Costa Rica Blog

Why can't we get a one day tour of your Costa Rica Property?

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Here is an email I recently wrote to one of our clients that wanted a tour of a few hours with little notice.

I have been communicating with both of you for quite some time now, and recently about visiting in late July.  As I might have explained in the past, we are not a 40 acre development like most others and our property can not be seen and what we have to sell can not be appreciated in a few hour visit.  Our staff is busy, we operate a guest house for the sole purpose of providing tours of our property and keep a full staff dedicated just to show our properties and prepare our meals.  Our staff is busy, we are not realtors, we are developers, our staff runs our tours and after 21 years of experience, we know that a tour of two hours will do nothing except leave you wanting to see more, spend more time, visit some of the custom homes we are building, tour our workshops where we make all our own doors, windows, counters, custom cabinetry, wrought iron work, etc. that is you’ll just end up wanting to take a full tour before you can make any kind of decision. 

Keep in mind that we are the largest residential project in the country.  Our latest development encompasses over 2200 acres and our first 9 phases are sold out, with over a 1000 customers to date.  Our method of showing our property is not because we want to waste your time for 2 days, it is because it takes time to see what we offer to our clients, the largest development in the country, custom home building services, full property management services, rental management, a turn key system of home ownership where every home is custom built and our community is why we are the most successful project in the country.  Safety, the ease of getting a home built, true residential zoning (not agricultural or parcela minima), roads, artesian well water plumbed to each lot and electric provided in all developments, help with residency, assistance opening bank accounts, facilitating purchase through self directed retirement programs, etc.  Our tours are almost always sold out, just check our website to see.  We continue to sell millions of dollars in properties each month while most other developers are struggling to stay in business.  We have no bank loans, are debt free and have over 500 full time employees.

We do have a two day tour running July 26^th and 27^th, starting at noon on the 26^th and ending after breakfast on the 28^th.  We will be looking at custom homes we are building on the afternoon (after lunch) on the 26^th and we’ll be looking at available home sites on the morning of the 27^th (after breakfast).  We’ll tour the hospital, our wood shop, swim at a local Pacific beach, visit a local supermarket on the afternoon of the 27^th although some on the tour will also want to re-visit home sites for their final selection.  However for you to show up on the 27^th and see available home sites while not having already seen how we build homes, how to build on the side of a mountain, our construction methods (not concrete block like everyone else but in fact a high tech product introduced into Costa Rica by the Four Seasons Hotel chain) understand what services we offer and our community, will leave you comparing our dirt to dirt you’d seen being offered by every other project in Costa Rica.  Our dirt costs a bit more comparatively, on a per acre basis, since our infrastructure is much better, we develop in true urbanization zoning, we meet all municipal standards, we guarantee title, we offer full financing of land, etc.  The quality of our roads, the purity of our water system, the engineering, permitting, etc are why we continue to grow while many other projects have gone bankrupt.

Our staff will be busy on the days you are there running the tour running July 26 – 28.  The folks on that tour have paid a $250 deposit per person to attend the tour and they deserve our attention.  We credit the deposit to the purchase price of any property and we give them a $1000 travel credit as well, toward any purchase in our developments.  We feed them, house them, take them on tours for two days, show them the hospital, the woodshop, the community, etc.  That is how our program works.

If you want a one day tour (this would require at least 5 hours) I can arrange such a tour by paying an owner in our community (not an employee of our company) but just a home owner who lives in our phase 9 to tour people through our project.  I have to pay that person $20 per hour to do so, they use their car, their time and they take you to lunch mid day since you will be hungry before the tour is finished and lunch gives you a break to digest what you have been seeing.  Most of the time you will be asking questions, real questions being answered by owners in our community, not some sales guy.  In fact all of our staff live in town, including the owner of the development.  We do not have any of the realty firms represent us, they would not know where to begin. 

So that is the answer to your request for a tour, again I suggest you take the full tour, spend the time, get what you paid for.  If you want a one day tour, I can arrange that but you will have to pay $100 via a credit card to us since that is what it will cost us to provide that tour.  You will also have to pay for your own lunch, which will likely be at Café Exotica, one of the many local restaurants in our community.  We are not a tourist town, we are a residential community.  You don’t want to live in a tourist town, which relies on transient renters to keep business alive.  Transients don’t provide a community, the locals in tourist towns are all employed in businesses that take care of tourists.

There are many projects that just have not and will never complete what they have promised to others.  The reason why International Living continues to invite us to every show they put on, why we are a sponsor of many events, why we were the major sponsor in Quito, Toronto, San Jose, Las Vegas, Denver, Cancun, etc is because we are worth the time to visit and both the education you will get and the opportunity to purchase in a well planned, well managed development are worth every penny and every minute you will spend in the process.  Even those who don’t like our project (we are not for everyone) are still thankful for the education and knowledge they have received about purchasing property in Costa Rica or in any other foreign country.

 

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The new Autopista Del Sol has some Growing Pains

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Last Sunday the new toll road from San Jose to the west coast was closed shortly before noon due to a number of issues with rocks in the road from the heavy rains.  Although the company responsible for building the road, Autopista Del Sol, claims the road is fine, they have agreed to temporarily close one section of the road, between Orotina and Atenas, totaling about 12 miles.  The missing section means you have to use the old "aguacate" highway through a stretch through the mountains.  Though we have used this road for many years to reach our properties, our Discovery tour groups would prefer using the new highway rather than winding through the mountainous stretch we are again traveling, adding 45 minutes to our travel time.   

The new highway was closed after a female motorcyclist struck a rock and was killed on the old road.  The department of transporation then decided to close the road for repairs to the steeper sections subject to rock slides as the new road enters it's first rainy season.  Had the road been built by the Costa Rican department of transportation, they would have simply cleared the road of debris after each rain and re-open it.  Case in point is that there is a similar highway going to Limon on the eastern slope of Costa Rica that was built and maintained by the department of transportation.  This road has numerous slides and was closed this past week when nearly three feet of stone and earth slid and blocked passage along one stretch of the highway.  This stretch has had a number of slides in the same location yet the road is reopened each time after the debris is removed.  We even had a small slide on the coastanera highway this past week but within less than a hour, the debris was removed and the road was as good as new.  Small rock slides are to be expected in a country with four mountain ranges and steep road cuts through the mountains.  Though the new highway is temporarily closed, demand for Costa Rica real estate in our developments is at an all time high.       

I spoke to an employee of Autopista Del Sol, the Spanish company that created the new Caldera highway that is now closed, and they assured me that the road is not dangerous and that the road has been cleared and ready for travel for nearly two weeks now but they have agreed to close it at the request of President Laura Chinchilla.  I was told that the government has requested a 2 month closure while the initial heavy rains frequently found at this time of year test the stability of the steep embankments that flank the new highway.  In reality, the old aguacate highway which we are again using as an alternative is much more dangerous than the new Caldera highway even with occasional rocks sliding.  Last week there was a fatal accident on the aguacate that took the lives of three.  But politics sometimes outrank good sense.  The new road is cleary the best highway in Costa Rica and it is the people of Costa Rica who are suffering without use of this great engineering achievement.  Tourist sites, hotels, restaurants, realtors and developers are frustrated as the road closure has temporarily decreased traffic to the central and southern regions.  Our discovery tours to view lots and real estate in our developments has so far not been affected.  It does add a bit more time to our drive to the southern region in the interim.  For more information about our developments and how to visit, lot prices, etc, see www.PacificLots.com.  We offer the best Costa Rica real estate values in the country.

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China Diplomacy Strengthens in Costa Rica as Stadium Nears Completion

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China and Costa Rica have strengthened trade relations after establishing diplomatic relations on June 1, 2007.  Prior to that date, Costa Rica had maintained a 60 year relationship with Taiwan, which ended with the establishment of new relations with China.  As a result of the new agreement, China donated and is building a huge new stadium in Sabana Park, within the city limits of San Jose.  The new stadium will hold 35,000 people, provide housing for up to 350 athletes, feature large screen monitors, a sports museum and hold offices for a number of sports associations.

The stadium, being built by the Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Consortium, is employing 768 Chinese nationals as well as 200 Costa Ricans.  Working around the clock, the stadium is expected to be completed by February or March of 2011.  China is seeking further cooperation on economic, scientific and technological innovations as well as increased participation in direct trade and finance within Costa Rica.  The results have proved fruitful as a subsidiary (CHINAFECC Chinese Nationals Central America) of the firm building the  stadium has now been awarded the contract to build a new project, Torres Del Lago, consisting of 3 high rise towers in San Jose totaling 14 stories each.  The towers will house retail and office on the first few floors, with housing units in the remaining floors. 

Laura Chinchilla, who took office as president of Costa Rica on May 8th, 2010, is encouraging Chinese investment and has also promised to make visas more accessible for Chinese investors and tourists.  China reached a free trade agreement with Costa Rica in February 2010 under the reign of Oscar Arias, then president of Costa Rica.  The trade agreement with China is heralded as a giant step for China in Central America, where most other countries have maintained agreements with Taiwan.  Li bin, China Minister of National Population and Family Planning met with Laura Chinchilla in Costa Rica the day before Laura's inauguration as president.  Li Bin attended the inauguration ceremonies as well. 

The new stadium is impressive.  The massive steel and concrete structure covers more than an entire city block.  The Chinese workers on the project are living on the site in temporary housing and a number of Chinese restaurants and service firms have opened in the vicinity to cater to these workers.  The stadium will be in the top 5 largest stadiums in all of Central America, behind the Estadio LatinAmericano in Cuba which holds 55,000, Monumental Estadio Cuscatlan in El Salvador which can seat 44,000, the Olimpico Metropolitano in Honduras that seats 40,000 and the Tiburcio Carias Andino, also in Honduras, which holds 35,000.

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Tourism up in Costa Rica, as airport expansion nears completion

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The numbers are in and they look good.  The ministry of tourism, Carlos Ricardo Benavides recently announced that tourism was up 11.5% in the first quarter of 2010.  The numbers reflect a substantial increase in arrivals into Costa Rica.  American Airlines recently added direct flights from JFK airport in New York and a number of foreign carriers are also adding flights into the country.  According to the ministry of tourism, they expect the number of tourists visiting Costa Rica to swell to nearly 2.5 million per year in the next few years. 

Meanwhile the San Jose airport expansion being carried out by Alterra is nearing completion.  In my last two trips to Costa Rica, both the new immigration entrance and the new departure security area have opened and are now in full use.  The new immigration station can handle many more arriver's than in the past.  The new departure security area is also much larger than the old one and much more efficient as well.  It appears that the new gates are also nearing completion and should be finished sometime this year.   The airport expansion was funded by Alterra, a private consortium that also built the second international airport in Liberia Costa Rica.  When the government wanted to double the size of the terminal in San Jose, Alterra offered to buy out the existing airport and fund the expansion in exchange for the concession rights on gate fees and retail rentals.  It is rumored that Alterra will also build the third international airport in the southern region once they are done with the terminal expansion at the Juan Santamaria airport in San Jose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Workers inspect the new gate areas at the San Jose international Airport

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The advantages of buying property through a Costa Rican Corporation

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The vast majority of investors opt to purchase property in Costa Rica through an Anonymous Corporation called a Sociedad Anonima (S.A.).   This protects you against loss in the case of being sued if someone hurts themselves on your property.  It also makes it easier to attain services like setting up a bank account, getting a phone line, etc.... Additionally, it makes it much easier and less expensive to sell your property if you choose to do so in the future.  In that case you are not subject to paying the transfer tax. The company shares are simply transferred. Costa Rican corporations also do not pay income tax. This is a major advantage if the corporation is going to retain profits (ie. rental income) for future investment. It can also make estate planning less complicated. You can transfer or will shares of your corporation to someone else.

Our tax friends in the government are now looking for holders of SA corporations, since ownership is largely annonymous.  This year it was announced that those holding ownership of an SA in Costa Rica, would be subject to up to $10,000 per year in fines for not declaring the ownership on your tax returns.  Seems to me that the government wants to know where all of our assets are all of a sudden.  This year if you reported owning a bank account abroad that contained more than $10,000 in it, you had to attach a signed PDF file of verification to your tax return.  Now back to the Costa Rican SA... 

The procedure to set this up is relatively straight forward and simple.  In order to incorporate you must:

1. Draft and execute a deed or incorporation before a Notary Public.
2. Publish a notice of the incorporation in the Official Gazette and record the incorporation deed before the Public Registry.
3. Once incorporated, the corporation must request the approval of the legal and accounting books before the Tax Authorities.
4. After the books are authorized the shareholders registry book must be updated accordingly and the share (or shares) certificates must be issued and executed.

One option that is often available to speed this process is for firms to provide "shelf corporations" that are already incorporated and registered.  In this case you must ensure that the corporation has not been involved in any law suites or claims against it. This process takes about 6-8 weeks for the nomination and transfer of shares as well as completing the sales act. (We take care of all this for our clients).

                The Articles of Incorporation must have:

• A company name which can be in English but needs to be accompanied with its Spanish translation followed by either the words Sociedad Anonima or more commonly S.A.
• Legal Domicile. The company may have branches and is allowed to do business outside of the country but must be Costa Rican based.
• Legal Term. Terms may be extended or shortened and generally range from 50 to 100 years.
• A Corporate Purpose.
• Share Capital. There is no minimum Share Capital requirement and this is divided into common par value shares each entitled to one vote. It represents a symbolic value of the corporation but has no direct relation to the real value of the assets.
•  Board of Directors consisting of a minimum of 3 individuals.
• Officer Authority.
• Statutory Examiner. Corporations may appoint 1 or more Statutory Examiners to watch over and ensure that all corporate rules are met as a protection of the interests of shareholders.
• Registered Agent. Corporations with a legal representative not domiciled in Costa Rica must appoint a Registered Agent whose duty is to be served with administrative and court actions on behalf of the corporation.
• Legal Reserve. Corporations in Costa Rica are required to assign annually 5% of net earnings to form a legal reserve up to 20% of its Share Capital. Such reserve need not be funded.
• Legal Books and Record. These books must be bound and stamped by Local Tax Authorities.

Limited Partnerships and General Partnerships are seldom used in Costa Rica mainly because of the personal liability and exposure to which its partners are legally subject to.

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The New Immigration Law in Costa Rica

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The new immigration law (Ley de Migración y Extranjería) went into effect earlier this month. One of the changes is the requirement of foreign residents working in Costa Rica to contribute to the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS) - social security. Foreign residents who do not contribute will no longer be able to obtain free medical services.  Also, foreigners must pay approximately $25 annually that will result in 12 million dollars from 486,000 foreign residents each year to be earmarked for public services most used by immigrants, specifically the CCSS and the Ministry of Education.  The legislation also calls for a fine of $100 per month to any foreigner who overstays his or her "legal" visit; 90 days for North Americans and Europeans and 30 days for most other countries.

The law also requires hotels to maintain a public register of all foreigners and the addition of 250 Policía Técnica de Migración (immigration police).  Individuals caught transporting illegal immigrants to and from Costa Rica or using false or doctored documents may face 2 - 6 years in prison.

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Costa Rica Ranks Third Worldwide in Environmental Performance!

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Costa Rica has ranked highest in the Americas and 3rd in the world with a score of 86.4 in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI). Second place goes to Switzerland with a score of 89.1 and the honor of first place goes to Iceland with a score of 93.5.
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 163 countries on 25 performance indicators tracked across ten policy categories covering both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national government scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy goals.

 

In Central America, Nicaragua placed 93rd, Panama placed 24th, El Salvador 33rd, Honduras 118th and Guatemala 105th.  The United States places 61st with strong results on some issues, such as provision of safe drinking water and forest sustainability, and weak performance on other issues including greenhouse gas emissions and several aspects of local air pollution.
For more information click here: http://epi.yale.edu/

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Costa Rica tops Gallup poll for Global Wellbeing

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This article is from our latest newsletter which you can find on the front page of our website. 

Gallup, the provider of reliable and respected opinion polls in over 155 countries recently concluded its 5 year study called "Gallup Global Wellbeing".  Gallup's global wellbeing metrics are the first comprehensive measure of the behavioral economics of gross national wellbeing, which lays the foundation for all other measures of a country's economic strength.  Gallup asks ordinary individuals for their thoughts and opinions on several topics, including economics, religion, migration, and wellbeing. They then classified respondents as "thriving", "struggling" or "suffering" upon how they rated their current and future lives.

According to the polls, Africa has the lowest wellbeing with no country in the region with a thriving percentage higher than 25%.  Thriving in the Americas is highest in Costa Rica at 63% and Canada at 62% followed by Panama 58%, Brazil 58% and the United States 57%. 

For more information click here: http://www.gallup.com/poll/126977/Global-WellBeing-Surveys-Find-Nations-Worlds-Apart.aspx

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The Almighty Dollar

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I predicted a while ago that the dollar would start to lose value versus other countries.  Many countries that many of think have fairly robust economies and stable currency have suffered in the past few years.  One country that has not suffered has been Costa Rica.  Unfortunately for us in the US, that is driving up prices in Costa Rica as the dollar slips against the colon.  This is both a good thing and a bad thing.  It is a good thing for anyone who'd taken their dollars and bought property in Costa Rica since as the dollar slips, the value of the land does not.  In fact those who own property there effectively make money when the dollar slips since the real estate market in Costa Rica is an international market and unless you are selling your property in dollars (most people don't) you are now getting more dollars than ever for your property.  I suspect you will quickly see developers in Costa Rica move away from pricing their properties in dollars since as the dollar drops, so does their revenue. 

Let me explain a bit more about currency changes and the effect they have on people living there.

  

 

 

 

• As a currency value increases, imports get less expensive
• As a currency value increases, exports become more expensive
• As a currency value decreases, your purchasing power erodes
• As a currency value decreases, the value of your savings are less
• As a currency value decreases, seniors on fixed income become poorer.
• As a currency value decreases, foreign travel becomes more expensive

Most people within a country whose currency is losing value, do not realize it right away.  That is because both earnings and expenses are in the same currency and the lowered value of the currency is vis-a-vis other currencies.  What happens as a currency devalues is inflation tends to increase.  Prices rise to offset the lose in value (purchasing power) of the currency.  Imports become more expensive so for a country like the US that imports lots of goods and services, prices rise over time.  In theory however as a currency devalues, exports from that country become cheaper. 

Why is the US dollar likely to devalue in the near future?  As you print more money and borrow more money, you dilute the value of the money already outstanding.  the US government stands to benefit however since as the value of the dollar drops, the value of our debt to nearly every other nation in the world costs less to pay off.  As long as the debt was agreed upon in dollars, we can then use cheaper dollars to pay off the debt (dollars that are worth less). 

Who gets hurt as the dollar drops in value?  We all do.  Our savings is diminished as the value of it declines.  Our ability to leave the country, either for travel or relocation, becomes more expensive.  That is part of the reason why we have seen a huge spike in the value of gold.  People are fleeing from the dollar, trying to protect that value of thier assets and savings. 

What can we do?  Many financial advisers are telling us to get out of dollar denominated investments.  Owning investments in other countries is a good way to hedge against further loss in the dollar.  The issue however is in what country are we liable to be safe versus having a similar issue with the currency of that country losing value.  This is international business and therefore we need to apply sound international business theories.  Look for countries with growing economies, good historical performance, sound fiscal policies, good political and economic policies and a stable currency. 

Costa Rica is just such a place.  In the last 6 months alone, the dollar has lost over 10% of it's value in Costa Rica.  That's bad for us using dollars to invest there but good for those who already did.  Fortunately we price our properties in dollars so the change in value has had no effect yet on prices.  However as I just said, the dollar has lost 10% of it's value in Costa Rica in the last 6 months.  That means we have been getting 10% less revenue on sales priced in dollars for our property based in Costa Rica.  When we try to turn those dollars into Colon, we get 10% less.  It is pretty apparent that we will soon have to either raise our prices by 10% or start pricing our properties in Colon (the Costa Rican currency).  Since all of our expenses are in Colon, our revenue is falling while our costs remain the same.  We pay for our workers, supplies, etc in Colon. 

Anyone who has already bought property in Costa Rica has in effect made a 10% return on their property in the past 6 months just for not having their money in dollars.  As the dollar continues to drop, the sooner you move your dollars offshore into hard assets like property, the sooner you will stop the erosion of your life savings. 

All countries are not alike.  You want to be sure you invest your money in a country that is performing well economically, socially and politically.  If you invest your money in a country that is not doing well, both the value of your investment and the value of the currency it is denominated in may go down.

 

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Central Pacific Costa Rica - Jaco, Playa Herradura and Manuel Antonio

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The two towns most visited in the central Pacific region are Jaco and Manuel Antonio (actually it is Quepos but the nice part of Quepos is referred to as Manual Antonio, the name of the national park that sits there).

Jaco is a surf town but a number of developers have recently built high rises there and are trying to change the area to a more upscale tourist market.  The Sonesta, Daystar and a few others have built high rise hotels there, one of the few areas along the coast were Costa Rican law has allowed development within 50 meters of the beach.  Unfortunately many of the high rise projects were stopped short of completion when the real estate downturn from the US hit this local market.  The area had been overbuilt with supply and inadequate demand. 

The surfer undertone still reigns in Jaco and with it came both drugs and prostitution, the later being legal in Costa Rica.  The result has left Jaco in a kind of limbo between a sustainable tourist market and a haven for back packing surfers and riff-raff.  Kristina and I don't recommend Jaco as a spot to visit but is an interesting place to drive through.  Don't leave luggage or valuables in sight in an unattended car in Jaco.  Being the beach town closest to San Jose attracts some elements looking for opportunity to take stuff from unsuspecting tourists.  We don't ever leave luggage or valuables in our unattended car anywhere in Costa Rica, nor would I in many parts of the US. 

The town next to Jaco is called Playa Herradura and home to the Marriott Los Suenos resort.  As one of the most successful Marriott projects ever built, the resort features an 18 hole golf course and full service marina.  It is quite expensive however and once inside the gates you'd think you were in Miami instead of Costa Rica.  It makes up in amenities what it lacks in Costa Rican charm or experience and many an upscale tourist raves about it.  It is a good place to find the typically "ugly American" and although the staff will greet you with a smile, they are often treated as servants and there is an undertone of resentment that is well founded.    

Manuel Antonio on the other hand is a laid back tourist town.  It has the most visited national park in the country along with a soon to be completed marina.  Quepos is the sport fishing capital of Costa Rica and the fishing is great.  The town is definitely a tourist town, a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.  The national park is a great destination and we typically see more animals there in a short visit than anywhere else in the country.  We spend two days there on our ten day tour for good reason. 

Although hotels are pricier there, the town has nice hotels, plenty of good restaurants and a laid back feeling that is soon to go away (the Wyndhan hotel chain is now building a 200 unit project that candidly doesn't belong there.  Up until recently the town was knon for upscale boutique hotels with kind of a bohemian flair.  We recommend the http://www.costaverde.com/hotel and specifically the units facing the ocean in their Costa Verde II building.  The units are huge with commanding ocean views, complete with kitchenettes.  These units do lack AC however but they typically get a nice ocean breeze and each room has a number of ceiling fans.  Most of our tour clients say they would like to live there in response to an evaluation we send out after each tour.   

Weather in the spring will be in the 80's during the day though the humidity may make it feel hotter.  The rainy season, which starts in mid May, only means that you can expect an afternoon shower and possibly hard rain at night.  The days are typically sunny and will cloud up late in the day.  I like that time of year and especially the late afternoon storms that come in off the ocean.  We rarely get rain all day but it can happen.  Even in heavy rain it is still 80 degrees so if you have rain gear, it is not uncomfortable. 

I sometimes bring mask, snorkel and fins.  If I plan on anything beyond that, there are plenty of outfits that provide equipment (even mask and snorkel) if you don't bring them.  We get one chance to swim in the Pacific on our tour but it is only to get a chance to see what the local beaches are like.  Being on the Pacific coast means most beaches have surf although there are a number of sheltered coves for those who wish to snorkel.  So if you want to snorkel, you'll have to do that on your own time.  If you want to visit Manuel Antonio on a lower budget than the Costa Verde hotel, there are many in the $75 - $100 dollar range that will suffice.  Also keep in mind that the national park in Manuel Antonio is closed on Mondays.  If you want to visit the park, best to go early since they limit the number allowed into the park at one time and the animals are more active in the morning.  Also realize that there is nothing for sale inside the park so bring your water and a lunch if you desire.  There are nice public bathrooms as well as showers to rinse the salt water off after swimming.  The park has one of the nicest beaches in the region as well as some easy hiking trails. 

Quepos also has great opportunities for sport fishing though you need to arrange your trip a bit in advance.  We recommend http://www.lunatours.com/ and specifically their boat, the Magic Moon.  Tell them Steve and Kristina from Pacific Lots recommended them.  They will try to combine interested groups to fill the boat as long as you've given them some lead time.  Sport fishing there is expensive (about $1000 for a full day with 6 passengers) but we have always caught an amazing amount of prized game fish.  It is not unusual to catch Marlin over 500 pounds, multiple sail fish, a tuna or two and some other species.  Most is catch and release but the tuna is fillet and release and tastes great.  Anglers must also purchase a sport fishing license which adds about $20 per person to those who want to fish.  The license is good for a year though most will only use it once.

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