Fishing Hot Spots

Lake guides for this map

Month-by-month patterns, fish, ramps and rules for each water:

All fishing guides →

Fishing Hot Spots by coast

Points, bays and cays with good fishing water. Tap one to fly to it on the map.

Marlin off Cap Cana, Samaná and the north coast

The Dominican Republic has deep blue water close to shore on almost every side. Boats out of Cap Cana and Casa de Campo run to the Mona Passage for blue and white marlin, sailfish, wahoo, yellowfin tuna and mahi-mahi, with the spring and summer marlin season the big draw. On the north coast, the drop-off runs close to Puerto Plata, Sosúa and Cabo Francés Viejo, so trolling for wahoo and mahi starts just past the reef. Samaná Bay is calm, rich water with snook, tarpon and jacks along the mangroves and points, and Las Terrenas and Cayos Las Ballenas face open Atlantic. On the south coast, Boca Chica, Bahía de Ocoa and Barahona have reef fishing for snappers and groupers and deep water within a short run.

National parks cover a lot of the coast: Cotubanamá (Saona and Catalinita), Isla Catalina, Jaragua (Beata, Alto Velo and Los Frailes), Montecristi and the Siete Hermanos cays, Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó (the Ocoa cays) and the La Caleta underwater park. Fishing there is prohibited or tightly limited, so they show in red on the map and BigJoe does not put fishing spots in them. Always check with the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente or CODOPESCA before fishing near a park.