We got up early (4:00am) and headed to the Coban airport to catch our charter plane down to Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala to catch a tour to do some deep sea fishing for tuna and sailfish. Allegedly, this is one of the best places in the world for sail fishing, so we had a lot of excitement and anticipation for the day we had ahead. After some amazing views of the volcanoes around Antigua (from the plane), we finally arrived at the coast and were quickly whisked away to the boat and headed off into the Pacific Ocean.
It took about an hour before we started getting any bites as we had to get out into the blue water. The boat was fully rigged out with 8 heavy fishing poles and a fantastic crew to take care of everything. It wasn't long before we started pulling in enormous sailfish. We had the chance to bring a few into the boat for pictures before we threw them back as it is banned in Guatemala to keep these types of fish. We did, however, keep (and eat) the mahi mahi that we caught as well as all the tuna that we began to catch later in the day. One of the tuna was enormous and it took us almost 3 hours to bring it in. Cody struggled his hardest to do it, but wore down quickly and all the adults in our group took their turns, but it was too much for us, so the guides ultimately ended up having to reel it in. It ended up being a pretty special event as it was the largest tuna any of them had ever caught. The weight was estimated at 125-150 pounds.
What an incredible day out on the Pacific with our favorite people.
Nash and Ryder, excited and full of anticipation as we head out for blue waters off the coast of Guatemala.
The kids, as we head out off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
Cody, working hard to bring in a tuna off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
Ryder, fishing off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
Cody bringing in a sailfish off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
Ryder, with the help of grandpa Scott bringing in a sailfish off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
Scott and Nash bringing in a sailfish off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
Scott with a sailfish on the line off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
Sailfish being brought in off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
We were catching these amazing sailfish all day long.
Fish jumping off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
Sailfish jumping after we hooked it off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal) Guatemala.
Cody, working hard to bring in the first sail fish of the day off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
Another video of Cody, bringing in a sail fish off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
Cody, with a sail fish caught off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
Eliza, working hard to bring in a sail fish off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
Eliza, with a sail fish caught off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
Nash, working hard to bring in his first sail fish off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
Ryder, Zander, and Nash with a big sail fish caught off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
Sawyer, Grandma Toni, and Grandpa Scott with a big sail fish caught off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
Ryder, bringing in a "dorado" (Mahi Mahi) off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala, which the crew grilled up for us for lunch on the ship.
Ryder, with the "dorado" (Mahi Mahi) that he caught for us for lunch.
Ryder with the mahi mahi he caught.
We found a spot where there were hundreds of spinner dolphins jumping and playing around...when we approached them, they loved swimming next to the ship and showing off for us.
Video of dolphins swimming next to the ship, just below the kids' feet as they ride the bow off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
We found a great spot where the tuna were biting like crazy...at one point we had 4 of them on the lines and all of us were fighting to bring them in.
Eliza, working on bringing in a tuna off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
Nash, with one of the 8 tuna we brought in for the day.
Ryder, with one of the 8 tuna we hauled in.
Cody, with the 125 pound tuna we hauled in...it took us 90 minutes to get it into the boat. Cody, Eliza, and the 2 mates on the ship took turns working the rod. In the end, the 2 experts had to handle the job.
The 125 pound tuna was as tall as Ryder, and a lot more aggressive.
Our Crew on the back of Captain Chris' ship...we had a fantastic day off the coast of Iztapa (Puerto Quetzal), Guatemala.
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