Fishing in Marbella

Fishing in Marbella is a pleasure for all fisherman, who can enjoy the four ports of the most iconic city of the Costa del Sol. These ports are: Puerto Virgen del Carmen (located downtown near shops and the beach, offering a yacht club and a professional scuba diving school), Puerto Banus (a luxury port with 1000 moorings), Puerto Cabopino and Puerto Marina la Bajadilla.

TOP SPECIES

Pink Dentex

The pink dentex (pagrus auriga) is usually quite large (90cm) and can weigh 11kg or more. Its colour is usually pink at the time of capture and gets more red later.

The species is caught mainly in rocky or mixed areas of sand and rock, normally not deeper than 200m. The best fishing techniques to target the pink dentex are trolling live bait with downrigger or vertical jigging with rubber bait, inchiku and long blades. You can catch this species practically all year round, but February and March usually offer the best months to catch this sought after species.

Dentex

In Marbella, dentex can be found between 0 and 200m deep, with the young closer to the shore and the old out deeper. Dentex feed mainly on fish, crabs, molluscs and their favourite, squid. Trolling or drifting with live bait with downrigger or vertical jigging with rubber bait, inchiku and long blades. You can fish dentex practically all year, being April and May the most productive months to catch them.

Bluefin Tuna

Bluefin Tuna (thunnus thynnus) can weigh up to 500kg (1000lb+), making it one of the most wanted species in Marbella. Tuna are targeted chumming natural bait or trolling artificials offshore in waters with more than 500-1000 meters depth in the Alboran Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar. The fish arrive early spring from the Atlantic Ocean and migrate towards their spawning areas in the Mediterranean Sea. The best tuna fishing in Marbella is from April to September. In March and April, tuna - especially younger fish, come closer to shore and can create spectacular frenzies. In these situation it's great to start casting poppers, stickbait and jigs towards the frenzie hoping one of the predators attacks it.

For spinfishing for tuna, we recommend the use of a good reel (Saltiga 4500 or 6500 type or Stella Daiwa 18000-20000 Shimano, for example), an adecuat robust spinning rod and strong braided lines 60lb-80lb, because the fight with a bluefin tuna may extend for over an hour easily.

Grouper

The grouper fish camouflages perfectly to the seabed. The best technique to catch this fish in Marbella is fishing live or dead bait close to the bottom, in rocky areas such as the Las Bovedas reef. Trolling slowly with the help or a downrigger or drifting would be the best way to target Grouper in Marbella and the Costa del Sol. They can be found all year round.

Black Spot Sea Bream

The young bream are located closer to the coast in shallow water and they swim grouped together in large schools. As their age increases, they live in deeper and sandy places. Fishing black spot sea bream in Marbella is done chiefly in winter, and in deep waters (which means between 200 and 400m deep). Electric reels are of great help here.

If you're interested in fishing in Marbella, you might also be interested in fishing in Barcelona, fishing in Mallorca, fishing in Gran Canaria and fishing in Tenerife.

Spring

Offshore trolling and spinning can be practiced from April and May. Using these techniques we can fish bluefin tuna, albacore and little tunny. Drifting or anchoring the boat you may catch dentex, grouper, jack, scorpion fish, seabream and snapper on the reef.

Summer

During the summer months, tuna fishing in Marbella is mainly done trolling and chumming. Tuna are normally found off-shore in the Alboran Sea, 30 miles off shore; and in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar. In the Straits, due to the strong currents and the heavy maritme traffic, only trolling artificials is possible. When the weather conditions are right, chumming sardines and mackerel is a great way to catch tuna.

Inshore, fishing in Marbella is basically trolling with natural baits (squid, mackerel or jack mackerel) or artificials to target dentex, pink dentex, grouper or amberjack. Reef fishing is great to target seabream, snapper, jack, conger eel, scorpion fish and other smaller reef species.

Autumn

This is an excellent season for inshore trolling with small lures and feathers to fish various species such as bonito, mackerel, little tunny or dolphin fish. Reef fishing in Marbella during fall is great to target seabream, snapper, jack, conger eel, scorpion fish, dentex...

Winter

The winter is ideal for deep sea fishing and bottom fishing in Marbella. With deep sea bottom fishing,  a wide range of species such as blackspot seabream, codling, conger eel, grouper, snapper and hake can be caught. February and March are usually very good months for fishing the bigger pink dentex deep trolling with natural bait. This technique is also good to catch grouper, dentex and amberjack.

Year round

In any season, deep sea fishing or reef fishing in Marbella will be the best technique to bring fish on board.

Nobody is a foreigner in Marbella. This cosmopolitan town, with all the charisma of a large city, is home to 137 nationalities. 

Marbella, one of the best places in the world to live, is famous for its internationally renowned and privileged climate. The annual average temperature is around 18.5º C, with 320 days of sunshine a year. Weather forecasts do not suggest any significant changes and the rain here does not usually exceed 50 days each year, December and January being the time of year with the highest precipitation.

This climate is due to its unique geographical situation, namely the mountains which surround Marbella, the Sierra Blanca and the Concha, visible from the entire area. Allied to the position of its coastal inlet, the effect is to shelter the town from the northern winds, allowing it to enjoy a special microclimate unique in the world and one which has become one of its great tourist attractions.

You need a fishing license to go fishing in Marbella and Puerto Banus. The fishing charters normally have the fishing license included in the price, so you don't need to buy one if you're chartering a boat.

Depending on the charter fishing boat and on the duration of your fishing tour, you’ll pay more or less for the tour. The price for a private 4 hour Marbella fishing trip is 700€. An 8 hour private trip will cost you 900€ to 1750€, depending on whether you are looking for inshore or offshore fishing.

What does the price include?

The price usually includes the captain, fishing tackle, fuel, bait & lures, taxes and fishing licenses. On every listing we indicate whether drinks and food are included.

Once you’ve made a booking, the captain will contact you to arrange the meeting point and the departure time. Also, we recommend you contact the captain a couple of days before the tour to confirm the weather forecast.