Private yacht charters in Costa Rica

Search for a yacht charter in Costa Rica and you mostly find brokers listing other people's boats. This is one boat, one crew, and a published rate.

The Vuelto Loco is a 45-foot Viking based at Marina Pez Vela in Quepos, and she is operated by the team behind Parador Nature Resort and Spa in Manuel Antonio. When you book her you are not booking a slot on a platform that will match you to whichever hull is free. You are booking this boat, with Captain Minor Hidalgo and his crew, and you can call the marina and ask about us before you pay anything.

Every charter is private to your group. The boat is never shared, never doubled up, and the day runs to your plan rather than a schedule set by however many seats got sold.

Guanacaste or the Central Pacific

Worth knowing before you book anything, because it decides most of your trip. Costa Rica's yacht charter business is concentrated in Guanacaste, in the northwest around Flamingo, Potrero and Papagayo. That is where the catamaran fleet is, where most of the sailing charters run, and where you will end up if you book off a listing site without checking the map.

We are on the Central Pacific, about four hours south of that. It is a different coast and it suits a different trip. The water drops off to serious depth much closer to shore here, which is why Quepos is the country's sportfishing capital and why a full day offshore does not begin with a two hour steam. The coastline is rainforest running down to the water rather than dry tropical scrub, and Manuel Antonio National Park is right there on it.

So the honest version: if you want to sail a catamaran around the Papagayo peninsula for a week, we are the wrong boat and Guanacaste is the right coast. If you want a powered yacht for a day, with the fish grounds close and a national park as scenery, this is the better half of the country for it.

Where a day takes you

• The Manuel Antonio coastline. Twenty minutes from the dock, the park's headland, beaches and islets. This is the run for snorkeling, sunsets and anyone who wants scenery over distance.
• Inshore, the rocks and reef. Roosterfish, snapper and jack, close enough that a half day is a real half day.
• Offshore, the blue water. Sailfish, marlin, mahi and yellowfin. Twin 800hp motors get you out there and back with the fishing hours intact.
• Isla Damas and the mangrove estuary, north of the marina, for a slower day.
• Isla Tortuga and Isla del Caño on a bespoke charter, both a longer run and both quoted separately. See bespoke charters.

What people charter her for

Fishing is most of the calendar, but it is not all of it, and the boat does not care which one you booked.

• Anniversaries, birthdays and proposals. A sunset charter with the coast going gold behind you is a hard thing to beat, and we have run enough proposals to know where to be standing and when to disappear.
• Families with a mixed group. Half the party wants marlin and the other half wants to swim. A coastal day handles both, and nobody waits at the hotel.
• Whale watching in season. Humpbacks pass Quepos twice a year. The southern migration runs roughly July to October and is the reliable one.
• Small corporate groups and incentive trips, usually paired with rooms at Parador, which we can quote together. See multi-day packages.
• Memorials and ash scatterings, which we take seriously and run quietly. Ask and we will talk it through properly.

Booking one

Tell us the date, roughly how many of you there are, and what you want the day to be. We reply within one business day with availability and a total, tax included, so there is nothing to work out afterwards. Peak billfish season, December through April, and tournament weeks at Marina Pez Vela go early, so ask sooner for those.