Albatros Charters Fishing, Cozumel, Mexico Review

My family is full of fishermen so those of us who weren't off scuba diving booked a fishing excursion with Cozumel's Albatros Charters.  We didn't know if we would catch anything but all agreed that a bad day on the water was pretty much better than a good day on land. 

The Albatros picked us up at the dock at our condo complex.  They had music playing, coconut cake sliced for our breakfast, and a cooler stocked full of water, soda, a case of beer.  It took us about an hour to get out far enough to fish but it didn't feel that long because we were so busy talking, laughing, and just enjoying the beautiful view.  The mate spent the trip out putting bait on the trolling lines and dropping them into the water as they were ready. 

We trolled around in the same several dozen square miles for 6 hours.  We caught 4 barracuda, 1 very large dorado/mahi mahi (see picture below), a mutton snapper, and a wahoo.  The captain and mate were wonderful in spotting bites on the line, helping us, and generally just cheering us on as we reeled them in.  I don't think I've ever experienced such a friendly crew here in the US.  As if the mate wasn't busy enough checking the lines and dealing with the fish, he also served us sliced pineapple mid-day and constantly offered to get us drinks.  When we helped ourselves to beer, he went out of his way to offer us slices of lime for the drinks.  It was incredible.

On the trip in the captain filleted the wahoo and used it to make fresh ceviche for us! He served it with corn chips and then made quesadillas for us to stuff te ceviche in! We were a bit leery about eating raw fish that was "cooked" in lime, but after one bite we were ceviche converts! Wow! After we ate our fill and had just about returned to the dock, the captain filleted the rest of the fish (except the barracuda which we let them keep) for us.  Then he dropped us off at our condo complex with bags and bags of fresh fish!

We paid about $600 for a 6 hour charter for 6 people.  At just $100 a head, we felt like the whole incredible experience was a total bargain! We had so much fun that we tried to book another trip with them, but there was a bit of communication confusion with it being cancelled and rebooked... It wasn't their fault and it was probably for the best as they promised to stock more beer in the cooler and they were all going to head out on the morning of our wedding.  Groom + 12 beers wouldn't have gone over well. 

In any case, we have nothing but good things to say about Albatros Charters in Cozumel, Mexico.  We are heading back next April and plan to book at least two fishing excursions with them.  Highly recommended!