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A private fishing boat here costs from $359 per boat for four hours: the 26-foot panga Yemayá of Fishing Boats in Cancun, for up to six with the licence included. Kianah's SportFishing asks $780 per boat for four hours on a 35-foot Bertram for up to six guests with the 16% tax included; with the $15 per person in licence and dock fee, a full boat of six works out at $145 each.\g<2>
Checked against the operators' own sites on 19 September and 1 October 2026
- ≈2 hof actual fishing on a four-hour trip, by the operator's own count
- $15per person on the morning: licence $10 and dock fee $5
- 8 hthe length the operator advises for sailfish, marlin or mahi-mahi
The cheaper boat is Fishing Boats in Cancun's Yemayá, a 26-foot panga: $359 for four hours, $459 for six and $526 for eight, for up to six guests, with Penn rods, live bait, beer, water and sodas and the fishing licence in the price, and an $8 dock fee paid at the pier. Its page names Marina Puestas del Sol as the departure point but lists Cenzontle 14 on Kukulcán Boulevard as the departure and return address, so confirm which one when you book.
The boat leaves from Sunset Marina & Resort at km 5.8 of Kukulcán Boulevard in the Hotel Zone. Transport to the marina is not included; the operator can arrange it at a flat round-trip rate that depends on the distance. Kianah's SportFishing says it has run boats out of Cancún and Isla Mujeres since 2000 and works directly, without agencies.
Why is four hours only about two hours of fishing?#
Because the clock starts at the dock. The first miles off the coast are national park and dive sites, so the boat runs 45 minutes to an hour before the lines go in, and the same back. In the operator's own example, a four-hour trip that leaves at 7:00 is back by 11:00. Four hours are bottom fishing — grouper, snapper, amberjack, triggerfish and barracuda among them.
When are the sailfish?#
The operator describes two seasons. From late December through March, large numbers of sailfish gather north of Isla Mujeres. From April to July, trolling brings mahi-mahi, blackfin tuna and white and blue marlin as well. For any of these it strongly advises at least eight hours, which it calls its most popular trip.
What is on board?#
Every trip carries a 24-can case of beer, 24 mixed sodas and bottled water, high-end rods, reels and lures, fighting chairs and belts, and 14 life jackets. The crew cleans and fillets the catch, and the fish is yours. On eight and twelve hours there are cold-cut croissants, fruit and snacks, plus two T-shirts; on four and six hours, bring your own food.
- Bottom fishing
- fishing with a weighted line near the seabed, the only kind the four-hour trip does.
- Trolling
- dragging lures behind a moving boat in open water, from six hours up.
- Bertram
- the make of the Kianah, a 35-foot sportfishing boat.
- That the $780 is for the whole boat, one to six guests.
- $15 per person in cash for the licence and dock fee.
- The trip length for the fish you want: eight hours for sailfish.
- Transport to Sunset Marina, if you need it.
- A tip for the crew, which is not included.
Important
There is no catch guarantee. The operator writes that fish depend on weather, moon phase, wind and water temperature, and that it does its best but cannot promise them.
