FISHING GUIDE · CABO ROJO, PUERTO RICO

Boquerón Bay and the Cabo Rojo West Coast Fishing Guide

Boquerón and the Cabo Rojo coast give you mangroves, lagoons and reefs close to shore, plus quick runs to blue water. Inshore anglers look for tarpon and snook, reef anglers fish for snappers and jacks, and offshore boats troll for mahi-mahi, wahoo and tuna.

📍 Cabo Rojo municipality: Boquerón village, Puerto Real, Joyuda, Combate, and the Los Morrillos lighthouse at the southwest tip of Puerto Rico.

📅 Puerto Rico Fishing Calendar — best months, closed seasons, bait & rigs →

Map: spots, ramps and marinas

★ Fishing hot spot · ● Boat ramp · ● Marina · ▭ Protected area (solid red = no fishing, dashed = fishing with rules)

Open the full Puerto Rico map →

Quick facts

Boquerón began as a fishing village and sits on the northeast side of Boquerón Bay, with a working fishing and recreational marina.
Los Morrillos lighthouse (finished 1882) stands on cliffs that drop more than 200 feet to the sea at the southwest tip of the island.
The Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish & Wildlife) includes the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats, the first Caribbean site in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.
DRNA nature reserves nearby include Punta Guaniquilla (1977), Joyuda Lagoon (2000) and Cayo Ratones (2005), managed with Boquerón State Forest.
Tourmaline Bank, a red hind spawning area off Cabo Rojo and Mayagüez, is closed to all fishing Dec 1 to Feb 28 in federal waters.

What you can catch

Tarpon (sábalo)
Found in lagoons and mangroves; catch and release only in Puerto Rico waters.
Snook (róbalo)
Mangrove edges and river mouths; keep only fish 22 to 38 inches.
Mutton snapper (sama)
Reef and sand edges; closed in spring (see rules).
Yellowtail snapper (colirrubia)
Common on reefs; 10.5 inch minimum size.
Jack crevalle and horse-eye jack
Hard-pulling fish on reefs and points, best in cooler months.
Barracuda
Common on reefs; big ones carry ciguatera risk.
Mahi-mahi (dorado)
Offshore trolling; limit 10 per person, 30 per boat per day.
Wahoo (peto)
Offshore trolling; limit 5 per person, 10 per boat per day.

Month by month

January	Jacks and dog snapper good; red hind closed; Tourmaline Bank closed.
February	Jacks, snook and sailfish chances; red hind and Tourmaline still closed; some groupers close Feb 1.
March	Snook and jacks good; grouper closure continues.
April	Mahi-mahi, wahoo and yellowfin pick up; mutton snapper season closes Apr 1.
May	Tarpon, permit and bonefish get better; mutton snapper still closed.
June	Tarpon and mahi-mahi good; mutton and lane snapper closed in federal waters through Jun 30.
July	Tarpon, wahoo, mahi-mahi and reef snappers good.
August	Tarpon and offshore fish good; watch for storms (hurricane season).
September	Wahoo, mahi-mahi and lane snapper good; peak storm season.
October	Jacks and kingfish improve; silk and blackfin snapper closed Oct 1 to Dec 31.
November	Kingfish and jacks good; deepwater snapper closure continues.
December	Jacks, snook and dog snapper good; red hind and Tourmaline Bank close Dec 1.

Tips

Fish early in the day; the trade winds usually build in the afternoon and chop up open water.
Tie up to mooring buoys where they exist; anchoring on coral can bring large DRNA fines.
Use circle hooks and handle tarpon in the water, since they must be released.
Do not eat large barracuda or amberjack; the CDC links big reef predators, especially barracuda, to ciguatera.
Check the federal closure dates before fishing Tourmaline Bank or for red hind in winter.

Rules and license

Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA) · Official rules page ↗

Recreational fishers must hold a fishing license issued by the DRNA Secretary (Reglamento de Pesca 7949).
Tarpon (sábalo) and bonefish (macabí) are catch and release only, all year, in Puerto Rico waters.
Snook (róbalo común): keep only fish 22 to 38 inches long.
Goliath grouper and Nassau grouper may not be kept in Puerto Rico or federal waters; nurse shark is protected in Puerto Rico waters.
Red hind (mero cabrilla) closed Dec 1 to Feb 28 in Puerto Rico and federal waters (federal closure applies west of 67°10' W).
Mutton snapper (sama) closed Apr 1 to May 31 in Puerto Rico waters and Apr 1 to Jun 30 in federal waters; lane snapper closed Apr 1 to Jun 30 in federal waters.
Yellowfin grouper closed Feb 1 to Apr 30 (Puerto Rico and federal); black, red, tiger and yellowedge grouper closed Feb 1 to Apr 30 in federal waters.
Silk and blackfin snapper closed Oct 1 to Dec 31.
Tourmaline Bank (federal waters): no fishing Dec 1 to Feb 28; pots, traps, bottom longlines, gillnets and trammel nets banned all year.
Queen conch (carrucho) closed Aug 1 to Oct 31 in Puerto Rico waters and banned in federal waters; limit 3 per person, 12 per boat.
Daily limits: dorado 10 per person / 30 per boat; king mackerel 5 / 10; wahoo 5 / 10; yellowfin tuna 3 per person (27 inch minimum).
Puerto Rico's coral reef law (Ley 147 of 1999) fines $500 to $10,000 for damaging coral, anchoring outside designated mooring buoys in designated areas, or fishing in marine reserves without permission.

Rules change. Always check the official page before you fish.

Boat ramps and marinas

The map above shows 3 boat ramps and 3 marinas from OpenStreetMap. Tap any dot for directions.

Club Nautico La Parguera
Club Náutico de Boquerón
Marina Pescaderia

Sources

Checked October 2026. BigJoe does not invent facts: every number on this page comes from the sources listed above.