Costa Rica "Work" Trip

In late April, Dad was offered an opportunity that was about impossible to say no to.  A four night trip Costa Rica to a sport fishing tournament.  So, Dad and two co-workers met up at the airport with representatives from a manufacturer and headed off to the Los Sueños Resort and Marina in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica on the Pacific coast.

 

First day in Costa Rica included a full 6 hour ATV tour of the jungle!  Including riding on mountain roads, back area trails and stopping at a number of scenic locations.

Colin, Dan, and Jon from McKenney's with our hosts Mike, Dan and Dalton

Lunch stop at a beautiful open air mountain top restaurant

While the ATV trip was amazing, what we were all really there for was a two-day sport fishing tournament called Buds and Suds.  The tournament was for catching sailfish, dorado (mahi-mahi), and tuna.  Our boat was the Satis Fly (the Fly boats are all purpose built fishing boats based at the resort's marina).

Both days started with an early boarding on the boat by 6:15am and then a shotgun start at 7:00am.  All lines had to be out of the water by 3:00pm (unless a fish was on the hook prior) and no boats could be back and docked later than 5:00pm or their day did not count.

The shotgun start was a ton of fun both days, our boat had two 1,000hp diesel engines and we were quickly one of the lead boats out of the harbor and on our way to the fishing areas.

As all but one of our hosts had never been before and had never caught a sailfish, that was what we focused on for the two days.  Over the two days Dad caught one dorado and three sail fish (sail fish in Costa Rica are catch and release by law).

One of the sail fish really put up a fight. Every time the leader was close to getting to the boat, the fish would get a wind and dive away.  After about 25min Dad was able to pull it in to get the points (to get points you cannot hand the rod off for help) with a tired arm and back that was about to give out!

The whole trip was a first class experience and one that will not be matched.  Costa Rica was a beautiful country with the friendliest people and a place we look forward to visiting again soon!

All those whose first sail fish was caught in the tournament