguars and Crocodiles, just to name a few. Keeping in step with the local wildlife I decided to stay at the famous Crocodile Bay Resort, I believe they are the oldest resort in the area they broke ground in June of 1999. Back in the day this was “the place to stay and fish” and that reputation still holds true, “it’s heaven on earth”. Recently, they have undergone a major upgrade, and built Botanika Osa Peninsula by Hilton, a tranquil, upscale retreat in the middle of the coastal rainforest. Over the years Crocodile Bay has entertained Oscar-winning actors, Rock n Roll Stars, Country Singers, World Series and Superbowl winner and now me, Misty Wells.
We arrived in a small commuter plane from San Jose, landing just 2 minutes from the Resort and greeted by a large Crocodile Bay welcome committee. I was blown away by the Resort, I could not believe that this style masterpiece was in the middle of the Rainforest. I am no stranger to roughing-it, “filming the Python hunt in Season 1, I had to sleep in my truck in the Everglades”, but I have to be honest “I could get used to this place”. The Resort was just jaw-dropping, the lagoon-style swimming pool area, the exterior lounge areas throughout the resort, and the 5-star accommodations were a far cry from ‘the old days’. Now, of course another reason people travel from all over the world to Crocodile Bay is the “World-Class fishing” and I was no exception, I was there to catch my first Roosterfish. The rest of my crew flew in a bit later in day and I told them it’s time to rest up, we are heading out early for some Inshore fishing and filming.
Fishing Day 1, we met down at the dock at 7 a.m. and boarded the vessel “Crocodile Rock” and headed out. We were all excited as we headed out the Peninsula, the Captain told us there had been Humpback whale sightings the day before and I was hoping we would see them as well. Of course, off to the right as we headed out, we spotted 3 huge Humpback whales all hanging out together and communicating with fin slaps on the water. Michael launched the drone and was able to get what I call NatGeo footage, it is just epic I can’t wait for you to see it in the episodes. Well it was time to get fishing, we headed up the coast for about 25 minutes and the Captain said “it’s time to wet a line”. Our fishing crew was made up of myself, my good friend Stephen, Stephen’s dad John (Pappy), and Robert. First on the rod was Pappy, he come out of the gate swinging, Pappy landed a huge Cubera Snapper. Pappy was so happy; he had never caught a Snapper that big it brought tears to his eyes. That Snapper was a great start to such a perfect fishing day, I caught my first Roosterfish, and it was the biggest Roosterfish of the day. Stephen and Robert both caught nice size Roosterfish, and we all caught various Jacks and landed a huge Red Snapper. The action was non-stop on that inshore trip, we could have filled two fish boxes, and we did take that nice Red Snapper back for a hook-n-cook.
Fishing Day 2, today we were changing up the game and going offshore fishing looking to target Sailfish, Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna. We headed down to the dock, a little sore from the day before but really excited. Pappy and Stephen had never landed a Sailfish, so we all decided if we get hooked up, they are first on the rods. As luck would have it, the first rod went off about 30 minutes into trolling, it was a nice size Sailfish. Pappy jumped into action and got to work on that fish, she really put on a nice show and made quite a few jumps. Pappy was able to get her to the boat, we got the leader-touch and released the fish. Almost right away Stephen’s rod went off and he started working on Sailfish #2, the Captain and Mate did an excellent job of coaching him through the process and here comes another leader-touch and release. We got rigged back up and started to troll again when a call came over the radio, a pod of Dolphins was spotted about a ½ mile away from where we were trolling. Fishing in Costa Rica Dolphins are good news, Captain told us the Yellowfin Tuna travel with Dolphins to school up bait fish and we needed to head over there right away. We reeled everything in quick and headed North looking for the school of Dolphins. We didn’t have to look too hard, Captain pulled up right next to the Pod and kept pace as we started casting into the huge school of Dolphins and Yellowfin Tuna. It was a sight to see, Dolphins and Tuna jumping out of the water working together to school up their catch. You have to think about it for a moment, mammals and fish working together in nature to accomplish a common goal. Almost immediately two rods went off and Robert and I got to work trying to land these big Tuna. These Tuna we had hooked were about 40 to 50 lbs.each and if you have ever hooked a Tuna they know how to fight. Roberts and my Tuna were a nice size so we decided those looked like dinner to us and threw them in the box. Next up was Pappy, true to form he landed a nice Yellowfin weighing about 45 lbs., we already had two in the box, so we decided to release that “big boy”. Stephen was the last up on the rod and as it turned out he landed the biggest Tuna of the day; I would say about 75 lbs. a beast. One of the many things I love about Costa Rica and its people, they are huge conservationist, other than the two Tuna’s in the box they suggested we release the rest, “how much can 4 people eat”? We could have caught Tuna for days, but if you have ever fished them you know how hard they fight and we were ready to head back to rest and have some cold drinks at the pool.
I can honestly say the two days of fishing in Costa Rica was some of the best fishing I have ever done. I love that you have a choice of inshore or offshore daily and you can be in fishing position within a half an hour. The boats that Crocodile Bay has are pristine, new tackle and the crew is some of the best in the World, they make sure your trip is perfect. I know it does not always work like this, but if I could have scripted how I wanted the episodes we were filming to go, it would have been just like it happened. “Let’s Take it Outside” my tv series is easy to find check it out on Discovery Channel, Discovery GO & Plus, Wild TV, Waypoint TV, Carbon TV and many more. Tune in so you can see firsthand how beautiful Crocodile Bay Resort is and how epic the fishing is in Costa Rica. “When you are ready to stay, play and fish at Crocodile Bay tell them Misty sent you”. Tight Lines, Misty
Misty Wells Producer & Host of “Let’s Take It Outside” TV show airing to 220 million on Discovery & Discovery GO & Plus, ABC, The Spot, Wild TV, Water TV, Waypoint TV, MOTV, Discover Florida Network & Carbon TV. Bass Pro-Outdoor Pro & Outdoor & Travel Writer. Founder of “A Reel Future” non-profit devoted to teaching the passion of fishing & conservation to foster children, over 4,000 children & counting. www.mistywells.com
“Let’s Take It Outside” with Misty Wells
