Trip Planning & Journey

Trip Conception

Garry and Steve (the author of this blog) first started planning this trip back in April 2025. Our previous year's trip to Madagascar had been disappointing from a fishing perspective so we looked for a new opportunity. Garry looked at SportQuest (whom we had used in last year's trip) and came across Guatemala as a possibility. Note that Kev was also involed in the initial planning but had to back out due to other commitments in the November time frame that had been chosen.

Why Guatemala

Guatemala is in Central America sandwiched in between Mexico and El Salvador. It has coasts on the the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Guatemala is the self-proclaimed "Sailfish capital of the world!" where its Pacific Sailfish are much bigger than their Atlantic counterparts. Having only caught a single Sailfish in Madagascar last year, we were keen to try somewhere that boasted a chance of more of these. In addition, Guatemala realises the business potential of protecting its billfish stocks so operates a strict catch and release policy that is strongly enforced. This was a big part of our decision to choose Guatemala

The Journey

We started out with a train journey from York to London Kings Cross then the underground to Heathrow terminals 2&3. From there we got a taxi to a nearby hotel as we had an early flight the next morning. The next morning started with a 4:30am alarm and a hotel hoppa bus to Heathrow Terminal 5 before the first of many long airport lounge spells. Our flight, heading for Guatemala City via Miami was delayed in departing by nearly 2 hours. However a favourable trans-atlantic wind allowed us to land in Miami 40 minutes ahead of schedule. That meant an even longer lounge stay until our flight to Guatemala City. This leg passed without incident and we arrived at Guatemala City on schedule. We were met by a very nice driver from our fishing lodge to start the 2 hours and 30 minute drive to the fishing lodge. We arrived at the lodge almost exactly 24 hours after the alarm woke us at Heathrow.

The Accommodation

We would be staying and fishing with The Big Buoys fishing charters. We were greeted by the owner (Marty) who welcomed us and informed that we were the only residents until a party of 11 arrived on the day that we leave. 

As you can see from the following photos, the place is very nice and the rooms are huge. This is an all-inclusive stay (alcohol included) and we are looked after by a team of 3 very efficient and friendly ladies that do the cooking, cleaning, room servicing, laundry etc and by a driver that is always on hand. We have a pool and a fully stocked bar near the pool. The Big Buoys operate 2 boats, "Typhoon" and "Sur Reel". These are both 31 foot Bertram sportsfishing boats - one of the finest of this type of boat.