During the monthlong height of the Land’s End city’s tournament season, three of the four fishing tournaments boast prize pools in excess of one million dollars. The fourth tournament, by the way, may cross that threshold as soon as this year. This combination of world-class fishing and enormous cash payouts across multiple tournaments simply doesn’t exist anywhere else on the planet. 

The granddaddy of them all, of course, is Bisbee’s Black & Blue. Alternately dubbed “The World’s Richest Fishing Tournament” and “The Super Bowl of Fishing,” the best known of Bisbee’s trio of annual tournaments in Los Cabos  continues to push the limits of what’s possible in the world of competitive fishing. Last year’s tournament didn’t just top one million dollars, but came close to topping $10 million. The final tally of $9,725,00 is easily the largest prize pool in sportfishing history, breaking the record Bisbee’s itself already held.

Video credit: Bisbee’s Offshore Fishing Tournaments

For all the allure of massive payouts and oversized checks held gleefully overhead by a team of fishermen (and fisherwomen) – Kim Bullman was the top angler in the 2021 Pelagic Triple Crown of Fishing, Cabo San Lucas’ top summer tournament – the focus remains on the fishing. Cabo San Lucas’ development as a tourist destination was driven by its world-class fishing conditions. Not only the black and blue marlin which inspired Bisbee’s signature tournament, but other billfish such as sailfish, spearfish  and striped marlin. Game fish like tuna and dorado, too, are sought after in many tournament settings. 

Yes, Bisbee’s Black and Blue is the world’s biggest marlin tournament, but Cabo San Lucas is also home to the world’s biggest tuna fishing tournament: the WON Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot. Each tournament has a long history in the area, with plenty of highlights. The biggest fish ever caught in Bisbee’s Black and Blue was the 993 pound blue marlin reeled in by Team Picante during the 1994 tournament. The WON Tuna Jackpot record, meanwhile, is a 383 pound yellowfin tuna caught by Team Fisher Man in 2009. The latter fell just 44 pounds short of the yellowfin record, which no surprise, was set in Cabo San Lucas.

Could those records fall this year? How hot and heavy will the fishing be? Bisbee’s Black and Blue, in particular, has seen a dearth of qualifying 300 pound marlin in recent years. Will Bisbee’s Black and Blue crack the $10,000,000 mark? Will the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament finally surpass the $1,000,000 mark?

Here’s everything you need to know about the next month of the Cabo San Lucas fishing tournament season, with an overview of the four major upcoming tournaments.

Los Cabos Billfish Tournament – October 16th to 20th

Just as September is El Mes de la Patria, the “the country’s month,” in México, October is the month of the fishing tournament in Cabo San Lucas. Bisbee’s two cash-rich tournaments – the Los Cabos Offshore and Black & Blue – get most of the publicity, but the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament also sends out a siren call to big-game fishermen eager for big-money prizes and jackpots. Team Sneak Attack led by owner Shawn Guttersen and captain Vicente Bojorquez captured first place and the largest marlin jackpot in the 2021 LCBT, as well as an invitation to Quepos for the Costa Offshore World Championship to go along with the cool $498,140, in prize money, after bagging a 554 lb. black marlin. The latter wasn’t quite as big as the 593 lb. black marlin that won Team El Suertudo top honors in 2020, but considering it only took a single day (due to weather conditions) for Sneak Attack to top last year’s winning check of 344,700, no one was complaining! Base entry in 2022 is $5,000 per team, or 25,000 all-in, across-the-board for all jackpots and prizes. Will this be the year the LCBT finally crosses the million dollar threshold? Could be. Total payouts last year were $826,450.

Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore – October 20th to 23rd

Commonly known as “Little Bisbee’s,” to differentiate it from the “Big Bisbee’s” Black & Blue marlin fishing tournament that also takes place each October in Los Cabos, the Los Cabos Offshore dates back to 2002, and is considered a more laid-back, charity focused endeavor than the Black & Blue … despite the increasingly lucrative prize money on the line. In 2021, for example, 187 teams competed for $1,965,200, smashing the previous marks of 128 teams and $1,457,000 in payouts. Cash prizes are awarded to the teams with the three biggest qualifying fish in the game and billfish categories at the LCO, and large amounts of fish/meals are always donated to local families in need. Base entry for teams is $1,500 U.S., with $22,500 necessary for “across the board” entry in all jackpots and challenges. 

Bisbee’s Black & Blue – October 25th to 29th

Often billed as “The World’s Richest Fishing Tournament,” thanks to its multi-million dollar payouts, this marlin fishing tournament originally premiered in 1982, and remains to this day the highest profile annual event in Los Cabos. If you wonder why, consider the last two editions. The 2020 tournament boasted 127 teams vying for $4.6 million dollars, while a year later, in 2021, 198 teams competed for $9,725,000. If you’re bad at math, all you need to know is the prize pool more than doubled in a single year, and that more than $10 million could be on the line this year. Base entry for this millionaire maker is $5,000 U.S. per team, and requires a $71,500 U.S. outlay across all categories, jackpots and challenges. Prizes are awarded for the top five catches of black and blue marlin, assuming they meet the minimum standards (300 lbs.). 

WON Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot – November 2nd to 5th

The Western Outdoor News has a long history with Los Cabos, dating back to the 1950s, when Baja columnist Ray Cannon’s rave fishing reviews helped put the area on the destination travel map. The WON Tuna Jackpot is thus one of the most iconic fishing tournaments in Cabo San Lucas, and a fixture of the autumn sporting calendar that follows hard on the heels of the Los Cabos Billfish and Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore and Black & Blue Tournaments. 164 teams made it to Cabo San Lucas for the 23rd annual event in 2021, competing for record cash payouts of $1.47 million dollars, making this officially now the biggest tuna fishing tournament in the world. 

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Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post Fish Rich! – Previewing the 2022 Bisbee’s Black and Blue and Other High-Profile Los Cabos Fishing Tournaments appeared first on CaboViVO.

Why? Let’s start with the story.

The Story of Cabo Pulmo

In the early 1970s, when Mexican tourism trust FONATUR was first beginning to develop two small towns on the southernmost rim of the Baja California peninsula, Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, into vacation destinations of international stature, Cabo Pulmo was still largely unknown.

Located in the still largely undeveloped East Cape region of Los Cabos, which stretches for more than 70 miles northeast along the coast from San José del Cabo to Los Barriles, Cabo Pulmo is, even today, little more than a village, with scarcely 100 residents. Originally founded by pearlers in the 18th century, its small population spent much of the time since engaged in commercial fishing, an occupation which sustained them until relatively recently.

In this the townspeople of Cabo Pulmo were in good company. The Gulf of California (or Sea of Cortez as it is more commonly known locally) had long been famed for its abundance, and indeed the tourism industry as it developed in places like San Felipe, Loreto, La Paz and Cabo San Lucas was largely driven–at least initially–by the allure of big-game sport fishing…which replaced or was practiced in conjunction with the existing commercial fishing industries.

Even abundance has limits, however, and Cabo Pulmo soon found itself, like many regional communities, facing the consequences of overfishing. In the early 1980s, researchers from the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur studied Cabo Pulmo’s offshore coral reef–the only one in the Sea of Cortez, and at 20,000 years of age, one of the oldest in North America–and discovered a troubling degradation in this unique ecosystem caused by overfishing and pollution.

What followed was one of the great ecological success stories of our time. After ten years of intense activism by the local community, Cabo Pulmo became a protected sanctuary when it was declared a national marine park in 1995 (it was later reclassified as a national park in 2000), and has since been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2005) and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance (2008).

In the 25 years since it became a national park, Cabo Pulmo hasn’t just rebounded. It has been resurgent. Over that time period, the park has enjoyed an unprecedented 465% increase in growth. Cabo Pulmo now claims the greatest abundance and population density of any area in the Sea of Cortez, protecting over 800 varieties of fish and 2000 species of marine invertebrates.

And, of course, at the heart of it all is the living coral reef, a thriving testament to marine biodiversity, and the reason diving in Cabo Pulmo is such an incredible experience. Coral reefs, after all, have the highest diversity of any ecosystem on the planet (outpacing even rain forests), and are literally teeming with life.

Cabo Pulmo – Diving Beneath the Surface

Unlike many of the famed dive sites in Cabo San Lucas Bay, which can easily be explored in the course of one or two tank dives…diving in Cabo Pulmo presents a daunting array of possibilities given that the park encompasses some 7,111 hectares (about 27.5 square miles), with eight fingers of hard coral reef. Thus, finding experienced guides like Adventures in Baja is highly recommended.

Adventures in Baja is certified for national parks like this one, and over the past six years the company’s owner and chief guide, Karen Bradfield, has become expert in leading private and small group tours at sites throughout Cabo Pulmo.

This familiarity with the park and its undersea attractions allows Adventures in Baja to work closely with divers to sketch out a dive plan based on factors like skill level, how much time they have to explore Cabo Pulmo, and the varieties of marine life they particularly want to see.  Are you like Karen and love sharks? Want to see dolphins? Sea turtles? Tropical fish?

For those already salivating at the chance to visit this undersea fantasia, here’s a sneak peek at some of the things divers can expect to see at the park’s premier dive sites:

El Vencedor (“The Winner”)

Depth: 45 feet/14 meters

A perennial Cabo Pulmo scuba diving highlight, this site is named after a small cargo ship that sank here 35 years ago. Ruins remain scattered on the seabed and form a wonderful underwater haven for marine life. This site is famed for bull sharks and schooling snappers, but divers may also encounter dogtooth snapper, groupers, golden groupers, giant moray eels, amber jacks, and skipjacks, with many garden eels visible along the seafloor.

The Tornado of Big Eye Jacks

Big eye jacks congregate here en masse to reproduce, forming a massive tornado-like column in the water that is truly awe-inspiring to witness. The sheer numbers are a testament to the conservation efforts in the park, and have inspired more than a few wildlife photographers. Divers may also see dolphins following in search of a snack, or giant diamond rays lurking in the sand.

El Bajo (“The Low”)

Depth: 30 to 60 feet/9 to 18 meters)

A reef bar that extends across the park with 12 of the 14 coral species in the world, this is a fantastic environment for spotting all manner of marine life, from colorful tropical fish and schools of groupers to large sea turtles and mobula rays.

El Cantil (“The Cliff”)

Depth: 45 feet/15 meters

These north and south reef canyons are home to a rich diversity of marine life, the reef has deep canyons that act as great sheltering spots for the tropical fishes. White and black tip reef sharks are often seen here. Nurse sharks are also spotted here.

Meros (“Groupers”)

Depth: 30 to 60 feet/9 to 18 meters

This reef bar is situated at the most northerly point of the park and is distinguished by meandering coral and rock formations. Due to its position, transiting whale sharks and mobula rays are oft sighted here, as are sea turtles and tropical fish. During winter months, divers are treated to an undersea symphony: the songs of humpback whales.

El Cien and Esperanza (“The Hundred” and “Hope”)

Depth: 100 feet/30 meters

These deeper reef bars are for advanced certified divers only, but those with the requisite experience will be treated to a wealth of pelagic fish here, highlighted by numerous types of sharks (bull, sand, tiger and nurse, to name but a few). Schooling tuna and bigeye trevally often cruise overhead, and sightings of mobula rays and colorful tropical fish are likewise common.

Los Islotes (“The Islets”)

Depth: 60 feet/18 meters

This seamount is at the south of the park and rich with coral and an array of waving sea fans. The site drops dramatically to a sandy seabed where large boulders create hiding places for tropical fish and moray eels.

These sites offer amazing diving experiences on a year-round basis, but it should be pointed out that peak conditions for “diving in Cabo Pulmo” are between the months of July and January, when water temperatures are at their warmest and visibility is at its highest.

Which is to say…right now!

About Adventures in Baja

Born in Portsmouth, England, Karen Bradfield had a childhood fear of sharks. She faced that fear as an adult during a night dive on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and has never looked back, becoming a PADI Divemaster and traveling the world in search of adventures and worthy causes…from rescuing monkeys in Bolivia to sailing an expedition yacht to Antarctica…from working with “The Floating Doctors” charity of the Caribbean to training wild horses in Argentina.

Overwhelmed by the biodiversity of Baja California Sur during a dive trip, she founded Adventures in Baja in 2014, and in the six years since, has become a leader in the movement towards personalized, small group tours with a focus not only on once-in-a-lifetime adventures, but also ecology and sustainability. Adventures in Baja has been honored with a Travelers Choice Award from Trip Advisor for 2020, and is a member of Zero Waste Los Cabos, working actively with several prominent groups to help protect the wildlife and environment–land and sea–of this incredible area.

Whether it’s snorkeling or diving in Cabo   or Cabo San Lucas, swimming with whale sharks in La Paz, or whale watching in Los Cabos, Loreto or Magdalena Bay, Adventures is Baja is the company of choice for those who not only want to see and intimately experience some of the most beautiful places on Earth, but help to keep them that way.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post Great Adventures in Baja – Diving in Cabo Pulmo National Park appeared first on CaboViVO.

Los Cabos tourism, too, was built on fishing. Before the Transpeninsular Highway was completed in 1973, travelers came to the peninsula’s southernmost region by boat or plane, and the reason they came was to fish. From the 1950s onward, pioneer resorts catered to tourists drawn by the region’s burgeoning reputation for big-game sportfishing; in particular, trophy-sized blue and black marlin.

The region’s charms have multiplied exponentially during the past 50 years, from pampering spas to championship-level golf courses, but fishing remains king. The charter boasts lining the Cabo San Lucas Marina are a testament to this fact. So too are the big-money fishing tournaments that draw anglers from around the world.

One doesn’t necessarily have to earn an over-sized check – literally and figuratively – to establish their local bona fides, but annual tournaments like Bisbee’s Black & Blue have turned more than a few fishermen into legends…

The Black & Blue reigns as the longest-running tournament – the granddaddy of them all, the Sea of Cortez Fishing Tournament Internacional, was held only twice, in 1968 and 1969 – but nowadays there are plenty of opportunities to fish competitively for cash and prizes in Los Cabos.

Here are the top 5 fishing tournaments in Los Cabos in 2018:

Cabo Summer Slam/Pelagic Triple Crown of Fishing Tournament

Fishing in Los Cabos is a year-round proposition. There is no bad time to cast into the local waters, just variability in terms of what one might expect to catch. But what might be called the Los Cabos tournament season – the period when visiting anglers are not only seeking fish, but also cash money and valuable prizes – begin in early June and continues through early November. This five-month stretch sees a host of tournaments, large and small, and not coincidentally comes during the time of year when huge billfish like blue and black marlin are most abundant.

Much of the summer tournament action is centered around the Los Cabos municipality’s beautiful, less developed East Cape, but Cabo San Lucas is always a focal point when it comes to the biggest sponsors and most lucrative payouts. That’s certainly true of what qualifies as the first major tournament of the 2018 season, the Cabo Summer Slam, AKA the Pelagic Triple Crown of Fishing.

Pelagic, a Newport Beach based company, is one of the world’s leaders when it comes to lifestyle apparel and high-performance gear associated with watersports like fishing, boating, diving and surfing. So it’ll come as no surprise that the Cabo Summer Slam offers some high stakes prizes and jackpots. Over $200,000 is on the line for the 5th annual tournament in 2018 – slated for June 7 to 9 – meaning it’s the biggest Cabo San Lucas based tournament until Bisbee’s big money competitions in October.

For those who love fishing but also crave a complete lifestyle experience, the Stars & Stripes returns with its 22nd annual golf and fishing tournament from June 28 – July 1. Participants stay at the luxurious Hilton Los Cabos; go big-game sportfishing for dorado, wahoo, tuna, sailfish, swordfish, and black, blue and striped marlin; play golf at some of the world’s best golf courses; and enjoy spectacular live entertainment nightly. It’s all for a good cause, as well. Since 1997, the tournament has raised over $26 million dollars for youth-oriented charities.

 Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore

As summer temperatures heat up, the fishing tournament scene migrates to the Los Cabos municipality’s gorgeous East Cape. No less than two separate single-day tournaments – the East Cape Dorado Shootout and Gold Cup Wahoo Jackpot – give away new fully-loaded automobiles to winners, but the region’s summer headliner remains the Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore.

The ECO is the first of three Bisbee’s sponsored fishing tournaments that take place in Los Cabos each year. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three qualifiers in marlin, tuna and dorado categories during the 2018 edition – scheduled for July 31 to August 4 – with the awards celebration taking place afterwards at the Hotel Buena Vista. Base entry for the event is $1500 per team, with additional fees for daily jackpots. Prize money is based on entry fees received, with 60% going to the billfish winners, and 20% each to top tuna and dorado anglers.

 Los Cabos Billfish Tournament

Just as September is El Mes de la Patria, the “the country’s month,” in México, October is the month of the fishing tournament in Cabo San Lucas. Bisbee’s two cash-rich tournaments – the Los Cabos Offshore and Black & Blue – get most of the publicity, but the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament also sends out a siren call to big-game fishermen eager for big-money prizes and jackpots. The three tournaments combined last year to pay out over $4,735,000 to the winners. The 20th annual LCBT – slated for October 14 – 18, 2018 – again features three entry levels:  a $5,000 base entry for each 6-person team; daily jackpots for the largest tuna, wahoo and dorado; and daily billfish release jackpots.

 Bisbee’s Black & Blue

Oft billed as “The World’s Richest Fishing Tournament” and “The Super Bowl of Sportfishing” thanks to its million-dollar payouts, the Black & Blue marlin fishing tournament originally premiered in 1981, and remains to this day the highest profile annual event in Los Cabos. The $4.165 million payout in 2006 was and still is the largest in sportfishing history. Base entry for this millionaire maker is $5,000 U.S. per team, and requires a $71,500 U.S. outlay across all categories, jackpots and challenges. Prizes are awarded for the top five catches of black and blue marlin, assuming they meet the minimum standards (300 lbs.).

Commonly known as “Little Bisbee’s,” to differentiate it from the “Big Bisbee’s” Black & Blue marlin fishing tournament that also takes place each October in Los Cabos, the Los Cabos Offshore dates back to 2002, and is considered a more laid-back, charity focused endeavor than the Black & Blue. Cash prizes are awarded to the teams with the three biggest qualifying fish in the game and billfish categories at the LCO, and large amounts of money are always donated to local causes.

The 2018 LCO will take place October 18 – 21, with the Black & Blue to follow soon after: Oct. 23 – 27.

WON Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot 

The Western Outdoor News has a long history with Los Cabos, dating back to the 1950s, when Baja columnist Ray Cannon’s rave fishing reviews helped put the area on the destination travel map. Cannon’s 1966 book The Sea of Cortez remains a classic time capsule look at the region and its signature activity, and the WON writers who’ve followed him on the Baja beat have continued to burnish Los Cabos’ reputation as a sportfishing mecca. The WON Tuna Jackpot honors that heritage with one of the larger fishing tournaments in Cabo San Lucas, a fixture of the autumn sporting calendar that follows hard on the heels of the Los Cabos Billfish and Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore and Black & Blue tournaments. The 19th edition in 2017 saw 147 teams competing across 11 events for over $677,000 in prize money. Even bigger things are yet to come, with the 2018 tournament scheduled for November 7 – 10.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer and Michael Mattos

The post The Top 5 Fishing Tournaments in Los Cabos appeared first on CaboViVO.

No, this isn’t a cage dive in a carefully controlled environment, but an uncaged, unscripted experience in the deep blue waters of the world’s largest and most abundantly populated ocean. This adventure of a lifetime is offered courtesy of Cabo Shark Dive, the first dive company in Los Cabo to take thrill seekers offshore for Pacific Ocean encounters with makos, hammerheads, blues, sickle silks and other menacing looking shark species.

LIVE SHARKS and NO CAGES!!!

Organized by Jacopo Brunetti, AKA Jacob Scuba – the founder of Cabo Shark Dive and a respected marine biologist, underwater photographer and certified shark expert – all tours include tested and reliable safety measures, plus the required medical and communications equipment…just in case, you understand. In addition to the adrenaline rush of free diving with prehistoric eating machines, divers invariably encounter other large pelagic species as well, from marlin and manta rays to dolphins and sea lions.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos,

Chris Sands and Michael L. Mattos

The post Cabo Shark Dive – CaboViVO Style appeared first on CaboViVO.