Every person fishing is supposed to buy a Costa Rican Fishing License, which is typically not included in the price of your charter. You can do this right as you are entering the pier to get on the boat. The guards will often not let you walk through the gate without either purchasing a license or showing them a valid license. Sometimes if you look like a gringo tourist with flip flops and socks who is only going to take photos of the boats in the water, they will let you pass without paying for a license.

However, you can think of buying this license as picking up a few pieces of trash on the beach at the end of a day of surfing perfect waves. Also, with certain types of fishing licenses that some of the boats have you will be required to buy a fishing license anyways for them to be able to file the proper paperwork.

This minimal fee helps fund the bodies that govern the waters of Costa Rica and help prevent problems that arise in the Sportfishing industry, like Commercial Long liners killing everything they catch... including Sailfish and Marlin.

This license, similar to a fishing license in the US, lasts for one year and can be used as many times as you would like in that year.

So in other words... pay your dues, fish as much as you like and feel good in your heart!